Labor leaders praise Biden SCOTUS pick as win for workers

Influential labor union leaders on Friday cheered President Biden for nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, hailing the selection as a win for workers.

Unions praised Jackson for her pro-worker rulings and previous service as a public defender and applauded Biden for sticking to his pledge to pave the way for the nation’s first female Black justice.

“Judge Jackson’s historic nomination is a win for working people, and her impressive legal background, stellar record and reputation for fairness will make her a strong asset to the Court,” Service Employees International Union International President Mary Kay Henry said in a statement.

Labor support for Jackson picked up after she sided with public sector unions in her first decision as a federal appeals judge in Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, Jackson halted a Trump administration rule that would have heightened bargaining requirements for public sector workers.

“That single ruling safeguarded federal workers’ union rights and demonstrated the limits of a corrupt administration. Her reasoning demonstrated exactly the kind of principled, independent judicial thinking that should be a hallmark of the highest court in our land,” American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.

Some labor unions urged Biden not to nominate J. Michelle Childs, a U.S. district judge in South Carolina who was also on Biden’s shortlist, over her previous work for a law firm that represented corporations in bargaining battles against unions.

Jackson is slated to replace 83-year-old Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the court’s three liberal-leaning justices who is due to retire at the conclusion of the Supreme Court’s current term this summer. 

Labor unions on Friday urged the Senate to swiftly confirm Jackson. Her addition wouldn’t change the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, but labor leaders have long been pushing to replace the older Breyer as the high court increasingly rules against workers’ rights. 

“Being the first is never easy and Judge Jackson is doing what so many women have done before her, breaking barriers to ensure that she is not the last,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. “We call on the U.S. Senate to deliver a speedy and fair confirmation process.”