“Elections have consequences,” former Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan is ever-reminding Kentucky union members from Jordan to Jenkins.
On Thursday, the national AFL-CIO provided proof that Londrigan is right. The country’s largest labor organization unveiled its 2023 Legislative Scorecard.
“This voting record lets you know where your lawmakers stand on issues important to working families, including strengthening Social Security and Medicare, freedom to join a union, improving workplace safety, and more,” says the scorecard webpage.
“Each year, the policy experts here at the AFL-CIO tally up all the votes that your U.S. House and Senate members took in Congress the previous year and then we release our AFL-CIO Legislative Scorecard – the definitive grade of whether your representative voted to protect or take away your rights,” explained the email that came with the ratings.
“How did your representative vote in 2023?” the email asked and invited union members to see for themselves.
Of late, Republicans have been claiming they, not the Democrats, are the blue collar, pro-worker party. The scorecard strongly suggests otherwise. The ratings for Kentucky lawmakers are typical of ratings in other states.
Senators and representatives are scored on a scale of 0 to 100 percent. Here’s how Kentucky’s two senators and six representatives voted on key worker bills and were rated on a scale of 0 to 100 percent.
| Chamber | Elected | Party | 2023 Score | Lifetime Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Mitch McConnell | R | 0% | 17% |
| Senate | Rand Paul | R | 0% | 10% |
| House | James Comer | R | 10% | 12% |
| House | Brett Guthrie | R | 10% | 12% |
| House | Morgan McGarvey | D | 100% | 100% |
| House | Thomas Massie | R | 10% | 15% |
| House | Hal Rogers | R | 10% | 15% |
| House | Andy Barr | R | 10% | 10% |
In a statement, McGarvey thanked “the Kentucky State AFL-CIO for leading the charge for workers’ rights across our Commonwealth and our country. From record wins at UPS and Ford, Kentucky has been at the epicenter of the labor movement, and I stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters in labor as we keep pushing for fair pay, safe working conditions, and the right to organize.”
The late J.R. Gray of Benton, a longtime Democratic state representative, Machinists Union official, and Kentucky labor secretary said, “History will tell you that the Democrats ramrodded every meaningful piece of legislation for the benefit of working people.”
Naturally, he was partial to his party. But the brand new Legislative Report Card proves him right. Londrigan, too.
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