Missouri AFL-CIO Announces Key Endorsements

Steelworker Joseph Fallert Jr. attended the meeting. He is a candidate for re-election as a state representative.

Randy Kiser, state director of the Missouri AFL-CIO, reports on the state federation’s endorsements for the 2008 election.

The Missouri AFL-CIO Executive Board met in Jefferson City yesterday to vote on candidate endorsements for the November ’08 election.

Board members unanimously voted to endorse Jay Nixon (the current Missouri state attorney general) for governor of Missouri.

Following the vote, Nixon gave a brief speech thanking the board for its endorsement, as well as the support he has received from the AFL-CIO throughout his public career. He expressed appreciation for the union movement’s assistance in defeating the Voter ID requirement and regressive Worker Compensation legislation. (The Voter ID law was stopped in the state Senate when the legislative session ended. This month, state legislators also defeated a proposal to gut a workers’ compensation fund.) Nixon asked those present to reach out to their members as they have in the past and do the hard work to aid in his election. He stated that he feels good about where his campaign is now and the Democrat’s chances of winning not just his race, but others in November. He looks forward to Missouri becoming a state that respects union membership and our freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.

During these difficult economic times, Missouri’s working families are getting squeezed. As governor, I’ll stand up against the special interests and stand for those regular Missourians who roll up their sleeves and work hard every day.

Nixon made a commitment to help unions organize and expand their membership and said he will make health care a priority in his term of office, stating that the crisis in health is worse in Missouri than in most other states.

Joseph Fallert Jr., a board member representing the United Steelworkers (USW), is one of the endorsed candidates. He is running for re-election as a state representative. He said health care would drive union members to the polls in November.

The key issue is the rising cost of health care and John McCain’s plan to tax it. Working families will have to choose between health care and other things necessary to sustain a normal life.

Other candidates the board voted to endorse included: Sam Page for lieutenant governor, Robin Carnahan for secretary of state and Clint Zweifel for state treasurer. Candidates for state representative, state Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives also were endorsed by the board.

The Missouri AFL-CIO has held several political training and meetings on health care this spring to get its members mobilized for the 2008 election. Unions and other affiliates represented at the meeting included: AFGE, AFSCME, ATU, Building and Construction Trades Department, CLUW, IBEW, SEIU, SMWIA, UA, UFCW and USW. Central labor council presidents for Kansas City and St. Louis were present as well as the Missouri legislative chair, Missouri AFL-CIO president and the secretary-treasurer.

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Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

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