Maine AFL-CIO Endorses Graham Platner for U.S. Senate

PHOTO: Graham Platner speaks at the Maine AFL-CIO's press conference on May Day.

The Maine AFL-CIO announced our endorsement of Graham Platner for the U.S. Senate at a May Day press conference in Portland last Friday. Union workers from across Maine spoke about why Graham Platner is the most pro-worker candidate in this race and poised to defeat Senator Susan Collins in November. You watch a video of the press conference here.

“The Maine AFL-CIO is endorsing Graham Platner for U.S. Senate because he will fight for working people and challenge the billionaires and corporations who dominate our political system. Graham shares our vision of building a movement where working people get the basics of a good life. He will be the strongest voice for working-class Mainers in Washington D.C. Graham has centered workers in his campaign and repeatedly showed up for us in our fights for fair wages and safe working conditions,” said Matt Schlobohm, Maine AFL-CIO. “For decades, billionaires and corporations have used our political system to consolidate wealth and power at the expense of the working class. As Mainers struggle to pay for basic necessities like groceries, housing and health care, Senator Susan Collins has voted time after time to enrich the 1 percent and starve our communities of resources. Senator Collins has cast key votes to defund our collapsing rural health care system and eliminate healthcare coverage for thousands of Mainers in order to lavish more tax cuts for billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

“May Day is a day where workers celebrate their power, celebrate a history that shows that solidarity and organization is what builds power for working people throughout history,” said Graham Platner. “The only time that we ever move the ball forward for justice and equality, the only time that we create policies that are better for working folks is when working people organize and fight for it. That is the legacy of the labor movement in the United States, and so it is with utmost pride and honor that I receive this endorsement today.”

“Nurses believe that healthcare should be free for everyone at the point of service. Graham does, too,” said Janel Crowley, a registered nurse at Maine Medical Center and member of the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. “Nurses believe that there should be enforceable limits on the number of patients that a nurse can be forced to take during a shift. So does Graham. Nurses believe that the secret police force known as ICE is beyond repair or redemption and must be abolished to protect our civil rights. Graham shares that belief, as well. Graham’s likely opponent in the general election, however, shares none of our values. When she could have protected women’s right to control their own bodies, Susan Collins cast the deciding vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. As low a bar as one might think it is to name and shame this current administration for its atrocities at home and abroad, Susan Collins never has and never will. Graham does, every day.”

“For the last sixteen months, our work lives at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard have been in chaos. We’ve had attack after attack from this Administration. Collective bargaining rights illegally repealed, contracts negated, rules and protocols ignored, hundreds of workers leaving through a DOGE exit. Morale has never been lower,” said Nick Janes of South Berwick, a third generation shipyard worker and member of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 4. “As a union, we support Graham Platner because when you are facing attacks, you have to get organized and fight back. Graham shares that vision. He has served our country, he stands with working people and he is offering something different – a vision where we save ourselves, where we organize together to win the world that every working person in Maine deserves. That’s different from Susan Collins’ vision. We have pictures of Susan Collins meeting with us back in the day. But in the last few years she refuses to even meet with us. We know whose side she is on; she is not on the side of workers. There is no amount of ‘concern’ or ‘disappointment’ from our Senator that changes the constant attacks, the deteriorating living standards and the disrespect from this Administration.”

“I am here because Graham Platner is dedicated to helping the United States Postal Service. Each year half a million workers strive to ensure the safe delivery of 112 billion pieces of mail, and 7 billion packages into American homes,” said mail carrier Traczie Bellanger, a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers and member of the Maine AFL-CIO Executive Board. “This institution is currently, and has been under attack for decades by those who wish to destabilize it, sever it into pieces, and sell it off to the highest bidders. These threats I believe can be stopped in their tracks with collective action. Collective action is the bread and butter of Platner’s campaign. Together we can not only save the USPS, we can build it a better future.”

Graham Platner has racked up union endorsements over the past several months from:

• Ironworkers Local 7
• Maine State Council of Machinists
• IFPTE Legislative Education Action Program (LEAP), Political Action Committee (PAC)
• National Nurses United
• Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA)
• APWU Local 458
• IBEW Local 2327
• UAW, UAW Region 9A, UAW Maine CAP Council
• Maine State Council of Building and Construction Trades
• North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters (NASRCC)
• NPMHU Local 301
• Carpenters Local 349
• Carpenters Local 352
• Millwrights Local 1121
• Massachusetts & Northern New England Laborers’ District Council
• LiUNA Local 327
• LiUNA Local 668
• LiUNA Local 976
• IUPAT District Council 35
• Teamsters Local 340

On Saturday, the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters (NASRCC) announced its endorsement of Graham Platner in Portland. Platner was enthusiastically welcomed by Maine members of Carpenters Local 349 and Interior Systems Local 352. He talked about the eroding confidence of American workers in a political system dominated by money and full of people who "have never had callouses on their hands."

The Maine Senate race will play an important role in national politics, as the balance of power in both the US House of Representatives and Senate could shift. Platner's campaign is putting working class people and their issues at the center of the race. Platner strongly supports prevailing wages, project labor agreements on publicly funded construction projects and the PRO Act, which would strengthen collective bargaining rights, crack down on union busters and repeal anti-union right-work-for-less laws.