Scalia’s conflict of interest threatens workers’ retirement

Washington – Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia will oversee the Department of Labor as it writes a new version of its retirement fiduciary rule. That’s terrible news for working people.

In 2017, working people were proud to win a rule that ensured retirement investment advice that served our best interest. Now Scalia, who blocked the rule as a union-busting lawyer, will oversee its replacement. This is a clear conflict of interest, the AFL-CIO says, and Scalia should recuse himself immediately.

“It is insulting and dangerous that lifelong union-buster Eugene Scalia is the country’s top Labor official,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. “His track record is well documented, and it’s clear he has yet to find a worker protection he supports or a corporate loophole he opposes.

“Making the Labor Department — whose mission is to defend the rights of workers and enforce the law — a satellite office of a corporate right-wing law firm flies in the face of working people’s clearly expressed desires,” he said.

“We will not forget this betrayal by the Trump administration, and we will never stop fighting to ensure all working people have the safety protections on the job they deserve.”