On eve of labor forum, Patrick gets backing
Four unions endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick yesterday, bringing his total of union endorsements to 12, as four of the five candidates for governor headed to an AFL-CIO candidates' forum today in Falmouth.
Patrick's new endorsements came from the United Auto Workers State CAP Council; the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, Central Massachusetts Area Local 4553; and two United Food and Commercial Workers locals, 328 and 791.
``We are looking forward to working with Deval Patrick on the issues that are so important to children, seniors, and other issues concerning working families of Massachusetts," Willie Desnoyers, president of the UAW State CAP Council, said in a statement.
``We are especially interested in workers' right to organize for fairness in the workplace and in our society," Desnoyers added.
Patrick is not the only candidate who is winning hearts in organized labor. Thomas F. Reilly won the endorsement of 1199 SEIU, a huge union based in New York that recently picked up thousands of local healthcare workers. In last year's Boston city elections, 1199 SEIU put $100,000 into radio ads and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Chris Gabrieli is the only Democrat who has not won union endorsements so far. Yesterday, he released a list of 34 state and local officials who have endorsed him, including two Boston legislators, Representatives Mike Moran of Brighton and Anthony Petruccelli of East Boston.
The list included only one state senator, Senate Education Committee chairman Robert Antonioni, a Democrat from Leominster. Antonioni has worked with Gabrieli and his nonprofit organization, the Massachusetts 2020 Foundation, on a program to extend the school day in some schools.
A Boston city councilor, John Tobin, chairman of the City Council's Education Committee, also backed Gabrieli.
The Massachusetts AFL-CIO, which has a membership of 400,000, plans to endorse a candidate in late June.
That makes today's forum an important test. In addition to the three Democratic candidates, an independent gubernatorial candidate, Christy Mihos, also plans to attend. Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey has declined to participate.
At the forum, the candidates will answer 2 1/2 hours of questions from a panel of five labor leaders, a spokesman for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO said.
Most of the questions will be based on a union questionnaire that each of the candidates filled out. The questionnaire included items such as whether they would support raising the minimum wage and how they would confront problems that might arise during implementation of the state's new healthcare law.
