The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Local unions give support to pro-labor Democrats
Ahead of Labor Day, the Connecticut AFL-CIO, a federation of hundreds of local unions, rallied its members Friday to back pro-union candidates in an election in which labor and pensions are a growing centerpiece.
“People need to get out and they need to get out and vote,” Lori Pelletier, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said at the group’s final political convention. She reminded members of President Donald Trump’s decision hours earlier to cancel January pay raises for civilian federal employees, citing budget constraints.
With representatives from 113 local unions gathering at the Hilton Hotel in Hartford, the AFL-CIO endorsed Democratic nominee Susan Bysiewicz for lieutenant governor, although the group backed Bysiewicz’s opponent Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, herself a union organizer, prior to the primary.
Democratic nominee for attorney general William Tong, who fell three votes short of winning an AFLCIO endorsement in June, received the federation’s support Friday. Shawn Wooden, Democrat’s nominee for treasurer, was also endorsed Friday.
No Republicans were endorsed by AFL-CIO. J.R. Romano, chairman of the state Republican Party, said state unions are have a “blind allegiance” to the Democratic party.
At the convention, union members watched a video of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski saying at a GOP forum in July he wants to “scrap” the Connecticut’s SEBAC agreement with state employees and approves of “right to
work” laws that say people can’t be compelled to join a union. His comments drew loud boos from the crowd.
“What the Republicans recognize is the union leadership is completely out of control,” said Romano. Unions have pushed for “plush” benefits — so nice that some current and former federal lawmakers choose state health care over vaunted federal plans — while pension are underfunded and residents struggle to pay their taxes, he said.
“The stronger the state’s economy the more money in the pockets of unions members
and private sector employees alike,” Romano said.
But that’s not how the crowd at the AFL-CIO gathering saw it.
“Donald Trump has embraced my Republican Bob Stefanowski. Stefanowski has embraced him, given him an A, given him an A when Trump says ‘I’m going to weaken the rights of labor, the right to organize,’ ” said Ned Lamont, Democratic nominee for governor, who was endorsed by the AFL-CIO in June. “I give him an F.”
Jahana Hayes, Democratic candidate for Congress in the 5th District, whom the AFLCIO backed over party endorsed candidate Mary Glassman in June, told union members Friday their support can send more working people to Congress.
“When I say when Congress starts to look like us, nothing can stop us, you prove that,” she said.
Democrat Chris Murphy, who is seeking re-election to the U.S. Senate and was previously endorsed, said Republican tax policies are not boosting the economy working people, “it is only growing for Donald Trump and his Mar-a-Lago friends.”
The AFL-CIO also voted to support a “lock box” resolution that would prevent lawmakers from taking money from the state’s Special Transportation Fund to pay for other general budget expenditures. The referendum will be on the ballot in November.