Trump’s Labor Nominee Betrays His Promises To Workers

Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor has already betrayed Trump’s promises to workers. As he testifies at his confirmation hearing today, here’s a look at Eugene Scalia’s long record of working against workers’ interests in favor of Wall Street and big corporations:

Scalia has made a career of looking out for big businesses, not workers.

New York Times: “Eugene Scalia, whom president Trump intends to nominate as labor secretary, is often hired by companies when they are sued by workers, or when they want to push back against new employment laws and regulations.”

Associated Press: “The acting Labor secretary, Pat Pizzella, is a former lobbyist and Trump’s pick to run the department, Eugene Scalia, also is an ex-lobbyist … His financial disclosure report lists 49 clients who paid him $5,000 or more for legal services, including e-cigarette giant Juul Labs, Facebook, Walmart and Bank of America. Disclosure records show Scalia was registered in 2010 and 2011 to lobby for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”

New York Times: “But it was through his campaign against the ergonomics rule that Mr. Scalia earned his reputation as a free-market conservative and union antagonist.  He frequently dismissed the link between repetitive motion and physical ailments suffered by workers, writing in a Cato Institute publication that disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome are ‘purportedly’ caused by typing and asserting that ‘ergonomists cannot establish in any given case whether an ailment was caused by work or by genetic factors or other activities, such as sports.’”

Scalia’s client roster is packed with corporations that have battled unions and sought to scuttle stricter labor laws.

New York Times: “Mr. Scalia also defended Boeing in a politically charged case. A union representing the company’s workers in Washington State argued that Boeing had violated labor law by threatening to open another assembly plant in South Carolina unless the union agreed to a no-strike clause in its contract.”

Washington Post: “When a court ruled that blackjack and other card dealers at Steve Wynn’s Las Vegas resorts did not have to share their tips with supervisors, the casino turned to a renowned corporate attorney in Washington: Eugene Scalia.”

New York Times: “Mr. Scalia had weighed in frequently against the rule, deriding the rationale for it as ‘unreliable science.’ …But it was through his campaign against the ergonomics rule that Mr. Scalia earned his reputation as a free-market conservative and union antagonist.  He frequently dismissed the link between repetitive motion and physical ailments suffered by workers, writing in a Cato Institute publication that disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome are ‘purportedly’ caused by typing and asserting that ‘ergonomists cannot establish in any given case whether an ailment was caused by work or by genetic factors or other activities, such as sports.’”

Time and again, Scalia has worked on behalf of big business and Wall Street to fight policies that help workers and their families.

Washington Post: “Since leaving the government, Scalia has helped Wall Street firms push back against financial oversight.”

CBS News: “Scalia also led the charge to roll back the so-called fiduciary standard. That rule, which originated at the Labor Department, would have required managers of a 401(k) to act in the best interests of their clients, instead of steering them into higher-fee funds that are more profitable for the fund managers.”

Washington Post: “He also helped win a case against federal regulators on behalf of MetLife, the global insurance firm, arguing it should be exempt from stricter oversight imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act, President Barack Obama’s legislation to rein in Wall Street after the 2008 financial crash.”

Big companies have repeatedly turned to Scalia to fight employees’ workplace harassment and discrimination claims.

Politico: “Scalia has represented a range of corporate clients in complaints related to workplace sexual harassment.”

New York Times: “In these and other lawsuits involving his clients, Mr. Scalia has ‘consistently sought to narrow A.D.A. protections on a variety of issues, including the definition of disability and class certification’ Douglas Kruse and Lisa Schur, two experts on the employment of people with disabilities at Rutgers University, said in an email.”