CA State AFL-CIO Fed nixes O'Connell

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

> From: Jonah Zern <jzern1@yahoo.com>
>
> March 8, 2006 -- The California Labor Federation's
> COPE convention in Oakland today declined to endorse Superintendent of
> Public Instruction Jack O'Connell for re-election.
>
> The primary reason for the withholding of support was
> O'Connell's continued support of Randall Ward, the state-imposed trustee of
> the Oakland Unified School District, and his anti-union policies. Not only
> did O'Connell issue a letter supporting Ward against the union and the
> findings of the State Mediation Service's fact-finding memo, but in response
> to a question from a Teamster official about "replacement workers" (scabs),
> O'Connell responded, "You mean substitutes. They're just substitutes."
>
> The lack of labor support for O'Connell increases the
> chances of a strong showing for Sarah Knopp, a Los Angeles teacher who is
> running against O'Connell with the support of the Green Party, the
> Peace and Freedom Party and the International Socialist Organization.
>
> [For more information about Knopp's campaign, see
> <http://www.sarah4super.org>).