RACINE, WI – The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union in the country, has endorsed ER nurse Mitchell Berman in his campaign to represent Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. The endorsement adds to the growing coalition of working people backing Berman in his race against incumbent Republican Bryan Steil.
AFGE pointed to Berman’s more than 23 years in health care, including over a decade caring for veterans and their families at the VA Medical Center. Nearly 29,000 federal employees live in Wisconsin, caring for veterans, supporting the military, and making sure Social Security recipients get their benefits on time. AFGE District 7, which covers Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan, represents nearly 43,000 of them.
AFGE joins a growing list of unions backing Berman’s campaign, including the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers (UAW), Teamsters, Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Union (MASH), and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 420.
“I spent more than a decade at the VA, so I’m deeply grateful to AFGE and the federal workers who keep this country running for their support,” said Mitchell Berman. “As a union nurse, I know a seat at the table is the only way workers get treated fairly. In Congress, I’ll fight to protect the right to organize and stand with the working people Bryan Steil has left behind.”
“At a time when federal employees and the services Americans depend on are under attack, we need leaders in Congress who will have the backs of working people and public servants,” saidAFGE District 7 National Vice President Jason Anderson, announcing the union’s Wisconsin endorsements. “These candidates have made that commitment. AFGE is proud to stand with them, and we’re ready to fight alongside them.”
Berman is the pro-union candidate in this race. He’s been a union member at every organized facility he’s ever worked, from his days as a Teamster in college to his job as a union nurse today. In Congress, he’ll fight to pass the PRO Act and hold employers accountable when they retaliate against workers for organizing, keep manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin by steering federal contracts and tax incentives toward companies that invest and hire locally, and stop subsidizing corporations that ship jobs overseas. He’ll also expand apprenticeships and the skilled trades so a good career doesn’t require a four-year degree or a mountain of student loan debt. Learn more here.
The AFGE endorsement comes as WI-01 has emerged as one of the tightest House races in the country. All three public polls of the general election show the race within a single point. With three weeks until Election Day, the polling makes clear this race is a toss-up, and working families in Southeast Wisconsin are lining up behind Mitchell Berman.
