2019 CT AFL-CIO Convention
We sent 10 delegates to the 2019 CT AFL-CIO Convention, Oct. 3-4 at Foxwoods.
We sent 10 delegates to the 2019 CT AFL-CIO Convention, Oct. 3-4 at Foxwoods.
The 2019 CT AFL-CIO Labor Day Breakfast celebrates the labor movement's contributions to all working people! Several elected officials joined us, and we heard from a few union members who are candidates for local office (including our Bill Garrity, who's running for town council in Plainville).
Representing UHP this year were President Bill Garrity, 1st VP Ivonne Hamm, Chief Steward Jean Morningstar, Treasurer Michelle Proper, VP Community Outreach Trisha Faraday, and VP Communication Chris DeFrancesco.
We have the labor movement to thank for paid holidays, and for no holiday is this truer than it is for Labor Day!
UHP activists have been working to get the word out to our lawmakers that we're paying attention and are watching for last-minute additions to the state budget that might compromise the integrity of UConn Health as a public institution for the public good.
Want to get involved? Find your lawmwakers and take a minute to call them today!
Lois B. Diehm Memorial Union Representative of the Year
Summer Lambert
Steward of the Year
Lorrie Tripp
President's Award
Joyce Fritz
Thomas Alsgaard Scholarship
Babitha Matthew
Bonnie Bordwell Beattie Scholarship
Nicole PInto (Member is Barbara Pinto)
Hannah Smolicz (Member is Rebecca Smolicz)
Haoyi Wang (Member is Zhifang Hao)
Rick Michaud Scholarship
Jill Alsgaard
Cherron Payne
Jean Morningstar Scholarship
Gabriella Crean (Member is Alexis Crean)
Christina Han (Member is Eunmi Han)
Nathan Koziol (Member is Hanna Koziol)
The body concurred with the executive committee on all this year's proposed amendments. The constitution will be updated shortly.
Congratulations to our UHP members who are recipients of the 2019 Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing! (Photos by UHP members Kristin Wallace and Tina Encarnacion)
(Photos by Matt O'Connor, AFT Connecticut)
During our End Hunger night on October 17, we had over 70 volunteers come to help us pack 10,000 meals. These meals have been able to feed many of the hungry in our area by way of the following organizations:
We are already raising funds and taking donations to do this again next year.
--Trisha Faraday, VP for Community Outreach
By David C. Dal Zin, Connecticut AFL-CIO, August 31 - 11:44am
HARTFORD – Delegates to the Connecticut AFL-CIO’s Twelfth Biennial Political Convention today endorsed the following candidates:
Lieutenant Governor
Susan Bysiewicz
Attorney General
William Tong
Treasurer
Shawn Wooden
State Senate
SD 4: Steve Cassano
SD 5: Beth Bye
SD 9: Matt Lesser
SD 12: Christine Cohen
SD 22: Marilyn Moore
SD 28: Michelle McCabe
SD 29: Mae Flexer
SD 31: Christopher Wright
SD 34: Aili McKeen
State House
HD 2: Raghib Allie-Brennan
HD 13: Jason Doucette
HD 14: John Pelkey
HD 18: Jillian Gilchrist
HD 29: Kerry Wood
HD 46: Emmett Riley
HD 52: David Walsh*
HD 57: Dennis Milanovich
HD 67: Tom O’Brien
HD 68: Jeff Desmarais
HD 69: Greg Cava
HD 71: Steve Ferrucci*
HD 72: Larry Butler
HD 74: Wendy Tyson Woods
HD 77: Kevin Fuller*
HD 80: David Borzellino
HD 84: Hilda Santiago
HD 85: Mary Mushinsky
HD 87: Theresa Viele
HD 91: Michael D’Agostino
HD 103: Liz Linehan
HD 106: Rebekah Harriman-Stites
HD 110: Bob Godfrey
HD 113: Elaine Matto
HD 115: Dorinda Borer
HD 118: Kim Rose*
HD 127: Jack Hennessy
HD 139: Kevin Ryan
HD 142: Lucy Dathan
HD 146: David Michel
Delegates from over 110 local unions across the state attended the political convention.
# # #
* denotes an active or retired union member
Click here for a list of endorsements from all three days of the Twelfth Biennial Political Convention.
UHP sent 23 delegates to Pittsburgh for the AFT Convention, July 12-16.
Here are some other highlights:
The AFT Pride of the Union awards have for decades recognized local affiliates that make significant strides in membership growth. This year, the AFT has added a new category—"recommits"—honoring locals that already have obtained pledges from 100 percent of members to renew their commitment to membership. Other awardees qualify by posting net membership increases of at least 100 members, or 25 percent, in one of the past two years. The program also honors affiliates with membership levels of at least 90 percent. "We are here because we are 24/7 fighting, caring and showing up," AFT President Randi Weingarten told the winners Thursday afternoon. "And for that I want to say thank you."
AFT President Randi Weingarten addressed a full convention hall Friday, outlining the fight the union has before it and, more importantly, urging members to find "hope in the darkness" at a crucial juncture for American democracy and Americans' aspirations for a better life. Convention participants followed closely, demonstrating enthusiastic and loud support with standing ovations—for the stories about how AFT members are sticking with their unions in huge numbers, and for the way our collective voice is so much stronger together. They also demonstrated strong support for better immigration policies that are pro-Dreamer, pro-Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and against migrant family separation.
Every two years, the AFT presents the Women's Rights Award to a woman whose vision and courage have raised the game for other women. This year's recipient, Hillary Clinton, is a role model for women in politics, in the workplace and in society as she strives to make our democracy equitable for everyone. "Hillary Clinton has worked not only to make democracy a more equal place for all people," said AFT President Randi Weingarten in presenting the award, "but she has worked so that when the roll call of history is taken, there is no doubt that she will stand tall."
Calling AFT members the "strongest, hardest working, most dedicated people in this country," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told the crowd of convention-goers Saturday afternoon that she is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with them, and with AFT leadership, in the fight for unions, public workers and justice, and against corporate greed and inequity. She recognized the many battles ahead, but said she has hope because people are rising up, and will continue to rise up, to fight, to vote and to save democracy.
Four powerful labor leaders on one stage. That was the treat for AFT activists on Saturday morning. Together with AFT President Randi Weingarten, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia and SEIU President Mary Kay Henry provided fiery inspiration for activists to keep caring, fighting and showing up.
With AFT President Randi Weingarten in the lead, nearly a thousand convention delegates, Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers members, parents, students and community allies took to the streets for the March for Equitable Funding of Public Schools. Weingarten said rallying for school funding "is about showing that we walk the walk for our kids. They are our future, and they will be our salvation." At stops along the route, the crowd heard from speakers who included all three of the AFT's national officers, as well as allies from community and national organizations who are defending public education and school safety. "We're here to stand up for students and staff. Corporations need to be held accountable for their fair share of taxes," Secretary-Treasurer Lorretta Johnson said. Pointing out that school funding still lags behind pre-recession levels in half the states, Weingarten urged marchers to "fight for fair, appropriate and fully funded public education."
"There is a political revolution sweeping across this country," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told convention delegates on Sunday. "Ideas once considered fringe or radical—like healthcare as a right through Medicare for All, and tuition-free college—are now mainstream ideas adopted by the vast majority of Americans, and we are seeing candidates running off of those ideas and winning elections." Delegates heard from Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) and Randy Bryce, two unconventional politicians hoping to make a difference by focusing on the issues that concern working people.
UHP Delegates to AFT CT Convention
Elizabeth Barrientos Ray Bennettson Shawn Brown Jean Castagno Swapna Das Chris DeFrancesco Laura Didden Trisha Faraday Joyce Fritz Bill Garrity Ivonne Hamm |
Doug Kingsbury Pierre LePage Jean Morningstar Donna Napomeceno Michelle Proper Robin Roark Connie Simmons Carol Underwood Gloria Valentino Joan Williams |