AFL-CIO Endorses Hayes, Lopes, Sanchez and Tercyak

The Connecticut AFL-CIO labor union federation has announced that it has endorsed the candidacies of Jahana Hayes, Rick Lopes, Manny Sanchez and Peter Tercyak.

“At the Connecticut AFL-CIO’s Thirteenth Biennial Political Convention,” the labor federation announced on September 4, 2020, “delegates endorsed pro-worker candidates from the U.S. House to the State House!”

“One hundred fifty-three delegates from 71 locals, labor chapters, building trades councils, and area labor federations attended the convention remotely by Zoom.”

New Britain’s United States Representative, Jahana Hayes (D-5) represents the Fifth Congressional District. Rep. Hayes was elected to Congress in 2018. She is being challenged by Republican David X. Sullivan and Independent Party candidate Bruce W. Walczak.

“Ensuring workers are safe in their workplaces, make a living wage, and can collectively bargain to improve their conditions has been a priority for me,” Hayes says, citing her advocacy for living wages, collective bargaining rights equal pay for equal work and, “solving the multi-employer pension crisis.”

Current State Representative Rick Lopes (D-24) is the Democratic candidate for the State Senate in the Sixth Senatorial District, which includes New Britain, Berlin and part of Farmington. He is running against incumbent Republican State Senator Gennaro Bizzarro (R-6).

Lopes said on Labor Day that he is, “proud to announce today that I’ve been endorsed by AFL-CIO Connecticut, a coalition of unions with over 220,000 members.”

“Strong unions,” Lopes said, “are essential to ensuring that our workers are treated with decency, compensated properly, and working in safe conditions. Thank you to AFL-CIO and to all of the workers of our community.”

Lopes also said that, “Over the course of the past six months our frontline/essential workers have sacrificed their health and safety for the health and safety of others. This Labor Day, I remain incredibly grateful for the sacrifices made by our workers amid these unprecedented times.”

Ald. Manny Sanchez (D-AL), the current City Council Democratic leader, was nominated in an August primary to be the Democratic candidate to succeed Lopes in the Twenty-Fourth Assembly District. The district includes the West End, Willow Brook and southern East Side neighborhoods in New Britain and the south west corner of Newington. The Republican candidate for that seat is Alden Russell.

“The strides that our state has made towards more just and equitable workplaces would not be possible without the contributions of our unions,” said Sanchez. “I’m proud to stand with the workers of my community and will continue to be an advocate for union and working-class interests in Hartford.”

“Thank you to the workers of Connecticut, AFL-CIO, and all labor unions that have fought for an economy that works for everyone,” said Sanchez.

Incumbent State Representative Peter Tercyak (D-26) is the Democratic candidate to represent the Twenty-Sixth District, which includes the Little Poland, Farmingdale, Little Warsaw, Alexander Avenue, Batterson Pond, Brittany Farms and Stanley park neighborhoods and parts of the Belvedere neighborhood. Tercyak is being challenged by Republican Piotr S. Ceglarz.

Ceglarz was nominated by the Republican Party for that district this year, despite him having been forced out of the 2015 election for City Council after posts attributed to his Facebook profile that were widely regarded as racist.

The Connecticut American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) says that it,

works tirelessly to improve the lives of working people. We are a federation of hundreds of local unions representing more than 220,000 active union members in the private sector, public sector, and building trades. Our members live and work in every city and town in our state, and reflect the diversity that makes Connecticut great.

We are one of nearly 500 state and local labor councils of the AFL-CIO and are the heart of the labor movement. We are democratically elected bodies dedicated to represent the interests of working people at the state and local level. We mobilize our members and community partners to advocate for social and economic justice and we strive daily to vanquish oppression and make our communities better for all people—regardless of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin.