Labor Secretary: Scalia's Death Makes it Easier to Unionize

Cortney O'Brien | September 29, 2016 12:30 PM

It's been months since the passing of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, but Democrats are still seemingly celebrating his death because it paves the way for their political purposes. At The Atlantic’s Washington Ideas Forum on Thursday, Labor Secretary Tom Perez

casually noted that Scalia's death helped pave the way for union membership across the country.

“Well, I think you have all these — there’s an unmitigated assault on labor unions across a number of states and there was a case that went before the Supreme Court recently, and frankly if Justice Scalia had not passed away it would have really made it very difficult for public sector labor unions to organize,” Perez told Rattner.

Unfortunately, Perez's comments are not isolated. In August, Ohio Senate Candidate Ted Strickland actually said “the death of Scalia saved labor” at an AFL-CIO event.

The vacancy on the Supreme Court will be an important consideration for voters this November, but Democratic leaders would be wise to show a little more sensitivity and respect when talking about it.