Maine AFL-CIO Endorses Matt Dunlap for Congress in Maine's Second Congressional District
The Maine AFL-CIO has endorsed Matt Dunlap in the open race for Maine's 2nd Congressional District. We are endorsing Dunlap because of his track record supporting workers, his commitment to economic justice and workers’ rights and a commitment to make progress on key issues like passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, fighting for Medicare for All, and making sure we live in a country where people who work for a living have family supporting wages and benefits, the ability to retire with dignity, and the right to join a union and collectively bargain. The PRO Act, the strongest piece of pro-labor legislation since the New Deal.
"Falling union density has been a direct cause of rising economic inequality over the past five decades. When unions are strong, they set wage standards for entire industries and occupations, turning bad jobs into good jobs." said Cynthia Phinney, President of the Maine AFL-CIO. "We are excited to work with Matt Dunlap to strengthen workers' rights, beat back attacks on federal workers' collective bargaining rights and address the pocketbook issues affecting working Mainers - housing, healthcare, childcare and more."
In June Dunlap addressed union members at the Maine AFL-CIO COPE convention, where he pledged to fight for worker protections in Washington by actively supporting pro-labor legislation, specifically pointing to the PRO Act.
"Matt Dunlap gets it. He knows it is wrong that the Trump administration is stripping away collective bargaining rights from federal workers. In Congress Matt will fight alongside Maine workers to build a country where all working people are treated fairly, with decent paychecks and benefits, safe jobs, dignity, and equal opportunities" said Grant Provost, Vice-President of the Maine AFL-CIO.
"I was a proud union member for ten years, and my family is union through and through—so I know firsthand that unions are how working families get ahead," said Dunlap in accepting our endorsement. "I'm honored to have the Maine AFL-CIO in our corner, and I'm excited to bring our union-first values to Washington and fight for the working families who built this state. Paul LePage would do the opposite: he'd gut our unions just like he gutted Medicaid for working families here in Maine. LePage would be a rubber-stamp the policies coming out of Washington that are driving up costs on everything from groceries to gas. Maine workers deserve a fighter, not another politician who sells them out."