Gorsuch Unfit to Serve on Supreme Court

Last week CWA's General Counsel Jody Calemine testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. His message was simple: working people cannot be assured a fair shake from Judge Gorsuch. Gorsuch has demonstrated time and time again an anti-worker bias that puts people's lives at risk, and if he gets on the Supreme Court his decisions could roll back the clock on worker protections.

Eight years ago, on a night with below-zero temperatures, trucker Alphonse Maddin pulled over to the side of the interstate when his trailer’s brakes froze up. His cab’s heater wasn’t working. After more than three hours of waiting for repairs and with hypothermia setting in, Maddin detached his cab and went to warm up.

He chose to save his life rather than follow his supervisor's direction to stay with the broken trailer. He was fired, and last year Judge Gorsuch ruled in favor of TransAm Trucking, the company that would have had Maddin freeze to death rather than leave his truck.

Thankfully, Gorsuch's colleagues on the panel disagreed, and Maddin won his case and got his job back with back pay. But putting Gorsuch on the Supreme Court would allow him to undermine laws and regulations put in place to make sure no one is in Maddin’s position: either lose your life or lose your job.

CWA doesn't represent many truckers, but our workplaces can be just as dangerous. Neil Gorsuch would take a sledgehammer to laws and agency rules that are designed to protect our right to refuse hazardous, life threatening work.

Tell your Senator that Neil Gorsuch's disregard for workers' lives makes him unfit to serve on the Supreme Court. Click here.