Trumka: Massachusetts Election Shows Need for Results in Washington
The victory of Republican Scott Brown in the January 19th special election to fill the seat left vacant by the late Ted Kennedy has sent shockwaves across the Commonwealth and the country. Click the headline to read about AFL-CIO President Trumka's warnings about the upcoming election season if Congress does not start passing meaningful reforms that working families desperately need.

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Martha Coakley Recieves Unanimous Endorsement of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO
“This election has been all about working families,” said Robert Haynes, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “That’s who the late Senator Kennedy spent his life fighting for. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is proud to stand with Martha Coakley because of her proven record of fighting for working families and because of her career of public service. Our Attorney General has always stood for fairness, justice, and opportunity for working families. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO will work hard during this short campaign to add Martha’s voice, values, and talents to the U.S. Senate.”  Click the headline to read a press release from the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and to view pictures and video from the endorsement announcement.
 

The special race to fill our beloved late Senator Kennedy's Senate Seat has begun. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO considers it the utmost priority that the next Senator from Massachusetts be a vigorious champion for working families and for labor issues, the same way the late Senator Kennedy was on Capitol Hill for over 47 years. Stay up-to-date on all the latest current candidate and campaign information here.

Important Dates to Know:
Deadline to be registered to vote for the General Election: Dec 30, 2009
General Election: January 19, 2010

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO has an extensive process that candidates must go through in order to be considered for an official endorsement. Candidates wishing to be considered for endorsement by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO must:

• Be certified candidates and officially placed on the ballot by the Secretary of the State. Nomination papers are due to the Secretary of the State by October 20th, 2009.
• Complete a U.S. Senate Candidate Questionnaire by 5 PM on October 21st, 2009.
  • Questionnaires must also be returned with a cover letter explicitly requesting an endorsement, the candidate's expressed views on labor, history with labor, and why the endorsement from the Massachusetts AFL-CIO is important to their candidacy.
• Participate in the Massachusetts AFL-CIO Special U.S. Senate Election Candidate Forum that was held on Thursday October 29th at 7:30 PM.  Click here to read about the forum.

Once a candidate has conducted all of the criteria necessary to be considered for endorsement, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO Executive Council must vote on who they are willing to support.

• The Massachusetts AFL-CIO Executive Council Committee on Political Education (C.O.P.E.) Endorsement Meeting was held on Friday, October 30th, 2009 to determine if a candidate would receive an endorsement from the Massachusetts AFL-CIO in the Primary election.    
  • The Mass. AFL-CIO Executive Council voted to make no endorsement during the Primary.  
  • Now that the Primary is over, the Executive Council will reconvene a C.O.P.E. Session to vote on endorsement in the General election.  This C.O.P.E. Endorsement Meeting for the General Election was held on Thursday December 17.  A candidate that requested endorsment in the Primary does not need to request it again in the General, should they be a party's nominee. To secure an endorsement, a single candidate must garner a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the Executive Council present at the meeting.  The C.O.P.E. Endorsement Meeting may motion to remain neutral and not endorse a candidate by a simple majority vote by the Executive Council members present (51% of the votes).   Martha Coakley recieved a unanimous endorsement for the General Election at the December 17th meeting.

To learn more about the two candidates facing eachother in the General Election, click on the links below.

Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) for U.S. Senate v. State Senator Scott Brown (R) for U.S. Senate

To learn more about the declared candidates that appeared on the Democratic and Republican ballots in the Primary, click on the following links: 

Despite the Labor Movement's Best Efforts, Coakley Loses U.S. Senate Race
While the Massachusetts AFL-CIO is extremely dissapointed by Martha Coakley's loss, we hope that this will motivate leaders on Beacon Hill, Capitol Hill, in the Corner Office and in the Oval Office to get moving on health care reform, labor law reform and regulation of financial industry as voters in Massachusetts clearly demonstrated that they are frustrated by Democrats' lack of progess.  While this was a relatively short election, working families understood how much was at stake and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO worked hard from the beginning to ensure that it properly vetted each candidate.  Click the headline for a snapshot of the Mass. AFL-CIO's efforts from the announcement of the special election through Election Day.

 Trumka: Massachusetts Election Shows Need for Results in Washington
The victory of Republican Scott Brown in the January 19th Special Election to fill the seat left by our beloved Ted Kennedy has sent shockwaves across the Commonwealth and the country as the seat held for 47 years by Kennedy, who dedicated his life to health care reform, is now in the hands of someone who campaigned on the promise to defeat health care reform.  Click the headline to read about AFL-CIO President Trumka's warnings of this coming election season if Congress does not start passing meaningful reforms that working families desparately need.