Senators and advocates outlined his troubling record on worker safety, disability rights, and other issues important to working families

Washington, DC – Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Ed Markey (D-MA) held a press conference today to raise serious concerns about President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch’s anti-worker, pro-corporate record. They were joined by representatives from the labor and disability rights communities, including Communications Workers of America, Disability Rights PA, and the Baltimore Teachers Union.

U.S. Senator Ed Markey said, “Now more than ever, we need a Supreme Court Justice who will stand up for the rights of all Americans against big corporate interests, but Judge Neil Gorsuch is not that Justice. On the bench, Neil Gorsuch has repeatedly advanced an ultra-conservative agenda that sides with corporations and special interests over workers and the disabled. Judge Gorsuch believes that private corporations are people with rights that supersede those of individual Americans. We cannot let Judge Neil Gorsuch become the crucial ninth vote on this Supreme Court.” 

U.S. Senator Patty Murray said, “On the campaign trail, President Trump made a promise to stand up for workers—and he’s breaking that promise by nominating a judge with such a distinctly anti-worker record. Time after time, Judge Gorsuch sided with employers and against workers even in dire circumstances, and I am very concerned that should he end up on the Court, he would side with conservative justices in continuing to undermine workers’ protections, safety, and ability to organize.”

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said, “Judge Neil Gorsuch’s record is clear. Between employees and employers, he sides with employers. Between caring for disabled workers or a company’s bottom line, he sides with the company. When it comes to the safety of our workers versus a business, or the security of workers’ retirement versus a business, Judge Gorsuch sides with the business. Regular working Americans need a champion on the bench, and they’re not going to get that with Neil Gorsuch.”

Jody Calemine, General Counsel at Communications Workers of America, said, “Working people have fought hard for workplace protections so that they might come home in one piece after an honest day’s work. Judge Gorsuch’s record indicates that he will endeavor every day to find ways to chip away at those protections. Dissents like these send the wrong signal to unscrupulous employers who put profit over health and safety—with Judge Gorsuch, they’ll have a friend on the Supreme Court.”

Dynah Haubert, Attorney and Disability Rights Advocate, Disability Rights PA, said, “Judge Gorsuch’s view of the constitution is a matter of life or death for people with disabilities. In his own words, he has said ‘Judges should…strive...to apply the law as it is, focusing backward…’ People with disabilities, like so many other diverse Americans, have only had our rights recognized under the law all too recently. Thirty years ago, it was perfectly legal for employers to refuse to hire someone on the basis of disability, landlords to refuse us a place to live, and for public places to exclude us. When the constitution was drafted, I -and the rest of the 20% of Americans with disabilities- would not have been afforded the most basic of human rights.”

Irene Booze, Special Education Paraprofessional, Baltimore Teachers Union and American Federation of Teachers, said, “There’s a lot at stake for workers like me…Being part of a union empowers workers and improves wages and benefits as well as worker safety. Unions are fundamental to rebuilding the middle class. When unions are strong, America is strong. That’s why Judge Gorsuch’s anti-union, anti-worker record is so concerning. With important workers’ rights cases coming before the Court, the threat to my family and me is real. We need a pro-worker judge who will stand up for us.”