Unions unite for Connecticut elections
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - "We are not letting anybody divide the unions of the Connecticut AFL-CIO!" exclaimed Randi Weingarten to a standing ovation and loud applause as she addressed the organization's tenth bienniel political convention.
Weingarten, national president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Lee Saunders, national president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) both traveled to New Haven to warnAFL-CIO convention delegates of the danger of the billionaire Koch brothers attempt to defeat Democratic governors and legislatures in order to destroy collective bargaining for public sector workers and all workers, as was done in Wisconsin two years ago.
"We need to be at the center of the community, to guarantee economic security for all," said Weingarten. "That is who we are, that is what we know!"
In 2010, bucking the national trend, Connecticut voters narrowly elected a Democratic governor, Dannel Malloy, for the first time in two decades, along with the full Democratic slate of constitutional officers, and Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate.
Weingarten was escorted to the platform by the presidents of three locals of AFT Connecticut at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital whose members sustained a four month lockout earlier this year, during which Gov. Malloy walked the picket line with the health care workers.
The two-day convention opened with remarks by Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary treasurer of the Wisconsin AFL CIO. "The Koch brothers came for us in Wisconisn and they are coming for you," she said, warning the Unions unite for Connecticut elections » peoplesworld: