Malloy Alleged Union Endorsement Instead Goes to DeStefano

July 21, 2006

Malloy suffers second labor setback, after insulting hotel and service employees

New Haven - A union that Dan Malloy's campaign had trumpeted as endorsing his candidacy today instead endorsed New Haven Mayor John DeStefano.

The embarrassing failure of AFSCME WPCA Local 1303-393 - representing dozens of Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) workers in New Haven. - to endorse Malloy, on the heels of Malloy having to apologize to hotel and service employees for saying they did not have "real jobs" on Tuesday's WTNH debate was another setback to the Malloy campaign.

"I am honored to have the support of these men and women who work so hard each day," said DeStefano. "My campaign is about helping working families who are getting squeezed - whether it's indexing the minimum age to inflation, implementing universal health care, or freezing property taxes rates for struggling seniors. The way we win in August and then in November is by growing our team and spreading our message and I'm grateful Local 1303-393 is on board."

Arthur Sandella, president of Local 1303-393, said, "John understands the concerns of workers when it comes to pensions and health care. He is on the right side of the issues for Connecticut and working families." Sandella continued to say that he regretted the "misunderstanding with Mayor Malloy's campaign" that occurred last month and went on to say that "it's become clear that John DeStefano is our choice for Connecticut's next governor."

Following the flap - in which the Malloy campaign inaccurately claimed to have the endorsement of Local 1303-393 - the union's political manager, Vincent Spaduzzi, invited all three candidates for governor to speak to their members. Only the DeStefano camp responded.

"DeStefano was the only one who would come talk to us," said Spaduzzi. "His message against privatization and for working families made sense to us." Sandella added, "Mayor DeStefano took the time to talk to the union members to get across that he's for workers and for the union. Mayor Malloy never did that."

In June, DeStefano earned the endorsement of the Connecticut AFL-CIO - representing 210,000 working men and women. This is the first time in the organization's proud history that it has endorsed in a Democratic primary.