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Unions Upset With Kentucky Democratic Senate Candidate

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Labor unions are unhappy with Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democrat challenging Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell this fall. The activists feel ignored and mistreated by her campaign, National Review reports.

An audio recording of a September meeting obtained by the magazine between union activists and the Grimes campaign revealed organized labor’s discontent. Union activists vented their frustrations to Phinis Hundley, who was speaking for the Grimes campaign.

According to National Review, the recording shows union activists complaining of an unresponsive campaign. One asked, “It’s not been really easy to get communication back and forth from the campaign, so, what’s our best line of communication?”

“You mean to tell me that Democratic people are volunteering and not hearing anything back from the campaign?” Hundley responded.

Some activists stated they were “not impressed” with members of the Grimes team for not being at all good with following up with supporters and potential volunteers.

“Is it possible that they have another group of people that they’re spending their time with?” National Review quotes one man as saying. “Is the campaign busy with another group of people? I’m just curious if there’s another plan beyond labor, at this point.”

“We’ve never been treated the way we’ve been treated from the Grimes campaign, and that is a very big complaint I’ve heard from a lot of people, and that needs to be noticed by the campaign,” a woman in the recording noted.

Steve Cruse, the local president for the Communications Workers of America, told National Review that the meeting was intended to give union members an opportunity to raise issues with the Grimes campaign.

Cruse is a member of the labor council for Cincinnati, Ohio, and Northern Kentucky.

“My belief is that it was probably a limited incident, and [the union activist] was just voicing her concerns,” Cruse said. “I have not really heard that from anybody else. . . . When I’ve talked to them, I’ve always had a pretty good experience.”

National Democrats have given millions of dollars to Grimes in order to defeat McConnell, the sitting Senate Republican leader. However, recent polls show McConnell ahead.

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