Job One: Ditch Mitch

By BERRY CRAIG

AFT Local 1360

"No matter who wins the primary, we need to unite as a party and support the candidate whom the majority of people voted to run against McConnell in the general election," Amy McGrath supporter Christina Conover wrote in Forward Kentucky when the Senate primary was too close to call. 

Likewise, organized labor must -- and will -- unite as a movement behind McGrath. 

Because she, Booker and Mike Broihier all enjoyed union support, your Kentucky State AFL-CIO  was neutral in the primary. Individual unions were free to get behind the candidate of their choice.

Anyway, we're happy to read that Booker and Broihier are getting ready to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to help Ditch Mitch. 

"Let’s dedicate to the work of beating Mitch, so that we can get him out of the way," said a statement from Booker after the vote totals were announced on Tuesday.

"...Our mission to beat Mitch McConnell continues," said a Tuesday email sent  by Broihier, like McGrath a retired Marine lieutenant colonel. "That’s why I’ve asked every member of the Broihier Brigade here in Kentucky to vote for Amy McGrath this November."

Your state COPE Committee will be meeting soon, via teleconferencing, to vote on endorsing McGrath and other pro-labor candidates for Nov. 3.

Given the big turnout in the primary--propelled by massive mail-in absentee balloting--this might be our best shot ever at ditching Mitch, who has spent 35 years in Washington trying to destroy our movement. McConnell is a millionaire who believes Uncle Sam's Job One is enriching the already rich.

By "free enterprise," he means union-free and free of government regulations that safeguard workers, consumers and the environment against the greedy excesses inherent in unfettered capitalism. 

In short, Moscow Mitch is morally bankrupt, according to USW President Tom Conway.  

"Because of greedy corporations and their political allies, namely McConnell, income inequality decimated America’s middle class," he wrote.

Added Conway: "CEO compensation increased 940 percent since 1978 while worker pay generally stagnated. As the economy expanded, corporations pocketed the profits instead of sharing them with the workers who generated them."

"As much as Americans struggle now, McConnell’s refusal to assist states with pandemic costs would create more hardship....As the pandemic death toll mounts and states struggle to keep the lights on, McConnell is focused on one thing—capitalizing on the crisis at the expense of working Americans."

State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Wiggins is a USW member. Like all of us who pack union cards, he has voted for winning and losing candidates in primaries.

"But if your candidate loses in a primary, you can’t take your ball and go home,” he said.

He's right.

McGrath, Booker and Broihier are good on our issues, another reason the state AFL-CIO COPE Committee opted for "no recommendation."

Broihier was a political newcomer. But in 2018, the state AFL-CIO endorsed Booker in his House race and McGrath in her unsuccessful bid to unseat Rep. Andy Barr, a union-buster in the McConnell mold.

We know what’s at stake on Nov. 3. We know that if you get mad because your candidate didn't win and you “take your ball and go home,” you’re helping reelect Moscow Mitch as sure as if you voted for him. 

"My way or the highway" thinking is a dead-end road.