Chris Mabe, an AFSCME vice president and president of Ohio Civil Service Employees Association recently joined Senator Sharrod Brown of Ohio and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in calling on the Senate to prioritize funding front line public service workers over fast tracking the Supreme Court confirmation of Amy Coney Barret.

Mabe, who himself contracted COVID-19, as did several members of his family, expressed concern about Washington’s seeming disdain for front line workers, saying “at the beginning of this pandemic, if you were a public worker, it was like stepping into a war zone. The response to this health crisis was chaotic at best and life-threatening at worst. That’s why strong unions and union protections are so important right now.”

The Senators expressed agreement, with Warren warning that ““If…Barrett’s nomination is rammed through, she will bring her anti-worker outlook to the highest court for generations to come.”

Recent polls show that most voters also agree that the winner of the presidential election in November should fill the court seat left vacant by Ruth Bader Ginsberg earlier this month.

Read more about Mabe’s conversation with the Senators here.