Tim Burga, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss his reelection at the Ohio AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention, the federation's endorsed candidates and the mobilization effort heading into the Nov. 3 election.
Burga and Secretary-Treasurer Melissa Cropper were reelected during the convention, which Burga said provided a six-week springboard into the November election. He compared the energy in the room to the 2006 election in Ohio, when the desire for change at the state level produced significant political shifts. He praised International Union of Painters and Allied Trades International President Jimmy Williams Jr. as a standout convention speaker who commanded the room and spoke directly about the state of the economy, immigration policy and the need for change in the U.S. Congress and in Ohio's statewide races.
On voter protection, Burga said the federation will deploy poll observers on Election Day alongside its door-knocking operation and will work with community and good-government groups to address any systemic voting concerns. Top endorsements include Dr. Amy Acton for governor, Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate, incumbent Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Emilia Sykes, Congressman Greg Landsman and Ironworker Brian Poindexter for Ohio’s Congressional District 7. Canvas efforts are running from locations in Cleveland, Columbus, Canton, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Akron and Youngstown, he added.
Tim Burga joined the podcast after recently being reelected president of the Ohio AFL-CIO at the biennial constitutional convention held last month in Columbus alongside Melissa Cropper, who was elected secretary-treasurer.
He described the convention as a strong event with significant speakers, where business was conducted, and resolutions were passed. He characterized it as a springboard into the November election rather than an endpoint.
Burga drew a comparison between what he felt at the convention and what he experienced in 2006, a midterm election year that produced significant political change in Ohio, including the passage of a state minimum wage ballot measure. Twenty years later, much has changed, but he said the underlying dynamic is familiar. People who are not seeing or feeling the economic conditions they need are fed up with government corruption and are channeling that frustration into a desire for change.
The energy he described was not just frustration. It was clarity about the candidates the federation is backing and a genuine motivation to do the work. That includes going door to door, writing letters to the editor, distributing local union mail and putting the facts in front of members and neighbors. He said that when you look at the facts, the case for change at the state and federal levels becomes clear.
Burga singled out IUPAT International President Jimmy Williams Jr. as the convention's standout speaker. Williams commanded the room, he said. He was no-nonsense, straight to the point and speaking truth to power. Williams addressed the state of the economy, what Burga characterized as extremism in current immigration policy, and, from his membership's perspective, why a change in the U.S. Congress and in Ohio's governor and state legislative races is urgently needed. Burga said the room was riveted.
Burga also addressed the voter protection work the federation will be doing on Election Day alongside its voter turnout operation. The Ohio AFL-CIO is working with community groups and good-government organizations to deploy poll observers and build immediate-response capabilities if problems arise. He admitted he doesn’t know what will happen, but the federation is prepared for just about anything, given what has come from the current White House, and that organized labor's role includes ensuring workers can vote without intimidation or fear.
On Election Day, the federation will be doing two things simultaneously: going door to door to remind people that it is Election Day and to turn out the vote, and deploying poll observers to watch for anything out of line or out of order.
Burga reviewed the federation's top endorsements and the logic behind them. At the top of the ticket are Dr. Amy Acton and David Pepper for governor and Sherrod Brown for US Senate. The governor's race carries the most structural weight: Burga said installing Acton as governor would create the conditions for bipartisan progress on working family issues, and that breaking the Republican supermajority in the Ohio House is the complementary objective.
At the congressional level, the federation is working to protect labor allies Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Congresswoman Emilia Sykes and Congressman Greg Landsman and to elect ironworker Brian Poindexter in Congressional District 7, which Burga said the federation believes can be won.
The ground game to deliver those outcomes is running from locations in eight Ohio cities: Cleveland, Columbus, Canton, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Akron and Youngstown. Workers and volunteers are at the doors every day and in workplaces, talking to union families and their neighbors about the endorsed candidates and the issues that matter most.
More information on the Ohio AFL-CIO and its endorsed candidates is available at ohioaflcio.org.
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