UAW Gets Behind Murphy for Senate

Representing cab drivers, factory and child care workers and hundreds of union members across the state, Julie Kushner announced the UAW Region 9A endorsement of U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy (D-5) for U.S. senate.

Union members and retirees were gathered Monday morning at the union’s Farmington headquarters, all wearing “Team Murphy” stickers and waving “Murphy for Senate 2012” signs. 

Kushner said the UAW has been a part of Murphy’s campaign from the beginning and has seen him fighting for working families since he was elected in 2007.

“We know he’s a real fighter for working families. …He has done so much for us, whether health and safety or about jobs, he’s always there for us,” said Kushner, director of UAW Region 9A.

Specifically, Kushner mentioned the American Jobs Matter Act, HR 1354, which brings information about domestic jobs into the decision when awarding federal contracts. Murphy sponsored the bill in June of 2010 and reintroduced it last month. It failed by four votes.

“Chris spearheaded legislation in our Congress that would bring jobs back to the United States and would require the federal government buy products from companies in the United States. That’s so important to us because that’s how we’re going to bring back the manufacturing base to this country,” Kushner said. “If we’re going to have a strong economy, a strong middle class, then we need a strong manufacturing base and Chris has been spearheading that in Congress.”

“In both the state legislature and now in Congress he has supported women’s rights and equal pay on the job. I’m so proud that our union has the courage to get out early and support politicians we know will support us,” said Karen Schuessler, a Farmington resident and Local 376 member.

Bernie McKinnon, a retired UAW member and former Region 9A director, said he supports Murphy because he knows Murphy will fight against Medicare privatization.

Bernie McKinnan spent 39 years at Fafnir Bearing until it closed. Murphy’s grandfather and great-grandfather also worked at the New Britain company, he said, adding that he feels Murphy has always been a Fafnir family member.

Nick Rodriguez, a member of Local 405 out of West Hartford, is a veteran of the Bosnia and Kosovo wars.

“I put my life routinely in service to this country and as a veteran I know that Chris really cares about all the brothers and sisters returning from service now and I’m proud, honored to endorse him,” Rodriguez said.

Murphy, beaming, thanked union members and state Rep. Zeke Zalaski (D-81) for the support, saying he is a product of the American dream thanks to the efforts of organized labor.

“There are all walks of life represented in the UAW and Region 9A. To have this endorsement as the first of the campaign, it speaks to the very essence of why I’m running,” Murphy said. “This economy seems to be slowly recovering but it seems to only be recovering for about 5 percent of this country. The rest of us are being left behind. The people who work at Ansonia Copper and Brass in Ansonia, Connecticut, are having a harder and harder time putting food on the table because that company is seeing its business demand grow smaller and smaller as the United States government sends more and more of our taxpayer dollars overseas.“

“He’s the best guy, we really like him, we know that he’s going to fight for us. That’s why today we’re proud to endorse him,” Kushner said.

Since announcing his candidacy in January, Murphy has added a number of legislators and Democratic Town Committees to his supporters. He has raised $1.1 million in the first quarter of his campaign to win the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Joe Lieberman.