Cincinnati
AFL-CIO
Labor Council
Friday, October 23, 2020 Special Edition
The Closing Argument
The labor movement continues to lead the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to fight for economic opportunity and social justice for America’s workers.
Over 2.5 Million Union Votes Already Cast
President Richard Trumka
As of Tuesday of this week, more than 2.5 million union household members have already voted. It’s clear union members and our families understand what’s at stake in this election. Four more years of crisis and chaos, or a better way forward with Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris at the helm. The choice couldn’t be clearer. We know there is a better day within our grasp, a day when all workers are treated with dignity and are safe on the job. Union members and working families across America are ready for a change. We’re ready for that better day. Join us on Friday as we kick off the final weekend of campaigning before the election.
Watch Trumka On MSNBC

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) joined MSNBC on Wednesday to discuss the need to control the pandemic, the administration's failure to keep workers safe and the importance of protecting our democracy.
 Join the AFL-CIO’s Get-Out-the-Vote Campaign Kickoff
Join AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) as we kick off the get-out-the-vote, or “GOTV,” weekend. Click here to register for this important event on Friday, Oct. 30, at 2 p.m. ET.
"Joe Biden will invest in our communities..."
The Newest in a Series of Videos From Senator Sherrod Brown
After four years of President Trump’s empty promises and phony populism, we need Joe Biden in the White House governing through the eyes of workers and fighting for policies that honor the Dignity of Work. Sherrod is releasing a new video every day this week to highlight why Joe is the right choice for workers and unions and what Joe will do to empower Ohio workers and get Ohioans back to work safely.

“Joe has a plan to put people back to work, at actual living wages, and to give people power over their lives and schedules. He wants to strengthen workers' positions at the bargaining table, and to actually invest in our communities”
- Sherrod Brown

Together, we’ve built an strong and unified grassroots movement. We’re hearing stories of union workers texting Sherrod’s videos to their friends, family, and union sisters and brothers. And throughout this election, we’ve seen grassroots activists in every corner of Ohio and the country chip in to fight for Joe and our progressive values.

We need to keep our momentum going. We need to keep sharing, texting, and contributing. We need to give these final moments before Election Day everything we’ve got.

Please take a moment now to watch Sherrod’s videos and share them on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you,
Team Sherrod
Our Vote is Our Voice
by Randi Weingarten
Our vote is our voice. If we want to change the course of our country and build a better future for all Americans, we need to make sure Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win this election. To do that, we need to make sure that we vote in numbers too big to rig and then, of course, count every vote.

I’m encouraging everyone to make a plan for voting. Given the spiking rates of COVID-19 across the country, in large part because of President Trump’s refusal to take the virus seriously, voting early in person or by mail may be the safest way to vote. Over 50 million people have opted to vote that way. By voting before Nov. 3, we can keep lines short for people who must vote that day and give states more time to count every vote.


You know the stakes of this election are high. You know we need leadership to address the five concurrent crises that our country is experiencing and that have been made worse by Trump: COVID-19, the economic recession, systemic racism, climate change and threats to our democracy. You know he has refused to help schools reopen safely. You know he has nominated a justice to the Supreme Court who will not commit to protecting healthcare and Americans with pre-existing conditions. The best way to make change right now is to vote.

Because many states will not start counting their mail ballots until Election Day, we will probably not know the results of this election on Nov. 3. Trump knows that and has consistently worked to cast doubt on this election and undermine the results. In many states, the Republican Party is actively working to suppress the vote by restricting when ballots can be counted, closing polling places, limiting ballot drop-off locations and more.

With the deadlines and rules for voting in flux, it’s imperative that we plan to vote early if possible. We must make sure our voices are heard. And we must encourage our friends, families and communities to do the same. We cannot be afraid of the bullying or intimidation that Trump and his allies are threatening. I plan to vote early in New York City this Sunday, and I encourage you to do the same if you can.


In unity,
Randi Weingarten

(Randi Weingarten is an American labor leader, attorney, and educator. She is president of the American Federation of Teachers and a member of the AFL–CIO. She is the former president of the United Federation of Teachers.)
"What working people need and deserve"
by Tim Burga
Let me start by recognizing the heroic job our essential and front-line workers are doing. They deserve our praise, our full support to keep them safe and to be rewarded for their service as they continue to help deliver us through this pandemic.

Not only does Donald Trump not seem interested in what a great job our workforce is doing, he has failed to lead us in a national strategy to combat the virus. It is clear that he wasn’t prepared for this pandemic when he should have been, and still has no comprehensive plan to deal with it. The president himself said he takes no responsibility and has been wishing it away from the outset.
So here we are eight months later with a major surge in Covid-19 cases – 203,000 cases with 5,239 deaths here in Ohio.

What would Joe Biden do as president to lead us during this time of crises?  First, he would provide relief and support to those working on the front lines and those that are suffering. It has been more than five months since the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Heroes Act and Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell still refuse to provide needed aid to help keep workers on the job, assist those laid off, extend healthcare coverage, provide housing and food benefits. Joe Biden understands that this relief is urgent and as president will make it happen.
Joe Biden will make it his priority to keep us safe at work by hiring more OSHA inspectors as we have the lowest amount of safety and health inspectors since inception of the agency. He would change this, and he would see to it that an emergency workplace infectious disease standard is put in place.

What we need is real leadership and a consistent, coherent plan from the White House. Joe Biden will take charge and take responsibility in the handling of this pandemic and in doing so his decisions will be informed by science and public health professionals. This is a dramatic and needed shift from what we have seen play out over the last eight months. You can be sure that he will not play politics with this pandemic and we will be able to trust what he says.
"What we need is real leadership..."
Let me address three other areas related to this health crisis that are critical, and that Joe Biden will address:

1. He would fix all of the inconsistencies and errors with Covid-19 testing and tracing.

2. He would fix the failure to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This means he will take responsibility for a unified federal solution and will fully implement the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of masks, face shields, testing and medical supplies so that the national supply of PPE exceeds demand and our stockpile is fully replenished.

In doing so Joe Biden will rebuild our domestic manufacturing capability to produce our own PPE and not depend on China or any other country to keep us safe and for our healthcare supplies.  This is not a Democrat or Republican problem but an American problem that we can solve right here at home.

3. Joe Biden will rebuild and expand the governing systems and federal offices that Trump has dismantled to predict, prevent, and mitigate pandemic threats. 

In closing, Joe Biden wants to get all Americans back to work, but he wants to do it safely and he has real plans to get it done. He will level with the American people about the facts and call on us to come together to do what’s necessary to get us through this crisis. Joe Biden will do it by working with governors, mayors, unions, and businesses, regardless of politics, so we are talking and acting with one voice. 

Joe Biden knows that we are stronger together and that’s how he will tackle this health crisis and govern his administration. This is what working people need and deserve and why we support Joe Biden for president.
Burga: ‘We’re Moving the Dial’ in This Election
President Tim Burga (USW) of the Ohio AFL-CIO was featured in a CNN piece on Vice President Joe Biden’s path to the White House, running through the Midwest and Great Lakes states. Burga told political analyst Ronald Brownstein: “Four years ago, our members, too many of them, voted for Trump. Maybe it was because they didn't like Hillary Clinton or maybe it was because they thought an outsider would shake things up or maybe he would deliver the promises he made.” Now, he said, “We are having zero pushback whatsoever with Joe Biden as our endorsed candidate. We are definitely going to move the dial in terms of non-college voters that voted for Trump moving over to the Biden column.”
"We have a once in a lifetime chance to elect a true Labor President" by Sean Grayson
I have voted in a number of presidential elections over the years but there has never been a true labor candidate on the ballot in my lifetime until Joe Biden. Joe Biden understands workers and working families because he came from a working-class community. Joe Biden saw how important a union card was to people he grew up with – it meant higher wages, health care coverage, safety, equality, a brighter future for your kids and a secure retirement. If you listen to Joe Biden or read his platform, these are the very things Joe promises he will fight for as President.
 
Joe Biden has a plan to get the pandemic under control and turn our economy around. He has a plan to heavily invest in infrastructure improvements, manufacturing, and new technology in Ohio and across the country to create millions of new good paying union jobs that will put people back to work. Joe Biden will increase the minimum wage and give millions more workers the ability to earn overtime pay. He will protect Social Security and Medicare and strengthen, not gut, the Affordable Care Act so that Americans with pre-existing conditions can continue to have health insurance coverage. Finally, Joe Biden has a plan to give more workers the opportunity to join a union, engage in collective bargaining with their co-workers and improve their economic well-being.
 
We have a once in a lifetime chance to elect a true labor President in Joe Biden. Let’s make sure that it happens. We also need to elect Judges Jennifer Brunner and John P. O’Donnell to the Ohio Supreme Court to bring an end to gerrymandering in Ohio. We can all make a difference this year by voting and encouraging everyone we know to vote!
 
(Sean Grayson is the president of AFSCME Ohio Council 8, the chairman of the Ohio AFSCME Care Plan and the Ohio AFSCME Legal Services Plan, and he serves as a vice president of the Ohio AFL-CIO. - sgrayson@afscme8.org)
A Few Points For You To Consider
from Mike Knisley
(Mike Knisley is Secretary/Treasurer, Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council - Mike@ohiostatebtc.org)
Politics and Voting (Blah, Blah, Blah)
by Bill Froehle
Brothers and Sisters in Labor,

I like many of you grew up in a family that valued the importance of a person’s word, their handshake and also their moral compass. My parents taught my siblings and me the necessity of civic involvement by all citizens if we wanted to see the change we were seeking or issues that needed to be addressed in society. To me this has always been the price we pay for living in the greatest country on earth.

This election is once again an election like no other and the choices we make this year will have lasting effects on our ability to live, work and raise a family in a working class environment. Organized Labor has been attacked repeatedly by people and organizations who feel that the money and benefits we earn are far more than we deserve. These attacks have been orchestrated to divide us by race, religion, sexual preference, union affiliation and even by generational disparity. The would be attackers like to hide behind laws such as “Citizens United” and “Right to Work” as they continually erode the middle class in this country. Their agenda to disenfranchise the working class and to stop them from voting has become more blatant with every election cycle.

I am writing today imploring you to not fall into their trap.

There are many issues that we as a free nation do not agree on. Abortion, Gun Rights, Immigration etc. are all issues that are hot button topics that fire up many Americans. Could you imagine if we were as fired up over politicians who are trying to strip away our very right to bargain collectively for a fair days pay and a secure retirement?

From the School house all the way to the White House we need to elect leaders who are able to work together with others who may not share their point of view on every issue. The art of compromise is something that has been sorely lacking at almost every level of government and it is up to us, the voters to make changes that will have a positive effect on our lives and society going forward.

Local 392 like many other Local unions makes it a point to vet any politician who contacts us asking for our financial support as well as our members vote. Politicians in our universe are asked what their stance is on issues like Prevailing Wage, Right to Work laws, Independent contracting and many other construction and labor union issues. If their answers are not what we expect we do not support them. We put out a letter listing politicians who have passed our litmus test and we ask our members to consider voting for them. As a free country we all have the same ability to make the choices that we personally feel are best for ourselves and our families and we make that clear in every communication.

The premise behind this is that every American has the choice to voice their opinion on the First Tuesday in November. Voting is one avenue where the vote of the janitor means just as much as the vote of the CEO, but only if the janitor and the CEO put forth the effort to vote. Tuesday November 3rd will be our next chance to elect leaders who share the ideals that organized labor has fought for since our founding. I urge you to take a closer look at the politicians on your ballot and to please consider a vote for candidates with labors core issues as part of their platform. There is dignity in all labor and it is high time that our elected officials are reminded of it.

In Solidarity,
William E. Froehle

(Bill Froehle is Business Manager for Plumbers, Pipefitters & Mechanical Equipment Service Local Union No. 392 and President of Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council - bill@local392.com )
"Lessons / values I learned from my parents"
by Pete McLinden
Last August, I took huge leap of faith and became the head coach of my son’s Catholic school football team! Eleven under-sized boys, ages from 5 to 8, who play with a lot of heart and leave it all on the field. Best decision I’ve made in a long time and I’m learning a lot from these young men! ith less than four days until Tuesday, November 3rd, the 2020 Election reminds me of the same lessons/values that I learned from my parents and that I teach my players.
 
First: “Play hard, and don’t stop until the whistle blows.” We’ve all lived through the current election for the past twelve months, through a long primary, a dangerous health pandemic and a devastating economic crisis negatively impacting millions of America’s working families. Today, we are under the two-minute warning, and despite what any polls may predict, we all must keep fighting to elect pro-union and pro-democratic, Labor-endorsed candidates who will fight for us in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Columbus and in Washington, D.C.! To accomplish this goal, we must strongly encourage our members, their families and friends, to vote all the way down the voting ballot, from President of the United States through all of the Hamilton County offices and judgeships, including Issue 17 – Cincinnati Public Schools/Pre-School Promise renewal levy!
 
Second lesson/value: “If you are not giving a hit, you are taking a hit.” Looking back over the last three and a half years, unions and working families are taking too many hits from President Trump and the corrupt cronies in his administration and Congress. Trump delivered on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s top ten wish list; turned the NLRB into a corporate-run/anti-union and anti-worker agency; created unsafe workplaces and working conditions by defunding OSHA; weakened and attacked public schools/education through unethical Department of Education leadership; gave large tax breaks to his super-rich friends and bailouts to big businesses, while creating large annual federal budget deficits and increasing our national debt by trillions of dollars; attacks against affordable, middle-class health insurance with no healthcare plan from Republicans; and finally, appointed extreme, anti-worker federal judges who consistently rule in favor of big business/corporate interests and against the rights of individual Americans and workers. Well, sisters and brothers, we now have the opportunity to hit back against Trump and his corrupt cronies: It’s called Election day(season)! As of today, over 73 million Americans have casted their vote, by mail and in person. We are seeing record numbers of voter turnout and election activism, despite the unjust efforts of others to suppress the vote and intimidate voters. With your help this GOTV weekend, organized Labor will ensure that the U.S. voters will decide the outcome of this election, not any armed militias and not far right, extremist federal judges.
 
Third and finally this: “Leave it all on the field.” In previous election cycles, we’ve felt post-election regrets, experiencing what happens when we stop short and fail to cross the finish line. In 2000, we watched the U.S. Supreme Court order the State of Florida to stop counting its’ votes, allowing George W. Bush to become president (despite the proven fact that Al Gore actually did win Florida). In 2010, we watched as Republicans took back the Ohio governorship and statehouse, giving us the anti-worker Senate Bill 5 fight and the most gerrymandered, twisted representative districts in the country. In 2016, we stood by and watched Trump narrowly win the election by capturing Rust Belt/Midwest states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin) with a mere 80,000 vote difference (representing only 0.00032% of over 250 million votes casted in 2016)! So, my sisters and brothers, in year 2020, let’s keep working and fighting collectively together to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as the next President and Vice President of the United States! As AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler reminded me last week when she visited Cincinnati: When we stand together, when we fight together, we ultimately WIN together! Our hard work now, through election day and up to Inauguration Day (Wednesday, January 20th), will bring us real pro-union/pro-working families leadership in Ohio and Washington, D.C. that will desperately need and deserve, and help to create a powerful legacy for our children and future generations that we all can be proud of. Many years from now, our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, will ask all of us simply this: In 2020, what did you do to positively change the direction of our nation?
 
This simple but profound question, keeps me up every night, gets me out of bed every morning and motivates me to keep working hard throughout this challenging and unprecedented election cycle. In closing, I thank all of you for your hard work and support during the 2020 election season and for fighting on behalf of all working families!
 
In Solidarity, U and I . . .
Peter McLinden, Esq.
 
(Peter M. McLinden Esq. is a proud member of AFSCME Local 2461/Union Township, the Chair of the Greater Cincinnati Occupational Health Center (GCOHC), Board President of Cincinnati Labor Agency for Social Services, Treasurer for the Hamilton County Democratic Party, Chairperson/Commissioner - Cincinnati Civil Service Commission, Commissioner - Ohio Real Estate
Commission, former Commissioner - Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, and the Executive Secretary of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council. - pmclinden@cincinnatiaflcio.org)

"It is the bottom of the ninth, two outs."
by Fred Lampe
November 3, 2020 is almost here. It is the bottom of the ninth, two outs. It is fourth and goal with time running out. It is in the 89th minute on the pitch. You are at the free throw line with very little time on the clock. It is crunch time. I understand, you get tired of your Union Leaders telling you how to vote. You get tired of your Churches telling you how to vote. You get tired of politics in general. I get it. I am simply imploring you to vote. If your views are like mine, help a friend out and vote the way I did. If your views are the opposite of mine, you better get to the polls to cancel me out because I already voted. Look at it as though you are honoring all the Veterans who have guaranteed our right to vote. Please do your part.

Fred Lampe 

(Frederick E. Lampe is a member of the IBEW Local 212, the current Executive Secretary of Cincinnati Building Trades, and a member of Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council Executive Committee. - executive.secretary@gcbctc.com)
"...reminding you of the importance of this year’s election for working families"
by Rick Fischer
Fellow union members in the Cincinnati area. I hope you and your families are all doing well.

I wanted to reach out in this week’s newsletter reminding you of the importance of this year’s election for working families and union households. I understand we all come from different backgrounds, faiths, and mindsets and that is what makes all our unions the awesome diverse Brotherhoods that they have become.

I am hopeful that when you vote this election cycle you remember what is at stake. The Republicans are coming after our Pensions, they want to stop insurance companies from having to cover people with pre-existing conditions, they would love to end Project Labor Agreements and Prevailing Wage by passing “Right-to-Work” legislation (Ohio) and many other union busting laws.

Our basic rights as union members is the ability to negotiate for the wages, benefits, and conditions we work hard for every day. The only thing keeping these rights ours is the labor friendly candidates that we have the opportunity to vote for during elections. Your union leaders spend a lot of time talking to and asking questions of these candidates to make sure they are of the same mindset as the Brotherhoods we are a part of.

All the Local Unions have given out an endorsed list of Labor/Union friendly candidates. I hope you take the information they have sent you and the time needed to vote. Your Unions, your families and your communities need you to VOTE to help further the causes of the Cincinnati AFL/CIO and our local Building Trades Unions as they continue to strengthen the middle class.

Fraternally,
Rick Fischer

(Rick Fischer is Business Manager for IBEW Local 212, and a member of Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council Executive Committee, and a member of the board of directors for The Port, a community and economic development agency that mends broken real estate to promote job creation, homeownership, and equitable development throughout Hamilton County. - rick@local212.com )
Think About Those That Came Before Us
by Jeff King
Do we, as union members take time to think about those that came before us? They are the ones that did the hard work to fight for the rights that we freely enjoy. The right to vote is one of the most powerful tools that we have in our tool bag.

Have you exercised your right to vote yet? Please do not waste the opportunity you have, via your vote, to make positive change. Your vote does matter!

I am not sure how or why we have become a country where we are so polarized that people with differing opinions no longer are able to have an intelligent conversation without retreating to the safety of their own view. I have always felt that it is this Country’s’ diversity that makes us great. For our personal health and well being and for the much-needed healing of this country we need to find common ground and focus on shared goals. We are more alike than we are different from each other!

Everybody who is reading this article has at least one thing in common, you are reading this because you are a member of a union, or care about the wellbeing of unions. Union membership should by the very principles that they was founded on, be unifying.

I believe in this union!

I believe in the union movement!

I believe in the brotherhood and sisterhood of being union!

I also believe that we cannot survive and thrive without being unified. This brings me to an uncomfortable conversation about politics and union leadership. As you know the election is here and I encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote.

When you enter the voting booth or cast your vote by mail that process is a personal choice. No one can tell you how to vote! Let us look at the process of how a candidate receives the endorsement of your international union. The endorsement is not based on a party it is based on what candidate will have memberships best interest at heart.

I understand many of you reading this article are Trump supporters and no one will change your mind about how to vote. Before you cast your ballot, I humbly ask you to consider how important your vote will be to helping this union stay strong!

I am seriously concerned about what this Country and what your union will look like if Donald Trump is re-elected. He is not on our side! Donald Trump has weakened OSHA, the Department of Labor, and appointed judges that have a union busting agenda. He has publicly stated that he is for National Right to Work legislation. The President, no matter what he professes is no friend to the working man.

I know that for some it is difficult to get excited about the Biden Harris ticket however please consider your vote in terms of pro-union or anti-union. The choice is clear!

Before ending this article, I need to address the fact that this election, as with every election, the importance of voting the whole ticket.

The strides that we have made locally to advance pro-labor issues would not have happened without having candidates elected that know and care about our issues. Without labor having friends at City Hall, and Hamilton County Commissioners, we would not have a Responsible Bidder Ordinance in place in the city. At the county level we would not have Community Develop Agreements on County projects that level the playing field for Union Contractors if not for our elected friends of labor.

Vote your conscious, vote on local issues, and vote for local candidates who support labor! Vote as if your life as a union member depends on it, it does!

In Solidarity,
Jeff King 

(Jeff King is Vice President of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 18 and a member of the Executive Board of Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council - jking@oadc.net)
"...a leader with character and compassion"
by Renita Jones-Street
With less than two weeks to go before the final votes are cast, AFSCME President Lee Saunders told us to make the case for a leader with character and compassion, someone with a long history of uniting people around shared values. Well, I'm here to tell you that man of character is Joe Biden. There has never been a more Labor-friendly, working family committed nominee running for the office of the President of the United States in my entire life.

They say that the office of the President doe snot change you, but it reveals who you are. Well that is certainly the case with the folk who currently reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500. It has flat out reveled who he is and what he stands for and I for one don't need to hear any more to know that one term of this man is more than enough.

But look at Joe Biden. He isn't even President and he acts more like one than the current one. And look what he did with the very first important decision he had to make to even run for the office. He chose Senator Kamal Harris as his running mate. You talk about putting your cards on the table...Kamala Harris has spent the better part of two decades in public life staking up a substantial record of firsts. She is the first Black woman to be elected district attorney in California history, first woman to be California’s attorney general, first Indian American senator, and now, the first Black woman and first Asian American to be picked as a vice presidential running mate on a major-party ticket. Folks, somethings just should not be overlooked or ignored, and his is one of them!

So, the real question is just how much more do you need to hear from President Donald Trump to know that one term for this lying, divisive, mentally incompetent, patriarchal, misogynistic, egomaniacal, racist, would-be dictator is one too many -- especially when Joe Biden is viewed as “patriotic, both passionate and compassionate, empathetic, honest, cool, intelligent, honorable, and most of all, a man of, by and for working families. He is as close to one of us as you are going to find. Its time. It's our time. Joe Biden and Kamal Harris are the most Labor friendly candidates for the highest offices in the land we have ever seen. Do not let this time go by. Get off the sidelines and get into the game. Go vote -- AND DO IT NOW!

(Renita Jones-Street is Regional Director of American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Ohio Council 8 and a member of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council Executive Board - rjonesstreet@afscme8.org)
"Vote to save us from this hell..."
by Dave Baker
As I look back at all the elections over the years, this has got to truly be the highest on the list for importance to me. There seems to be much more than just the usual fight for control of things this time. I wholeheartedly feel like this election will decide our moral compass and our standing with the rest of the world.

When I was younger, I can remember how so many countries used to look to us as a moral gauge. They saw how we were to one another and tried to repeat these behaviors in their countries. This is why we saw the break-up of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin wall. So many countries looked at America as a place of freedom of expression and a safe haven to those who had suffered misfortunes at the place of their birth.

Now as I listen to reports from other countries, we have become a disgrace. We are no longer free to express our beliefs since Trump has taken over. If you don’t believe me just type in your opinion on Facebook and watch how many people attack you. This comes from both sides, the far left and the far right. Unfortunately, though the President has chosen to make this acceptable behavior because this is what he does anytime someone speaks against him. 

Here’s a list of the things occurring since Trump took over as President:

  1. We have near record unemployment yet claims the economy is doing great. Then he states no help for you unless you re-elect me.
  2.  We have nightly protests in every major city and black men being slaughtered on a nightly basis. His solution is to send in troops to incite more violence.
  3. We have a virus killing thousands of our loved ones and he refuses to listen to scientists and doctors. He then claims victory over it because it didn’t kill him.
  4. We have a complete dismantling of the USPS, DOE, DOL, EPA, etc. which is his way of “draining the swamp”. When we lose these departments, his base will be richer and we will be a third world country.

Those were just of the bigger ones on the list but other things include women bashing, supporting white supremacist, attacking religious groups, and the worst one, making fun of the handicapped. This type of immoral behavior used to be unacceptable and to me it still is.

This election is about so much, but mostly it is about who we are as a country. We are better than this. We can do better than this. We can disagree on things but still find a compromise to make things work. We have got to vote with our morals this time and we have got to make our voices heard through our vote.

I just got a shirt that says “Vote Like Your Life Depends on It”. Never before have I felt that way but I do this time. I feel like not only my way of life but my life itself is in danger if this President and his cohorts are not removed from power. Elections have consequences and this election will determine if we lose our place in the world. The soul of this country is on the line so please Vote to help save us from this Hell. 

(Dave Baker is Business Manager / F.S. - T. Iron Workers Local Union #44 and a member of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council Executive Board - davebakeronline@gmail.com)
Five Days to Alter the Arch of the Universe
by Brian Griffin
Civil rights champion Martin Luther King, Jr. once delivered a powerful speech with this resonant line: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Beautiful, huh? We all love this great Martin Luther King, Jr. quote… But over the last decade or so, it has been repeated so many times by so many prominent and scholarly people that we forget, or rather look directly past, the inherent and intended risk it portends.
 
There is nothing magical about the arch of the moral universe and the inevitability that all of us just inexplicably arrive at a magnificent age of Freedom, Justice and Equality. If that were so, then we organizers, activists and agitators could all – in fact should all – just pack up our wears and get along home. After all, if the arc of the moral universe just inevitably bends toward justice, then all our work is foolish and wasteful, and Freedom, Justice and Equality are preordained. Right? Wrong… Let’s look at the origin of this quote…
 
When King said “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” he was actually referencing an earlier preacher – the abolitionist minister Theodore Parker and a portion of a sermon he delivered in 1853. What Parker said was “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight. I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice.”
 
However, out of its full context, as we have grown used to hearing it, this quotation has become a simplification that simply does not carry the full weight and meaning of what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was really saying that day. What Dr. King actually wrote was, “Evil may so shape events that Caesar will occupy a palace and Christ a cross,” He then further wrote, “but that same Christ will rise up and split history into A.D. and B.C., so that even the life of Caesar must be dated by his name.” 
 
In this fuller context, a more complete take-away of his meaning leaves us better understanding that Dr. King was telling us that bad things in fact do occur and bad people often prosper. The meaning should never be taken to presuppose that good will always ultimately triumph over evil. It does not. In fact, this quote should not leave us feeling comfortable or content with some mystical yet unseen reality that guarantees us justice. There is no unseen hand that will inevitably bring us to the place where all are will be free and equal.
 
On the contrary, Dr. King was calling us to engage – to remain engaged – to fight for right – to play a tangible, meaningful role in the change we seek. So, to the extent that the arch of the universe is bending toward justice, it does so only because a few brave and selfless people, over centuries and millennia, have stood up and demanded that it bend toward justice. They have made it bend by the conviction of their beliefs, and the might of their will to make it bend. And many, many have died doing so.
 
So, where does that leave us now. Well, as I opened…we have five days. Five little days to take our place among those both named and unnamed that have pressed their will on this long arc of history. What direction will we have it bend in this moment? Will we wield the conviction of our cause and the power of our will to bend this arch once again toward justice as described by Theodore Parker and then repeated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr?
 
Do we have the strength of our conviction to get out there and vote? Maybe even do more than merely vote. Maybe even make sure that everyone we know gets out there and votes? Maybe even help get a few we may not even know but need to get out there and vote and may not have the means or the strength to get up and go out and vote on their own? Because, if we do not engage and do the hard work of making this change happen, evil can and will prevail… Bad people do win… Justice and equality, while indeed our indisputable, irrefutable, human rights, throughout much of human history have been trampled into the dust of so many long vanished civilizations.
 
Yes, “The arc of the moral universe is long…” And because, to some extent, we have managed to push back the selfish and the greedy in more recent time, the great, long arch of the universe has been bending toward justice. However, do not fool yourself. Do not grow comfortable…or fat…or drunk with a sense of completion in work that is never done. The power-drunk, the selfish, the greedy are never fully vanquished, and Freedom, Justice and Equality are not a place we arrive, but a journey we take.

So, where will your journey take you today? Well, I say to you get up! Get out! Go Vote! Our time is now! Take a comfortable, lightweight folding chair. Take your umbrella to guard against the rain or the sun. Dress so that whatever weather may come, you are ready to put on or take off layers as you need. Pack something to eat. Take something to drink. Charge your phone! But Go! Go Now! That strange, unnerving sound you hear is the stress and tension of the moral arch of the universe bending. The only question is which way? 
 
(Brian Griffin is the Director of Communication & Technology for Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council - bgriffin@cincinnatiaflcio.org)
The Power of the Women's Vote!
This video was produced by The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Membership is open to men and women of all ages. With over 750 affiliates across the county, the League is one of the nation’s most trusted organizations. 
Five Days and Counting! 
Sisters and Brothers,

As we enter GOTV weekend, I want to thank all of you for hard work and support for our Labor 2020 election campaign. Ohio Labor, union members and working families' votes will have a tremendous impact on the outcome of all our local, state and national races. However, voter turnout is key and that is why your help with getting out volunteers for our GOTV actions is so important. Please review our attached GOTV flyer, distribute to your officers and members, and strongly encourage them to come out and support our pro-union, Labor-endorsed candidates. Thank you!

In Solidarity, U and I . . . 

Peter McLinden, Esq.
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council
Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council
2020 Endorsed Candidates and Issues
Lunch With Your Legislators is Back
Today at 11:00 AM
As the election nears and campaign season wraps up, we still want to make sure you are informed and engaged about what is going on at the Statehouse. On Friday, your legislators are back for our last engaging Lunch with your Legislators for this election season. This week, we are speaking with County Commissioner Denise Driehaus. If you have not registered for our upcoming Lunch with your Legislators event yet, the time is now!
 
I hope you will join us again, this Friday, October 30th, at 11:00 am on Facebook Live and Zoom to virtually join our lunch. Please sign up here or by clicking the invitation below.
Come enjoy Lunch with your Legislators while we answer your questions and discuss what the future holds for all of us. We work for you and want to make sure we do so in the best way possible.

I hope to see you this week. Please sign up here to enjoy another conversation with your legislators, and be sure to pass this link along as well! As long as we continue to work together and stay strong, I know we can get through this!

Sincerely,
Jessica
--
Jessica E. Miranda
State Representative, OH-28
COVID - 19 By The Numbers

Global Confirmed: 44,684,011

Global Deaths: 1,176,726

U.S. Cases: 8,881,087

U.S. Deaths: 227,986

(As of 2:00 PM, Thursday, October 29, 2020)
Ohio COVID-19 Dashboard
Current Trends
Below are the current reporting trends for key indicators calculated from data reported to the Ohio Department of Health. These trends are updated daily and are presented by report date.
Hamilton County
Cases
17,917
Hospitalizations
1,312
Deaths
346
Clermont County
Cases
2,732
Hospitalizations
219
Deaths
39
Brown County
Cases
434
Hospitalizations
34
Deaths
3
Butler County
Cases
8,981
Hospitalizations
494
Deaths
132
Warren County
Cases
4,612
Hospitalizations
295
Deaths
66
Other Important Headlines and Information: