Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1298 today announced their endorsement of Chris Murphy for United States Senate. CWA Local 1298 represents more than 4,000 Connecticut workers employed by AT&T and a number of other communications companies.
CWA Local 1298 President Bill Henderson cited Murphy’s steadfast leadership in working to strengthen Buy American laws on federal spending as a key factor in their decision. Henderson said, “Chris has led the charge on Buy American purchasing policies for the US government – a common sense approach that could put millions back to work without costing any more than we are already spending. Chris is willing to pursue policies like this despite corporate opposition. The U.S. Senate needs some real shaking up. Murphy is the right person for the job."
"I've made strengthening Buy American laws a top priority since my first day on the job, working for years on a series of bi-partisan bills to create an estimated 620,000 American manufacturing jobs,” said Murphy. “With over 4,000 members in Connecticut, Local 1298’s endorsement is an incredible boost for our growing grassroots campaign and I’m honored to have their strong support in our campaign for the Senate."
Henderson said Local 1298 will be gearing up for unprecedented membership mobilizations. “We have contract negotiations in April 2012. In November, there are the national elections, which have a huge impact on the lives of working people. Our members will be rocking the state from now until the end of the year. By the end of November, we plan to be celebrating a great new contract, and solid victories in the elections. And the highlight of that will be newly-elected U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy.
Since announcing his candidacy 12 months ago, Murphy has built a strong grassroots campaign that continues to grow and gather momentum. He has received the endorsement of the Working Families Party, the Connecticut Education Association, Connecticut Fire Fighters, United Auto Workers, Connecticut Laborers, the Connecticut State Building and Construction Trades Council, the League of Conservation Voters, Connecticut's entire Congressional House delegation, Attorney General George Jepsen, Comptroller Kevin Lembo, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, dozens of state Senators and state Representatives and over 6,000 Democratic and progressive activists from all across Connecticut. In addition to grassroots support, Murphy has built a clear fundraising advantage by outpacing his opponents 2-1 in the first year of the campaign.
