Sporting stickers reading, “I’m For Joe,” a host of local labor unions renewed their support of U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman’s reelection campaign Tuesday at a boisterous rally in front of a Yale construction site in New Haven.
The rally on New Haven’s Wall Street drew endorsements from the leaders of the food and commercial workers union, the communications workers union, the Teamsters, as well as carpenters, pipefitters, firefighters, laborers, and the buildings trades. The endorsements are significant because they show that even though he’s now running as a third-party candidate, the three-term senator will continue to receive the backing of at least some major labor unions, which traditionally side with endorsed Democrats.
“I get a kick out of some of the crap I’ve been hearing that Joe is a Bushite,” declared carpenters union chief Chuck Appleby. He noted that Lieberman ran for vice-president against the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000. “Enough of that crap coming from the Lamont camp!”
Mingling among the hard hats and wearing her “I’m For Joe” sticker on Wall Street was Lynn Fusco, a developer and longtime fund-raiser for politicians who deliver government contracts for her family’s construction firm.
A couple of pro-Lamont gate-crashers showed up with a counter-message. Contacted after the rally, Lamont campaign chief Tom Swan emphasized the absence of important unions which had supported Lieberman in his failed Democratic primary bid, such as AFSCME, the janitors’ union, as well as the state AFL-CIO. Swan said that starting Wednesday his campaign would begin “rolling out” impressive new union endorsements. Lieberman said he’d heard from several union leaders that they’re waiting until after Labor Day, and until after they’ve completed an formal endorsement process, before announcing their support.
The most significant endorsement Tuesday came from UNITE HERE 35, which includes the blue- and pink-collar unions at Yale University. Those unions tend to ally themselves with progressive/ liberal politicians and causes. In this race, Lieberman is the overwhelming choice of Republican voters, while Ned Lamont, the Democratic candidate, has a liberal base of supporters. UNITE HERE 35 President Bob Proto (at right in photo) emceed the event on Wall Street. Besides leading Yale’s union, he heads the Greater New Haven Central Labor Council and serves as a vice-president in the international union.
“Our members do not feel comfortable with a multi-millionaire with very little credentials representing the interests of working men and women in Connecticut,” Proto told the crowd. He noted that Lamont speaks of running to bring about “change.” “If he goes to Washington,” Proto said, “the only change will be that Connecticut will lose the influence, experience, and respect that Joe Lieberman has in Washington, and that’s not what Connecticut needs.”
Privately, veteran Yale union activists said they owed it to Lieberman to back him because he has reliably supported them in difficult strikes.
“I disagree with him on so many things. It’s hard,” said one. “But he’s always stuck with us. How can we not be for him?”
“He was with us in the trenches when we needed him,” said another. “A commitment’s a commitment.”
“If you’re in politics, and you want loyal friends, go to the labor movement,” an energized Lieberman said when it came his turn to speak. “They stick with their friends. They aren’t summer soldiers.” He vowed to fight for raising the national minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.40 an hour; to promote card-check neutrality and raised penalties for management law-breaking in organizing drives; and to “fix our broken health care system.”
Lieberman also spoke of how unions represent the middle class, and thus “the American dream of working your way up to the middle class,” the way his parents did.
What Lieberman didn't mention was his vote for not just NAFTA, but also CAFTA. (one of just ten Democrats to vote for both.)
He also stumbled when talking about the minimum wage. To me it was clear that he did not know that it currently stands at $7.40. And although I am glad he is talking about the min. wage this year, does anyone remember him talking about in years past?
Someone tried to make a stink about how Lamont's line guys aren't unionized, but from what I've heard the attempts to make Lamont's life miserable by organizing them went nowhere. Rumor has it Ned's company pays them an average of $60,000 year.
And Proto cracked me up when he described Ned Lamont as a multi-millionaire. He must have been confused, as Joe is the lousy multi-millionaire with the lobbyist wife. Ned is the 200 millionaire, with the venture capitalist wife.