Barbaro, Kuhl, Rivera also endorsed
PEF E. Board picks Kerry for president
By SHERRY HALBROOK
U.S. Sen. John Kerry has garnered PEF’s endorsement in his campaign for president.
Kerry, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, was endorsed by the PEF Executive Board at its June meeting in Albany.
“We are proud to endorse Sen. Kerry for president,” said PEF President Roger Benson. “It will take a strong and visionary leader, such as Kerry, to repair the serious damage four years of the Bush administration has inflicted on this country’s economy and its working families. John Kerry recognizes that America’s economic and political strength lies in its hard-working citizens.”
Kerry supports workers’ rights, including legislation to protect workers, who are trying to form unions, from management intimidation or harassment, and legislation to give federal Homeland Security employees the right to organize and bargain collectively.
PEF Vice President Ken Brynien, chair of the PEF Political Action Committee which recommended the endorsement, said it was the logical next step in the union’s Show Bush the Door in 2004 campaign which delegates to the 2003 PEF Convention launched last fall.
“This country is reeling from one leadership failure after another since George W. Bush took office in January 2001,” Brynien said. “In just that short time, we have gone from record prosperity and national and state budget surpluses, to deficits and debt that will weigh down American families for generations to come.”
PEF Board members also cited the Bush administration’s efforts to gut federal labor and occupational safety laws and regulations that protect the rights, lives and health of American workers and that PEF and other labor activists have worked painstakingly for decades to establish.
“If we don’t stop Bush now, in another four years there won’t be anything left,” Benson added.
PEF backs two for Congress
The PEF E. Board has also endorsed two congressional candidates — former state legislator and jurist Frank Barbaro, a Democrat, in the 13th Congressional District, and Republican state Sen. John Randy Kuhl in the 29th Congressional District.
Barbaro, who chaired the state Assembly Labor Committee for many years before leaving the Legislature to become a judge in the state Supreme Court, was endorsed by the Executive Board at its April meeting.
“Randy Kuhl played an important role in helping PEF save Elmira Psychiatric Center from closing a year ago,” Brynien said. “He has proved his leadership and support for the working families in his district and the state many times. He faces a tough and decisive battle in the Republican primary election for this congressional seat, and he needed to know PEF will be in his corner all the way.
Rivera endorsed for Assembly
State Assembly Member Peter Rivera, a Democrat, was endorsed for re-election in Assembly District 76, the Bronx. He was praised by PEF leaders for his vital leadership as chair of the Assembly Mental Hygiene Committee in preserving state mental health services throughout the state.
The board will make most of its other political endorsements for the November general election at its August meeting. Meanwhile, PEF’s regional political action committees are hard at work this summer interviewing and evaluating candidates seeking the union’s support. The regional PACs will make their endorsement recommendations to the statewide PAC, which will present the final recommendations to the Executive Board in August.
The
Communicator July/August 04
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