Letter: SEIU Union Endorses Elliott for Hamden State Representative

Written by Juan Hernandez

To the Editor:

As Hamden Mayor Curt Balzano Leng and Representative Michael D’Agostino made clear in their recent letters to the Patch, the Democratic primary on August 9 is one of the most important that Hamden has faced in years.

The election on Tuesday will determine the path that local Democrats seek to follow after the departure of the 88th District’s current representative, the outgoing Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representative, Brendan Sharkey. But, with all due respect to the mayor and representative, their endorsement letters then undermine the historic potential of this choice by stressing the insider experience and narrow focus of their preferred candidate over the youthful energy and optimistic vision of the candidate that our union members in Hamden have endorsed —local lawyer and businessman Josh Elliott.

Our members in Hamden believe that Josh Elliott’s vision could make a real difference not only for the town of Hamden, but for all of Connecticut.

The 4,500 members of 32BJ SEIU Connecticut mostly work as janitors and security guards at private and public buildings across the state, jobs that traditionally have earned wages at the low end of the income divide. As our members well know, that divide has grown so deep in Connecticut that the state now ranks as the second-most economically unequal in the nation. Josh Elliott has long expressed his conviction that we need to stem that yawning divide by lifting up the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Whether our own members have surpassed this minimum or not, they support this raise to enable their family members and their community to stop sinking further and further behind — and in the knowledge that their own lives cannot continue to improve while other low-wage workers languish.

The idea of a $15 minimum has gained local traction in municipal and state legislatures from Seattle to New York, and it has even recently been adopted as a plank in the national Democratic Party platform. But to make it a reality in Connecticut we need candidates like Josh Elliott, who entered the race months ago to make a stand for working people. By contrast, Elliott’s opponent entered the race only after Sharkey had left it, as a handpicked successor of the Democratic Party status quo.

With his stance on a $15 minimum wage, his support of paid family leave, his opposition to balancing budgets on the backs of workers — not to mention his experience as a successful local businessman, lawyer, and longtime progressive advocate — our members in Hamden encourage their friends and neighbors to move on to a brighter, higher path by voting for Josh Elliott.

Sincerely,

Juan Hernandez

32BJ SEIU Connecticut District Leader

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