Booker 'honored, humbled, and deeply inspired' by state fed endorsement

By BERRY CRAIG

AFT Local 1360 

Charles Booker, the Democrat who wants Sen. Rand Paul's job, says he is "honored, humbled, and deeply inspired to receive the endorsement of the Kentucky AFL-CIO."

Booker, a former state representative from Louisville, promised in a Thursday statement for the state AFL-CIO that he is "committed to standing on the front line with our unions, because they stand on the front line for our Commonwealth and our families."

Booker is the favorite in the May 17 primary that includes a trio of lesser-known Democrats. The state AFL-CIO unanimously endorsed him on Wednesday.

Booker's campaign staff had just voted unanimously to join Louisville-based Teamsters Local 89. In a news release supporting his staff, the candidate said he's "been proud to stand on the picket lines with teachers, on the railroad tracks with coal miners, with workers at Churchill Downs."

In his statement for the state AFL-CIO, Booker also said that "throughout history, positive change has only happened when regular people organize and stand together. Whether it is the fight for civil rights, better wages, safe working conditions, healthcare, or retirement benefits, progress has come only when we people are unified toward that goal.

"At the heart of this work is organized labor.... This powerful statement of support for our campaign is another incredible testament to the movement we are building. My vision for a Kentucky New Deal prioritizes the need to protect workers' rights and strengthen organized labor. With this endorsement, we are even more fired up to win the primary in May, and promptly retire Rand Paul in November."

Unions consider Paul, a Bowling Green Republican, one of the most anti-labor lawmakers in Washington. He reintroduced a national "right to work" law in the Senate last year.  Since he came to the Senate in 2011, he has supported the union position on labor legislation just 12 percent of the time, according to the AFL-CIO.