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Legislation
June 6, 2006
Illinois AFL-CIO Endorses Gov. Blagojevich; Giannoulias for Treasurer
Vote to Support Phil Hare in 17th Congressional District
Delegates representing nearly one million union members in Illinois voted this afternoon to endorse Governor Rod Blagojevich for a second term.
“This governor has raised the minimum wage, advanced health care for children and the elderly, protected overtime wages, enforced equal pay, improved funding for education, pushed for more stringent mine safety, signed card-check for public employees*, updated workers’ compensation laws, improved the Department of Labor that looks out for working men and women, and signed numerous laws that protect and support workers everyday in this state,” said Margaret Blackshere, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. “We understand there is more to be accomplished for workers, but with the budget deficit that this governor inherited, we are proud of his accomplishments and happy to work for his reelection. Members of this Federation know that at the end of the day he is the candidate who will stand up for workers and their rights. After all, his opponent garnered a dismal 21% voting record on working family issues while she was in the General Assembly.”
The Illinois AFL-CIO held its General Election Endorsement Session at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. Delegates representing affiliated labor unions, Central Labor Councils, Building Trades Councils, state organizations and Political Education Committees (COPE) participated in the voting. Endorsements were made for state-wide candidates, state legislative candidates, Federal congressional candidates and in state judicial races.
In the battle for the open 6th Congressional seat vacated by Henry Hyde, Democrat Tammy Duckworth won the Illinois AFL-CIO endorsement. Duckworth, who was also endorsed by Labor in the Primary Election, faces State Senator Peter Roskam, who had a 15% voting record on working family issues in 2005.
“We have to change the direction of the federal government before our middle class is destroyed,” said Margaret Blackshere. “People like Tammy Duckworth can help make that happen.”
Labor delegates voted overwhelmingly to support Phil Hare in the 17th Congressional District, on the same day he was elected by Democratic precinct committeemen. The seat, long held by friend-of-Labor Lane Evans, is a critical race for Union members. According to Bill Looby, political director for the Illinois AFL-CIO, “It’s important to keep a strong, worker-friendly representative in the 17th District.” “We have a long, strong history of Labor solidarity in the Quad Cities area. We’ll be calling on our union brothers and sisters from all sectors to walk precincts, help with phone banks and distribute flyers to defeat Andre Zinga.”
In the 8th Congressional District delegates voted not to endorse Melissa Bean for a second term. Delegates had also withheld an earlier endorsement for Bean in the Primary Election because of her vote in 2005 for CAFTA.
“There was a heated debate by union members on the endorsement of Melissa Bean,” said Blackshere. “Many felt betrayed by Ms Bean because of her vote to expand unfair trade laws. It was a tough decision to make, but in the end, delegates could not commit their resources to back Ms Bean.
In state-wide races the Illinois AFL-CIO endorsed Pat Quinn for Lt. Governor, Lisa Madigan for Attorney General, Jesse White for Secretary of State, Dan Hynes for Comptroller and Alexander Giannoulias for Treasurer.
Giannoulias, who joined Margaret Blackshere and Illinois AFL-CIO executive board members at the post-session press conference, was endorsed unanimously. “Alexi Giannoulias has the banking and investing background and knowledge to improve the operations of the State Treasurers office,” said Blackshere. “He is competent as well as compassionate to working families and their struggles. He will work to improve access to affordable housing and home loans and to better serve those who are often neglected by the mainstream banking industry. We are proud to back Alexi and will work upstate and down for his election.”
“This is a critical time in our country’s history for working class Americans,” said Blackshere. “Workers’ rights are won at the ballot box. The National AFL-CIO, the Change to Win unions, Working America and many other community and faith-based groups are pulling out all of the stops to change the face of Congress in this upcoming election. And in this state, the Illinois AFL-CIO will spend more money than we have in previous elections and coordinate an unprecedented grass-roots campaign to help re-elect Gov. Blagojevich and a worker-friendly state legislature. We will reach out to our members with more direct mail, phone calls and through rallies and work-site leafleting. We will start tomorrow and won’t let up until the polls close on November 7th.”
The Illinois AFL-CIO supports endorsed candidates by communicating with members through mailings, work-site literature drops, home visits, telecommunications and concentrated get out the vote efforts.
A complete list of state endorsed candidates will be posted on the Illinois AFL-CIO web site at www.ilafl-cio.org on Wednesday. For names of endorsed federal candidates call 217.544.4014.
(The list of endorsed candidates is posted on our site here.)
*Card check recognition allows state employees to form a union based on the majority of employees signing authorization cards. HB 3396 passed in 2003.
The Illinois American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) represents over one million union members from 1,500 unions statewide. The federation is dedicated to strengthening working families by enabling more workers to join unions, building a strong political voice for workers, providing a new voice for workers in the global economy, assisting laid-off workers, and educating Illinois’ youth on career opportunities
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