Alito on Supreme Court would hurt isle workers
A SINGLE mother finds she's now unable to take time off work for a medical emergency.
A Filipino-American woman who was promoted twice in her first few years on the job loses out on her next promotion and isn't granted her day in court to prove her race discrimination case against her employer.
Newspaper reporters working more than 40 hours a week are denied overtime pay.
These violations of workers' fundamental rights have one thing in common: Judge Samuel Alito's rulings would have made them possible.
When President Bush nominated Alito to a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, much of the initial discussion on his record focused on his views on privacy and other constitutional issues. But of even greater concern to Hawaii's workers is Judge Alito's record on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit -- time after time he has sided against workers in cases ranging from race discrimination and overtime pay to health and safety on the job.
Alito's decisions and dissents on many cases involving workers reveal a disturbing tendency to take a restrictive and narrow view of the protections Congress has afforded to workers over many decades. One example involves the popular Family and Medical Leave Act, a measure that allows workers to take unpaid leave from their jobs for family or medical reasons. The legislation, passed in 1993, has given 35 million Americans time off to deal with family or medical emergencies without the threat of losing their jobs or health insurance. Yet Alito ruled in 2000 to strike key provisions of the act for state employees, rendering it largely unenforceable for more than a million workers (Chittister v. Department of Community and Economic Development). That decision speaks volumes about Alito's proclivity as a jurist to ignore the rights of workers and dismantle the protections they've been provided.
In another case (Alden Leeds v. OSHA), even though the company had been cited by Occupational Safety and Health Administration twice in two years for safety violations relating to the improper storage of dangerous chemicals, Alito authored the majority opinion that reversed an Occupational Safety and Health Act citation on a technicality. Alito also authored opinions or dissents that have placed roadblocks in the way of workers trying to remedy job discrimination (Bray v. Marriott Hotels), denied overtime pay (Reich v. Gateway Press) and let top corporate officers off the hook from personal liability for unpaid wages (Belcufine v. Aloe).
The bottom line is clear: Alito's judicial philosophy is at odds with the interests of working families.
Alito's record is made all the more troubling given the current composition of the Supreme Court. In recent years there's been a delicate balance on the court, with many decisions important to working families decided by a one-vote margin. An Alito confirmation would shift that balance for decades to come, and further skew the court against workers.
Hawaii's working families deserve Supreme Court justices who respect workers' rights and protections. We can ill afford to have Alito sitting on the bench of our nation's highest court making decisions that will hurt working Americans for generations to come.
The decision about whether Alito will be confirmed to this lifetime post will be made by the Senate. The Senate -- including our Senators Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka -- must oppose Alito's nomination and insist on a nominee with a demonstrated commitment to protecting workers' rights.
Randy Perreira is president of the state AFL-CIO.