Party Announces Endorsement for Richard Blumenthal
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Joe Dinkin (Working Families Party) at (978) 223-5868 (cell)
The Working Families Party today announced its endorsement of Richard Blumenthal for United States Senate. Working Families is an independent party that advocates for working class and middle class families. They applauded Blumenthal’s long-standing support for workers and consumers, and criticized Linda McMahon on a day she said she might want to lower the federal minimum wage.
“We were shocked to learn that Linda McMahon supports lowering the minimum wage,” said Jon Green, Executive Director of the Working Families Party. “Making low-wage workers poorer is her idea to improve the economy? That’s both foolish and cruel, and not something we’d expect from a serious candidate. We should all be outraged.”
“In this economy, low-wage workers need all the help they can get – not lower wages,” said Kurt Westby, Director of SEIU Local 32BJ, a union that represents low-wage janitors and other service workers. “I guess kicking people when they’re down on the mat is what we should expect from a professional wrestling CEO.”
“Working Families is proud to stand with Richard Blumenthal because he has shown the courage time and time again to work on behalf of ordinary citizens, including low-wage workers who are too often taken advantage of,” said Jon Green.
In 2009, Blumenthal worked with local legislators and the Working Families Party to protect severance pay benefits of Wal-Mart workers when the company closed its store in New Britain. “He was incredibly responsive when those low-wage workers needed help,” said Green.
Working Families Party, Connecticut’s fastest-growing independent party, focuses on the bread and butter economic issues that matter most to working families in Connecticut. The Working Families Party evaluates the records of all candidates, and then endorses only those who best match the party’s stands on issues like creating good jobs, making healthcare more affordable ensuring access to paid sick days, and fair taxes for middle class families. In 2008, over 80,000 Connecticut voters cast their votes on the Working Families ballot line — about 5% of the total vote statewide.
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