Tom Tiffany says he doesn’t care about labor union support: ‘kingpins, I don’t worry about them’

Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany is not concerned with labor union support, despite some 200,000 Wisconsin residents employed under a union contract. 

It continues a troubling trend of the U.S. congressman utilizing the anti-worker playbook set in place in this state by former Gov. Scott Walker and Tiffany, then a state legislator.

The effects of anti-union laws have been devastating for Wisconsin workers, which have been covered by the Milwaukee Courier in recent weeks.

Tiffany was recently asked by a voter at an event in Superior if he would welcome labor union support or if he had any endorsements, according to audio obtained by the Courier.  

“As of now, I don’t know that we have any labor union endorsements, but when you think about the leadership of the labor unions, they still are tied in pretty closely with the Democrat Party,” Tiffany said. “Who I’m after is the rank-and-file voter. Those couple people that are kingpins, I don’t worry about them because I stand with people that work like here in Superior, that are middle class people that work at the refinery, that work at Enbridge, those people that are down … here helping build and repair our ships here in Superior, those people know who’s on their side.”

Tiffany’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to questions on Aug. 25. 

Tiffany’s Democratic opponent, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, has been endorsed by nearly every local labor union.

“I know what it’s like to struggle to get by even when you’re doing everything by the book. These same Wisconsinites—working people—are my people, but to Tom Tiffany they’re ‘kingpins,’” Crowley said in a statement. “MAGA Congressman Tom Tiffany has spent nearly the past two decades selling out hard-working Wisconsinites to fund tax breaks for the people he sees as the real victims: billionaires. Working men and women built Wisconsin, they strengthen our economy and as governor, I will always protect their right to organize and to fight for fair wages and benefits.”

The majority of union members vote for the Democratic Party, according to public polling, but voting trends and leadership stances have changed tune in recent years. 

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2024 in Milwaukee, but he was not invited to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

However, now the public have seen President Donald Trump run on lowering costs but not delivering results. 

Union representation has fallen dramatically due to Republican policies that didn’t originate with Walker but decades before. About 1 in 5 workers in the U.S. were represented by a union in 1983, but now 1 in 10 are represented, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In Wisconsin, the state has about half the percentage of the population covered by a union contract compared to each of these neighboring states — Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. 

At the same time, wages remain stagnant and people struggle to afford basic necessities as an affordability crisis continues to unfold in the U.S.