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News Flash

Unprecedented election victories bring hope to working people, organized labor

“Election night 2008 marked a great victory for the Joint Board, for our members, and for the country,” notes the Board’s political director, Gary Bonadonna Jr. “Not only did Barack Obama’s landslide win mark a sea change in the national landscape, but an unprecedented number of state and local candidates we endorsed also won — 21 of 24 candidates,” he emphasized.

“Obama’s victory is huge for all Americans, and certainly for working people and organized labor. Today, at long last, we finally have a President who not only understands our issues — but supports them. His victory means more than just hope for millions of poor and middle class workers — it also means real help.

“Some of the changes will be obvious, like restoring the economy, bringing tax relief to middle class workers, and creating jobs. But, there are other changes that may be less visible, but which are vitally important to us. Just one example will be restoring a balance to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which became almost totally pro-business under Bush.

Bonadonna Jr. went on to say, “As UNITE HERE members, we should take great pride that ours was one of the first labor unions to endorse Obama, and no union gave him more enthusiastic support than we did. That’s because he stands for what we stand for: tax cuts for working families; affordable health care for all; tax breaks to companies creating jobs here rather than for companies sending jobs overseas; defending the right of workers to freely join unions by passing the Employee Free Choice Act; and creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.” The political director also called the Board’s successes at the state and local level “a great victory for the Board and for all of our members. Our victories in the legislative races are so important because they give us allies who understand and support our issues. I am proud of the financial resources our PAC program helped provide, but I really want to salute the tireless efforts of so many of our members — they had a huge impact.

“No one in the Board can remember,” Bonadonna Jr. said, “when so many members sacrificed so much of their time to help.” Members staffed phone banks, knocked on doors, and stuffed literature into envelopes, among other things. “Many of the Board’s leaders — business reps, district managers and staff members — also worked countless hours on top of their already hectic schedules to help deliver these victories.”

In addition to Obama, the Board endorsed 24 candidates for the House of Representatives; the state Senate and Assembly; and three judicial posts — and an amazing 21 won their races. “This unprecedented number of winning candidates clearly increases our ability to influence labor decisions that directly affect us and our members,” Bonadonna Jr. noted. “This also demonstrates that our political power is steadily growing.”

He said the efforts of members and staff were “a key to our successes. In a close Buffalo race, I want to especially acknowledge Local 1067-T member Andrew Tatar who worked virtually full-time the last month of that campaign.” Other dedicated members who worked on that race include Carol Sadowski, Local 1126-T; Randy Ritz and Mark Maloney, Local 4; Mark Hilbrecht, 201; Tina Anderson, Grace Pries, Mike Teavan, Dianne Watts, Jimmie Chin and Gail Richmond, all from 1802; Yvonne Walcott, 168-39; Ed Laughlin, Stan Dolecki and Frank Fava, 14-A; PAC chair Shirley “Fran” Sobczak, 388-G; Victor Zayes, Robin Solomon, and Sabrina Chatman, 2714; and Annemarie Hayes, Jay Manning, Ralph Federiconi, Morgan Kelly, Roberta Boone, John Murphy and Michael Pascucci, 471.

In addition to Bonadonna Jr., staff members who took part included Emily Vick, Gary Horn, Dave Carroll, Pete DeSabio, George Kimball, Paul “PJ” John, Luis Torres, Steve George, Ron Piccone, Jeannie Reitz and Wanda Harens. Joint Board consultant Richard Bensinger helped in a number of ways, including making a video of the Board’s and UNITE HERE’s efforts in a Buffalo campaign.