Governor's Race

from NYSUT:


GOVERNOR'S RACE
We are faced with, essentially, no choice for Governor of NYS. Clearly, Andrew Cuomo will be Governor. He has become more and more openly anti-union and, conosdering his lead in the polls, he does not need to be as adversarial as he has been. This is some of what Andrew Cuomo stands for: "freezing salaries of state public employees as part of a one-year emergency financial plan" ... "imposing a local property tax cap" .... "we must hold a constitutional convention – A People’s Convention – to rewrite the Constitution and make these changes immediately because we cannot wait any longer for the state legislature to act " (Source: www.andrewcuomo.com ) Remember that the only way our pensions can be changed is through a constitutional convention.
Please read the following NY Times article: "Cuomo Vows Offensive Against Labor Unions"...combined with calling for: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/nyregion/25cuomo.html [Cuomo declares war on unions]

Now, for your consideration, an excerpt from a letter from a NYSUT Board member from eastern Nassau County, to his local membership. I plan on voting this way.
Colleagues,
Tuesday is Election Day. Union members need to vote more than ever for those who believe in unions and the right to bargain collectively over the terms and conditions of their employment. Fortunately, there are some good ones whom we should very actively support. The list of NYSUT and PCT endorsed candidates appears in the last edition of the Pledge.

We have no official endorsement for governor. Up until a day or so ago, I would have simply left it at that. But Andrew Cuomo, who will surely be our next governor, has aggressively and completely unnecessarily gone out of his way to declare war on the public employees of this state, including its teachers and education support professionals. I believe whatever we can do to reduce his mandate will be helpful to us.

That's why I will be voting for Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for governor. Yes, I know, he stands no chance to win. Yet, we can use his being on the ballot to send Mr. Cuomo a message. Polls today tell us that Cuomo will win by about 20 points. The Green party offers us an opportunity to reduce Cuomo's mandate while still voting for a candidate who stands for many of the things we support - jobs for all, medical care for all, affordable housing etc. It's the only sane way we have to send him a message that he better think twice about making war on us. That's my view, anyway. Please share it with anyone you think may be sympathetic.

Re: Governor's Race

I am voting for Howie Hawkins- I made that decision a while back. There seems to be some momentum in his favor among NYC teachers, at least. I hope more teachers think about voting for him. He won't win, but it may be an eye-opener for Cuomo.

I think it's also important to point out that Cuomo has taken a lot of money from a group called Democrats for Education Reform. They are mainly hedge-funders who are heavily involved in charter schools. They are VERY anti-union. In fact, I can't emphasize their anti-union stance strongly enough. And Cuomo is very anti-labor for a Democrat. A few weeks ago I was looking at my dad's Local 3 paper and I was very surprised to see that they'd endorsed him.

Re: Governor's Race

Re: Governor's Race

thanks for this!

here's the list of endorsements from NYSUT for all who are interested.

Re: Governor's Race

I'm glad you posted this. I'll be voting Green Party tomorrow as well.