JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 Missouri鈥檚 U.S. Senate race this year presents voters with an unusual choice: The Republican incumbent and his Democratic challenger are campaigning as pro-worker populists, both courting support from labor unions.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has kicked aside traditional Republican anti-union orthodoxy as he runs against Democrat Lucas Kunce, a Marine veteran who has racked up numerous labor union endorsements and says big companies have stripped the state for parts.
Like Kunce, Hawley has of Missouri jobs as a concern.
But as Hawley鈥檚 geared up for reelection, he鈥檚 shifted his stance and tone on other labor issues. He鈥檚 abandoned his support for anti-union right-to-work laws, voiced support for minimum wage hikes, and walked this year with striking Teamsters in St. 亚洲无码 and United Auto Workers members in Wentzville.
People are also reading…
鈥淲e need stronger worker representation in this economy with these corporations that are trying to run our country, essentially,鈥 Hawley, 44, told the Post-Dispatch in an interview last week. Without it, he said, there will 鈥渂e no jobs left in America.鈥
Kunce, 41, has portrayed Hawley鈥檚 embrace of labor as a 鈥減olitically expedient鈥 ploy to stay in power, contradicted by actions and numerous votes in the Senate.
鈥淗e鈥檚 worried about this election,鈥 Kunce told the Post-Dispatch on Friday. 鈥淪o he鈥檚 scared, and he鈥檚 trying to pretend like he cares.鈥
Hawley鈥檚 attempt at attracting labor-friendly and union voters is in line with a broader move within the Republican Party.
The efforts start at the top of the ticket. Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, have billed themselves as champions of working-class Americans, pushing the GOP toward economic protectionism. A sign of the Trump-led party鈥檚 shift: Teamsters President Sean O鈥橞rien was invited to speak at the Republican National Convention in July, where he praised Hawley for his 鈥減ointed questioning of corporate talking heads, lawyers, CEOs and apologists.鈥
It鈥檚 no wonder why both politicians in both parties seek organized labor support: 7 in 10 Americans voiced in an August Gallup poll, up from 53% a decade ago. That鈥檚 even as now represents only about 10% of the U.S. workforce, down from 20% in the early 1980s.
But recent GOP appeals to labor, usually aligned with Democrats, haven鈥檛 always gone well.
Vance was booed last week during a convention of the International Association of Fire Fighters in Boston. Missouri union leaders spoke at a virtual news conference last week to blast Hawley ahead of Labor Day.
鈥淓verything that he has shown us before shows that he is anti-worker,鈥 said Tony Renfro, president of Local 249 of the UAW in Pleasant Valley, Missouri. 鈥淗e is pandering to audiences.鈥
While the Teamsters鈥 PAC gave Hawley鈥檚 campaign $5,000 earlier this year, Kunce has racked up numerous labor union endorsements, including the UAW, Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters, United Steelworkers, Missouri AFL-CIO, IBEW Local 124, Bricklayers Local 1, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655, SEIU Missouri State Council and more.
鈥淗e knows that there鈥檚 a movement in this state for everyday people to have power back again,鈥 Kunce said.
Kunce blasts Hawley
Kunce criticized Hawley for not bringing federal dollars back to Missouri, unlike former Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt. He noted Hawley鈥檚 vote against for domestic semiconductor production and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is funding public works projects across the country.
Hawley has also in the past voiced support for a right-to-work law that would bar union dues as a condition of employment, which he now opposes. In his last election campaign, he questioned whether he would vote for a minimum wage increase on the ballot that year.
Kunce noted that the AFL-CIO gave Hawley a 0% rating last year.
鈥淚鈥檓 not talking about a long time ago,鈥 Kunce said.
Kunce criticized Hawley鈥檚 vote in 2021 against prevailing wage protections that Blunt supported. Kunce also highlighted Hawley鈥檚 in 2021 and his vote against the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Kunce noted Hawley hasn鈥檛 sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or Pro Act. And he criticized Hawley鈥檚 comments in a Kansas City Star published in March that 鈥減ublic sector unions for a long time have held government hostage, held vital government services for people hostage.鈥
Kunce said the Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters, which has endorsed Republicans such as U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Blunt also 鈥 rather than him because of the way I grew up and because of the way he actually is.
鈥淚 grew up in a working-class neighborhood in mid-Missouri where a union job was your, like, golden ticket to stay in the middle class,鈥 Kunce said.
鈥淓verybody was on the edge, and that was what we all looked for,鈥 Kunce said. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 understand what it means.鈥
Kunce said Hawley treats this casually as something 鈥渕aybe he can try to scam some votes on. When in fact, he鈥檚 been anti-labor his entire career and continues to be that way.鈥
Hawley makes case
Hawley hit Kunce on his past comments in published by The American Prospect 鈥 Kunce wrote ensuring U.S. national security required that 鈥渨e need to ditch all fossil fuels鈥 鈥 when asked why labor had become such a big issue in the race.
鈥淚f you want to take away fossil fuels from our state and rid them from our economy 鈥 if you want to get rid of gas and diesel 鈥 you鈥檙e not for working people,鈥 Hawley said. 鈥淵ou want to crash the farm economy in our state? Just take away all the fuels with which we plant our crops, harvest our crops and blend our biofuels.鈥
With regard to electric vehicles, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e made in China,鈥 Hawley said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about a massive displacement,鈥 leading to tens of thousands of lost jobs in the automobile supply chain, Hawley said.
While he wasn鈥檛 鈥渟o sure鈥 about the 2018 minimum wage question, Hawley in 2021 to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour for companies with revenues of $1 billion or more.
He said last month he was sure he鈥檇 support a ballot measure this year to raise Missouri鈥檚 minimum wage and guarantee paid sick leave for workers.
Hawley said American workers are forced to compete with subsidized and slave labor overseas as the United States loses jobs.
鈥淚 just think it is wrong economically but also morally to force American workers to compete against slave labor,鈥 Hawley said, 鈥渁nd have our wages constantly driven down.鈥
Hawley noted U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., requiring CEOs to personally certify there is no slave labor in their supply chain 鈥渙r that they have reported all instances of forced labor in their company鈥檚 supply chain,鈥 according to his website.
with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., would bar U.S. government contracts with companies pervasively violating child labor laws.
Among other actions seen as pro-worker, Hawley broke with the majority of his party in December 2022 to support legislation by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont progressive, to give railroad workers seven paid sick days, and he as part of a COVID-19 relief package in December 2020.
On his past support for right-to-work legislation, Hawley said voters overwhelmingly rejected the law in 2018.
He said he has 鈥渃ome to understand鈥 that there is 鈥渟omething unfair about asking unions to represent people who aren鈥檛 paying union dues.鈥