Booker: This is the labor revolution
By BERRY CRAIG
AFT Local 1360
“We should never forget...that every win for working people is a win for us all,” Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Charles Booker said in a Labor Day fund-raising email.
The Kentucky State AFL-CIO unanimously endorsed Booker, a former state representative from Louisville. He is challenging incumbent Sen. Rand Paul, whom unions consider of the most anti-union lawmakers in Washington.
Election day is Nov. 8.
“There’s a reason why unions have lined up to support our movement – because we are fighting for real, radical solutions that will lift up working people and combat decades of exploitation by corporate interests,” Booker added.
He cited a recent Gallup Poll which revealed that 71 percent of Americans approve of unions, the highest rating since 1965. “What we are witnessing right now across the country, from Amazon to Starbucks to Apple, is quite simply a labor revolution,” said Booker.
“Here in Kentucky, we are at at the bottom of nearly every quality of life index. Our schools are underfunded, hundreds of thousands of people haven't had clean drinking water in decades, and one in four people in Appalachia are living in poverty.
"Good jobs with a dignified wage, a strong union, and healthy working conditions could transform life for millions across our commonwealth. And that future is within reach.”
Booker also pointed out that Paul, since he arrived in the Senate in 2011, has voted the union position on issues just 11 percent of the time, according to the AFL-CIO’s Legislative Scorecard.
Paul has “spent his entire tenure in the Senate advancing his anti-worker agenda,” according to Booker. “Instead of fighting for the people of Kentucky, he’s fought tirelessly to undermine us at every turn."
Warned Booker: “Make no mistake: Rand Paul is dangerous. He is genuinely committed to dismantling the labor rights and protections our ancestors fought for. That’s why he introduced a bill that would impose Right to Work rules across the country.”
Booker said said that “working people in Kentucky cannot afford six more years of Rand Paul. None of us can. That’s why we must do everything in our power so I can unseat him this November.”
Booker wrapped up his email by promising workers “I will fight for you every day, from the hood, to the holler, to the United States Senate.”