‘I’m tired of getting kicked in the teeth’: firefighting union leader seeks to shake up Congress | US unions
Bob Brooks worked many jobs, sometimes working several at once to make ends meet.
He was a journalist when he was 10, and later worked as a dishwasher, cook, pizza delivery man, bartender and truck driver. Even after becoming a firefighter in 2005, Brooks still managed to start a snow removal and lawn care business and coach baseball.
Although his resume is long, it’s an unusual one for the job Brooks is vying for next: U.S. congressman representing his home district in eastern Pennsylvania.
Brooks easily won the Democratic party’s nomination for the House of Representatives last month. A former union leader, he is one of the labor candidates the party hopes will attract working-class voters who want to see them in Congress.
“We need to change who represents us, who makes the rules and the laws,” Brooks told the Guardian. “That’s what inspired me to do this. I think we need more ordinary people out there, because it’s ordinary people who are struggling.”
In November, Brooks will run against Ryan Mackenzie, who narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Susan Wild in 2024. about $1.1 million With support from Americans for Prosperity, a political action committee backed by Koch. Mackenzie was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2012, shortly after graduating from business school at Harvard.
The race is currently tight with the Cook Partisan Index arrangement +1 in favor of Mackenzie but notes that she is “one of the most vulnerable House Republicans in the country.”
Brooks participated in the race follow the incentive From Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democrat from Western Pennsylvania who knows him from his years leading the firefighters union.
Brooks recalled that his first assignment as the union’s new local vice president in 2005 was to cook scallops.
“I then quickly learned how to represent members,” Brooks told the Guardian, referring to work involved in negotiating union contracts and handling grievances. “Every day I get to do what I love – fight for my members, fight for healthcare, fight for working conditions and fight for better pay.”
Brooks became president of his local union, then rose to positions in the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association. selected President in 2021.
“It just seems to me, not just to my unions, but frankly to ordinary people, that Washington doesn’t care about us,” Brooks said. “Only 2% Members of Congress are working class, compared to 60% of our country.”
He said: “Honestly, I’m tired of getting kicked in the teeth.”
In his campaign, Brooks emphasizes the stark contrast between himself and his opponent. Mackenzie’s a 8% legislative voting score From the AFL-CIO, the largest union federation in the United States approved By the US Chamber of Commerce. Brooks took approves From centrist and progressive elected officials, including independent senator Bernie Sanders.
Brooks said he helped introduce the Social Security Fairness Act in January 2025. extended Pension and social security benefits for firefighters, police officers, teachers and other public employees State Law Provided mental health benefits and protections for first responders in Pennsylvania.
in it platformBrooks advocates for policies that address the affordability crisis, including repealing Medicaid cuts, providing Medicare for all, banning private equity from buying homes, labor law reform, and raising the minimum wage.
But Brooks emphasized that the first step to solving the crisis is to prevent the Trump administration from making the situation worse, including tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans.
“We need to stop the imbalance that’s going on in Washington right now,” Brooks said. “Ryan Mackenzie keeps voting.”
Brooks said his campaign referred to Mackenzie as an “arsonist.”
“An arsonist starts a fire and 15 minutes later there is a fire. [and] He calls the fire department,” Brooks said. “Mackenzie starts the fire. bad vote and two weeks later he introduces a bill against bad votes.”
Mackenzie denied Brooks’ claims in a statement to the Guardian, saying Brooks’ “advisers dressed him up as ordinary working class people”.
“Bob Brooks is a hustler, a fraud and a dumpster burner,” Mackenzie said. “Brooks is running for office for the same reason he does everything else: to serve himself and follow orders, just as he does as a union boss.”
