(WESTERN NEW YORK) - Now that what was once considered to be one of the most safe Republican Congressional Seats across the United States is now up for grabs, Organized Labor across Western New York plans to be very engaged in the 27th District race that had been held by the now-indicted Chris Collins.

Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Richard Lipsitz tells WNYLaborToday.com that representatives from the WNYALF’s seven largest Union Affiliates - the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), the United Auto Workers (UAW), the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Teamsters - recently met for nearly two hours to discuss the Congressional race and how involved Labor will be.

“It was a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting and ‘we plan on being engaged’” in not only the high-profile Congressional race, but several others, Lipsitz told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper.  “We all left the meeting ‘positive.’  Now we need to get to know (Labor-endorsed Democratic Congressional Candidate Nate McMurray) better.”

Collins (pictured above), the first Republican in Congress to back Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election and who has been a huge supporter of the GOP President, was charged in early August with fraud in connection to an alleged insider-trading scheme that was linked to his investments in an Australian biotech firm (Read Politico’s News Report at www.politico.com/story/2018/08/08/gop-rep-collins-indicted-charged-with-securities-fraud-766744).

The WNYALF released the following statement shortly thereafter:   

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted the sitting U.S Congressman of New York’s 27th Congressional District - Chris Collins - on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and lying to the FBI. 

Consequently, he formally suspended his campaign for re-election and it now appears the Western New York Republican Party is attempting to replace him on the ballot for the Mid-Term Elections this coming November. 

If they are successful in this maneuver, the fear is that the discussion will shift from his criminal abuse of political power, to who will emerge as the new Republican candidate. 

We have a responsibility to no longer accept this as “normalized behavior” and to hold our political leaders accountable to their elected positions in public office.

Chris Collins reflects and epitomizes the very swamp that Trump promised to “drain.” 

He has been charged with passing non-public information from Innate Immunotherapeutics on negative reviews of drug trials to his son, who in turn passed this along to other people who traded on this information. 

Then to make matters worse, issued statements attempting to conceal the trading to mislead the public and the investigators, hoping to save his friends and family from any looming investigation. 

Chris Collins must answer these charges and we should pursue a thorough and complete public rendering of his activities in demanding justice. 

Our Labor Federation denounces Chris Collins’ audacious misuse of political power for his own personal benefit and gain, and any continued corporate misconduct and immoral unethical behavior that exploits the relationship between political and corporate interests. 

The people of Western New York expect more and we deserve better.

Lipsitz thought it was complete “karma” that Collins found himself in a pot of hot water that has now put what was once thought to be an untouchable Congressional seat into play – and gave a tip of the hat to the late U.S. Congressman Louise Slaughter, who raised concerns over Collins publicly stated investments and braggadocio in the U.S. Capitol of “making a lot of people in Buffalo millionaires.”

“The prosecutors ‘did what good prosecutors do - they followed the trail.’  The ‘irony here is (Collins) did this to himself,’” Lipsitz told WNYLaborToday.com.  “And, ‘to make matters even more interesting, the President sent out a tweet (see below) that looks like obstruction of justice.’”

“What Western New York ‘needs is a good Congressman, one who is open to the concerns of Working Class People.’  (Labor doesn’t) know Nate (McMurray) all that well, ‘but we anticipate getting to know him a lot better,’” Lipsitz told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper. 

With many in political circles predicting a Blue Wave for the November Mid-Term Elections as a means of the country looking to restore a balance of power and provide a check-and-balance system to counter the Trump Administration and the Republican-held Congress, Lipsitz displayed confidence that the wave will “sweep out” Republicans across the U.S., including in the States of Wisconsin and Ohio which Trump won in the 2016 Presidential Election. 

“But ‘we have other races right here’ in Western New York that we will also be engaged in - such as the New York State Assembly with Labor-endorsed Candidates Patrick Burke and Monica Wallace, the race for Lockport Mayor, and several other races in the Towns of Eden and Hamburg,” he added.

On another front, the WNYALF President told WNYLaborToday.com he has purposely stayed away from Social Media and “getting into any back-and-forth with any Trumpster.”

“There have some people on the Trump side ‘who want to engage me,’ such as on Twitter – ‘but I won’t do that.’  ‘It just tends to suck up all your time as they follow you around,’” said Lipsitz, who along with Organized Labor here in Western New York have much bigger fish to fry in the upcoming election.