1 min read

Season 4, Episode 31

Union members successful at polls due to support from organized labor

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Guest Name:


Ed Hawthorne

Guest Website:


https://ctaflcio.org/ 

Guest Social Media:


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Supportive Documents:


Ed Hawthorne, President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, joined the AWF Union Podcast and praised the effort of organized labor in the state, who helped fellow union members successfully run for legislative seats.

Hawthorne said 31 total union members were elected to the Connecticut Senate and House in November, thanks to the effort of organized labor. In the Senate, nine union members were elected, and make up 25 percent of the body. In the House, 22 union members were elected and comprise about 15 percent of that chamber.

This success on Election Day will help push a pro-union legislative agenda, which includes the passage of an unemployment bill. This proposed legislation would provide unemployment benefits to workers who go on strike. The bill is in the midst of public hearings, which Hawthorne described as difficult due to a negative stigma surrounding the bill. 

Hawthorne also addressed the status of a bill passed by the previous legislature that banned captive audience meetings. Since its enactment, a group of business owners sued the state and claimed the law violates their right to free speech. He challenged this notion and gave his thoughts on how the lawsuit will play out in court.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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