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- Paid Sick Days Campaign Kicks off
- 4th CD Fundraiser!
- Early Endorsements
- Getting the WFP Endorsement - Now, Easier than Ever
- Hartford/1st CD Working Families Chapter Growing
- Both Sides: Another Option or Election Rigging?
- Apologies for the absence
- Legislators twice as likely to see Sicko
- Rally against Discrimination at New Britain Wal-Mart
- Date Night with the Legislature
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Feb
27
Paid Sick Days Campaign Kicks off
February 27, 2008 | 2 Comments
Today Working Families, ACORN kicked off the 2008 Paid Sick Days campaign with a press conference with Senator Prague, Senator Gomes, and a handful of State Representatives.
Over 60 people were there for the press conference — including some lobbyist opponents who came to give us the hairy eye ball from across the room.
Here’s the first press hit at CTNewsJunkie. More coming on TV (12 and 30) radio (Metro Networks syndicates news) the Stamford Advocate, the Waterbury Republican American, and the AP.
We’ve also launched a new campaign website for paid sick days. Check it out: http://www.everybodybenefits.org/.
You can click here to send Senator Don Williams an e-mail asking him to move paid sick days through the Senate as fast as possible. He’ll write you back.
Feb
18
4th CD Fundraiser!
February 18, 2008 | 1 Comment
Jim Himes has impressed us. He’s made a great pitch on his ability to fight for healthcare reform (a department Shays has historically been lacking in) and he had an impressive history fighting for affordable housing and home-ownership opportunities. We’re committed to helping him win in November, but it will take resources. To hit the ground running in this campaign, Working Families members are hosting a fundraiser in Bridgeport:
Working Families Winter Bash
Saturday, February 23, 2008
5:30-7:00 pm
El Flamboyan Restaurant
1001 East Main St., Bridgeport
You are invited to join, and encouraged to invite friends, family, neighbors, co-workers – any fellow activists or folks interested in affordable housing, fair wages and universal health care. Tickets are $25. There will be guest speakers, and refreshments will be served. For more information, and to R.S.V.P., please contact Carly at (203) 278-2994.
Feb
18
Early Endorsements
February 18, 2008 | 1 Comment
We are proud to announce our first round of early endorsements for the ‘08 elections.
For US Congress, the Working Families Party has endorsed: Jim Himes (challenger to Chris Shays in the 4th CD), Joe Courtney in the 2nd CD, and John Larson in the 1st CD.
In 2006, the WFP got nearly 6000 votes for Chris Murphy in the 5th CD. So we think that we can make a big difference in close races — (Courtney won his election by 83 votes in 2006, and the Shays-Himes race is already projected to be one of the closest in the country.)
We also have endorsed some legislators in the State House and Senate who have particularly strong records of advocating our issues. Here’s the list:
Senator DeFronzo, Senator Looney, Senator Colapietro, Senator Handley, Senator Prague, Rep. Aresimowicz, Rep. McCluskey, Rep. O’Brien, Rep. Geragosian, Rep. Genga, Rep. Fontana, Rep Fleischmann, Rep. Perone, Rep. Butler, and Rep. Tercyak.
Jan
28
Getting the WFP Endorsement - Now, Easier than Ever
January 28, 2008 | 1 Comment
No, don’t worry — we haven’t lowered out standards. We’ve just made it easier to apply for endorsement.
Our candidate endorsement questionnaire for 2008 state legislative candidates is now availible online, ready to be filled out., and fully interactive.
Check it out: http://www.ct-workingfamilies.org/endorsement
If you’re running for office this fall, go ahead and fill it out. If you’re just curious, poke around and see what it takes to get the Working Families Party endorsement.
Tomorrow, the Working Families Party state committee is meeting tomorrow to discuss some early endorsements (already!) of candidates for legislative seats who’ve voted with us in the past and that we’re confident will continue to do so in the future. I’ll report on the results afterwards.
Jan
22
Hartford/1st CD Working Families Chapter Growing
January 22, 2008 | 1 Comment
Political organizations like ours tend to capture attention and interest in the few months leading up to elections. While it’s important to be able to run effective campaigns, it’s the grassroots organizing work between elections that really makes the difference. In Hartford, where we’re now well established as the minority party (elected WFP candidates outnumber Republicans 3-1), we have a great opportunity to forge a new style of governance that is about including people and mobilizing the community to win change.
With that in mind, it’s exciting to be a part of some of that organizing in Hartford, where the WFP recently elected two members (Luis Cotto and Dr. Larry Deutsch) to the City Council.
Last Saturday, Working Families members from the 1st Congressional District came together for their Chapter meeting. It was a diverse crowd of 35 members, mostly from Hartford and a few from West Hartford or Manchester. Urania Petit, Jean Rene, and Sharon Patterson Stallings (our WFP member on the Hartford Board of Education) were elected as interim chapter co-chairs, so they’ll be representing the 1st Congressional District on the Working Families Statewide Board.
Members shared information on progress on our issue work — like the formation of a task force to expand and improve Hartford’s Living Wage law and at long last a commitment to retrofit school buses to reduce pollution. They shared some political gossip, and recommended candidates for endorsement by the Working Families Party state committee, and heard reports from the WFP elected officials.
We had two guest speakers to discuss the challenges facing Hartford Public Schools and the proposal for school redesign. Dr. Steven Adamowski, Superintendant of Schools, and Millie Arcineagas, who chairs the Association of PTO Presidents. Adamowski spoke at some length, aided by a flip-chart and power-point handouts. His presentation was mostly well-received, though he was asked some challenging questions about possible cuts in social services in the school system (there are rumors of reduced staffing for social workers, school nurses, guidance counselors, and other support staff).
Millie Arcinieagas spoke briefly — a little too briefly perhaps — about the need to involve parents in the school redesign process and urged Dr. Adamowski to continue to work on improving communication with PTO members and other parents who want to be active participants in the school reform efforts.
It was a reminder that it’s meetings like these, imperfect and certainly unglamourous, that are the foundation of a real grassroots political organization. It was a pretty good way to start the new year and I left feeling as excited as ever about what we can build and accomlish in Hartford and beyond.
Jon Green
jgreen@workingfamiliesparty.org
Nov
30
Both Sides: Another Option or Election Rigging?
November 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment
The ‘both sides’ column in today’s Hartford Courant was on the topic of third parties and fusion.
The link is here. But strangely, the online edition only shows the introduction, and not the two opinion columns.
Here’s ours column:
At their best, minor parties have the ability to inject new ideas into the public debate, and to articulate widely held concerns that the major parties fail to address.
A new political party called the Populist Party was formed in the late 1800s by a coalition of rural farmers and urban laborers. They advocated such radical ideas as the eight-hour workday, a progressive income tax, and expanded democracy through the election of US Senators, who at the time were appointed by state legislatures.
The party faded away in the early 1900s, but their ideas didn’t.
Keep reading for the rest of the column. Read more
Nov
30
Apologies for the absence
November 30, 2007 | 12 Comments
We’ve been busy over the last few months, and sadly, this blog fell into neglect.
But during this past election season, we made some major strides and had some incredible victories.
We provided the margins of victory for crossed-endorsed D/WF candidates in New Britain and Norwalk. And in Hartford we elected two members to the City Council!
Over the coming weeks, I’ll give some election analysis and anecdotes.
My apologies again to be gone so long, but I think you’ll be proud of how we spent our time.
Aug
30
Legislators twice as likely to see Sicko
August 30, 2007 | 2 Comments
Our project over at haveyouseensicko.org is working! Since the movie came out, we’ve been urging legislators across the state to see the movie. We think it’s the best way to teach our law makers about the urgent need for healthcare reform before the next session starts.
Anyway, the other day, Diane Levick wrote an article in the Courant about how Sicko has started discussion about healthcare that have extended far beyond just the movie’s audience — people see the movie, and then discuss it with friends, families, and neighbors. Check out the whole article here.
The article sites a poll:
The survey by the non-profit Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - which is not affiliated with any health plan - found only 4 percent of polled adults had viewed the film by early August.
But since we’ve been pushing and prodding our legislators to see Sicko, legislators are outperforming their civilian counterpart. 19 of the state’s legislators have seen the film to date. That’s over 10 per cent!
That means our efforts have been effective. We’ve increased the liklihood of a Connecticut legislator seeking Sicko by more than a factor of two!
Howerver, it’s still not enough. We need all of Connecticut’s legislators to get it. Not just a few. So if you haven’t done it yet, make sure to email your legislator today, and ask them to see Sicko.
Jul
31
Rally against Discrimination at New Britain Wal-Mart
July 31, 2007 | 4 Comments
Edwin Lopez (at left), a New Britain resident and member of Connecticut Working Families, was recently fired from his job at the New Britain Wal-Mart, after seven years of employment, for offenses he claims were largely fabricated. Edwin says the firings had more to do with race.
There are fairly large number of practices at Wal-Mart that we object to. But out and out racism against the people working there is around as bad as it gets. So, we held a rally to highlight the pattern, to call on the store to create an official ‘no harassment’ policy to allow Spanish speaking Wal-Mart workers to communicate in Spanish with Spanish speaking customers without fear of retribution or punishment, and to call on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to open an investigation into discriminatory practices.
The most excited part: the Attorney General came to the event and agreed to investigate.
The event got covered in the New Britain Herald (read the story) and the Courant (read the story), and also on NBC 30 news.
Our rally is also the topic of the New Britain Herald’s online readers poll. Go to the front page at www.newbritainherald.com and in the left column, you can vote whether you believe that employee complaints about racial discrimination at Wal-Mart are valid on the left hand side.
The rally was attended by several dozen members of the New Britain community, including a bunch of very energetic sign holding kids, as well as local elected officials. Read on to see pictures. Here’s a taste:
Jul
25
Date Night with the Legislature
July 25, 2007 | 1 Comment
Well, six of them anyway. The rest stood us up.
But we invited all 187 of them out to the movies last Friday night. The reason? Well, we think there’s a lot left to be done on healthcare that the legislature just didn’t accomplish this year. We need comprehensive reforms of our healthcare system, not just short term band aids.
And no one conveys that urgency like Michael Moore in his new film Sicko.
So we invited our legislators out on a date, as part of the haveyouseensicko.org campaign to get all of CT’s legislators to see the movie Sicko before the start of the next session. We’re not asking for anything big. Not a promise or a vote, just to keep an open mind, and come see a movie.
And on Friday, 6 legislators (and 50 movies viewers to keep them company) took us up on our offer at the Bowtie Cinema in Hartford. (And tremendous thanks to the movie theater’s staff for being so accomodating).
As always, the Universal Healthcare Foundation of Connecticut had volunteers staffing a table in the lobby, collecting names and building the campaign:
After the movie, all six legislators got up in front of the theater to give their thoughts and impressions (no prepared speeches, just off-the-cuff) on the movie. Here they are beginning to speak over the end of the credits of Sicko:
It’s a little tough to get a good picture inside a dark theater, but left to right are Senator Prague (Columbia), Representative Fontana (North Haven), Rep. Peter Tercyak (New Britain), Rep. Diana Urban (Stonington), Senator Gary LeBeau (East Hartford), and Rep. Chris Perone (Norwalk), who drove up all the way from, uh, Norwalk.
If your legislator rejected our date, and hasn’t seen the movie yet, why not? Ask them at www.haveyouseensicko.org
After the movie there was spirited debate about Universal Healthcare:
There was also more intimate discussion of the issues:
Oh, and did I mention that there was a lot of press there too? Here’s Senator Edith Prague under the heavy-duty camera lights of Channels 3 and Channel 30 at once:
We TiVOed one channel’s news coverage and I’ll post it as soon as I can get it uploaded to youtube.
All in all a very successful event. (And thanks to Cari Carter from C-E-O for taking these pictures!) And now we’re up to 17 legislators who’ve seen Sicko, by last count. And 170 who haven’t. If yours are on the ‘haven’t’ list, ask them to.
And lastly, I want to give credit where credit is due to Adam Bulger, of the Hartford Advocate, who did a write up of the event, and came up with a pretty clever pun:
”You hear a lot about lobbies in politics. Usually, they refer to people with access to politicians. For a glorious moment in Hartford on Friday July 20th, the operative lobby in Hartford was at a movie theater. The Working Families Party organized a movie outing for legislators. The WFP and legislators opted to see Sicko.”
