Volunteer "get out the vote" efforts by public service workers affiliated with state's largest union help Malloy/Wyman ticket to victory

HARTFORD—Members of CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 congratulate Dan Malloy and Nancy Wyman for their victory in today's Primary Election as the Connecticut Democratic Party's 2010 nominees for governor and lieutenant governor. After making thousands of phone calls and mailing out thousands of leaflets over the past month, the Union's active and retired public service workers played a decisive role in turning a race that was too close to call on election day into a solid win.

"Dan's win is a triumph for the middle class," said Patrice Peterson, a special education teacher with the State Department of Developmental Services (DDS). "But it's not enough for union members to help elect politicians and hope they'll stand up for us. We have to hold them accountable so they don't cozy up to big banks, big oil, and other big corporations. We have to challenge the special interests that have spent decades dragging down standards for working people for their own greed," Peterson, the Secretary-Treasurer of CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 said.

Peterson and leaders representing the Union's diverse membership, from teachers of blind children, to public health inspectors, to law enforcement professionals, made the decision last month to get behind Malloy's candidacy in the Primary Election. The Executive Council's July 8 vote was followed a week later by the decision of delegates from the affiliated locals in the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Connecticut State Council to combine forces in the effort to elect the former Stamford mayor as the Democratic Party nominee for governor.

"This election was too important for our members to sit out," said Bob Rinker, Executive Director of CSEA/SEIU 2001. "Working people are facing the greatest economic crisis of our lifetimes. At the same time, the people who created the crisis -- Wall Street CEOs and corporate bankers -- are back on top. Electing Dan Malloy in November is what we need to get Connecticut working again," Rinker said.

SEIU's endorsed candidates in today's Primary Election ran the table, proving that union members are where the grassroots "rubber hits the road," help make politics works for their communities, and that organized labor is no "paper tiger." Kevin Lembo and Denise Merrill handily won their races for, respectively, the Office of the State Comptroller and the Secretary of the State.

As a labor union representing nearly 25,000 active and retired State, municipal, school district, and public-private partnership employees, CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 strives to lift standards for all of Connecticut's public service workers and their families. Visit www.seiu2001.org online for more information about the Union's efforts to deliver quality, reliable, and cost-effective public services for taxpayers and residents.


Catherine Osten's August 10 Victory Announcement to the Membership