COLUMBUS, Ohio – Calling Sen. Sherrod Brown a steadfast ally of working people, AFSCME President Lee Saunders joined other union presidents at a rally here Monday to urge union members to fight hard to return the veteran Ohio lawmaker to the U.S. Senate in November.
Saunders, a native of Cleveland who graduated from Ohio and Ohio State universities, told nearly 300 members of AFSCME and other unions that Brown deserves another term because he has “delivered for us constantly, he has fought for us every single day.”
“Now it is our turn to fight for him. Are you ready?” Saunders said to applause and cheers.
He ticked off what union members must do between now and Election Day to make sure Brown wins the tight race against Bernie Moreno, who is backed by wealthy corporate interests.
“All of us are family here. All of us understand the importance of this election. All of us know what we must do. And what we must do is to organize and mobilize and educate our members and communities across this great state,” Saunders said. “We’ve got to knock on those doors every single day. We’ve got to make those phone calls. We’ve got to talk to folks and urge them to vote. We have got to do everything we can to make sure that Sherrod Brown returns to Washington, D.C.”
Brown said four billionaires are spending a combined $40 million to defeat him, making his race the most expensive in the nation’s history.
“I’d rather have all of you than I would the four billionaires,” Brown said to cheers. “My career in the Senate has always been about standing up for the dignity of labor and standing up for workers.”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said union members and their families are particularly influential in Ohio because they make up 20% of the state’s electorate. She urged union members to step up their efforts to reelect Brown, whose victory could be pivotal in ensuring pro-worker lawmakers retain control of the Senate after November.
“This is the state that the road to the Senate passes through,” Shuler said. “Union members are the difference-makers.”
Other speakers included the presidents of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the National Education Association (NEA), and the Ohio AFL-CIO.
AFSCME members who attended the rally, held at the hall of the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 189, praised Brown as the genuine article.
Joe Wing, a member of OCSEA Retirees and the treasurer of Retirees Chapter 2513, knocked on doors and canvassed for Brown for several days leading up to the rally.
He said many union members who draw benefits from the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) are counting on Brown to eliminate the Government Pension Offset and “Windfall” Elimination Provisions (GPO-WEP) from federal law. Brown has introduced legislation that would do just that. The twin provisions steeply cut Social Security benefits that public service workers earned from previous work in the private sector or receive as survivor’s benefits.
“He’s working hard to get regular citizens … everything that they’re entitled to,” said Wing, who has also contributed to Brown’s campaign. “The dignity of work is a slogan he lives by.”