Issued July 09, 2018
WASHINGTON—SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry issued the following statement on President Trump’s announcement that he is nominating Judge Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court:
“With his nomination of Judge Kavanaugh, President Trump has doubled down on his rhetoric and policies that tilt our country further towards billionaires and greedy corporate CEOs, and away from all working people, whether they are white, black or brown.
“Working people know all too well how important the Supreme Court is to upholding key American values. In just the last few weeks it attacked the rights of working people in the Janus case and enshrined discrimination against immigrants by ruling in favor of the Muslim ban. Judge Kavanaugh is a narrow-minded elitist who would further rig our economy and democracy against working Americans.
“Judge Kavanaugh’s record makes clear that he would be a rubber stamp for the president, including his crusade to sabotage our healthcare. His nomination has been pre-approved by an extreme group that wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no replacement. If the ACA is struck down, protections for 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions would be at risk. Judge Kavanaugh has also sided time and again with employers against working people, including upholding Department of Defense regulations that stripped collective bargaining rights from thousands of employees, and criticizing rules protecting workers from dangerous conditions as ‘paternalistic.’ Judge Kavanaugh favors the wealthy and powerful over the rights of all working men and women.
“If he is confirmed people like Tara Blackwell will suffer. Tara is an adjunct professor who teaches cell and molecular biology while receiving dialysis treatment three times a week. If protections for people with pre-existing conditions are eliminated, Tara could have to pay four times as much for her premiums on a $16,000 per year salary. The Senate must reject his nomination.”
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The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) unites 2 million diverse members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. SEIU members working in the healthcare industry, in the public sector and in property services believe in the power of joining together on the job to win higher wages and benefits and to create better communities while fighting for a more just society and an economy that works for all of us, not just corporations and the wealthy. www.seiu.org