By BERRY CRAIG
AFT Local 1630
State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan doubtless was speaking for thousands of Kentuckians who pack union cards when he praised John Yarmuth as his "favorite congressman of all time."
Londrigan lives near Frankfort. So he isn't in Yarmuth's district, which encompasses most of Louisville and Jefferson County. I'm a Yarmuth fan, too, though I live in Arlington, almost as far west as Kentucky goes. I'm 250 miles from the Falls City and its environs.
Yarmuth was among featured speakers at the recent virtual Workers' Rights Town Hall. Hosted by our friends at the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, the event was emceed by state Rep. McKenzie Cantrell, D-Louisville, one of labor's few good friends in Frankfort these days.
Yarmuth and other panelists discussed the potential impact of federal infrastructure bills on Kentucky workers and their families statewide. Londrigan noted that President Joe Biden often talks about the tens of thousands of union jobs the legislation would create.
In his presentation, Londrigan hailed Yarmuth for co-sponsoring the PRO Act and for his longstanding "support for working people and for organized labor."
Yarmuth has been union-endorsed every time he's run. He's voted the union position on issues 98 percent of the time since 2007, when he was first sworn in as the Third District representative. (Taken together, Kentucky's five Republican congressmen average 14 percent; GOP Sens Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, score 12 percent each.)
A solid progressive across the board, Yarmuth earned an A (97 percent) on the most recent NAACP Civil Rights Legislative Report Card. (All seven Kentucky Republicans on Capitol Hill made F's.)
Yarmuth and Cantrell are more proof, as it were needed, that "elections have consequences," as Londrigan often says. That's especially true if you or a family member belong to a union.
Click here to watch a video featuring Yarmuth and his remarks.