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Don’t forget Clinton and these delegates on Primary Day
Jan 31, 2008 2:33 PM
The presidential primary in New York State on Feb. 5 is fast approaching, and union activities for AFT/UFT-endorsed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton are in full swing.
Phone banks will be in action through Primary Day eve, Feb. 4, and volunteers are needed. Contact your borough office for times and details.
Here’s a summary of Clinton’s stands on key issues:
Education
- As a U.S. senator, Clinton has called for universal pre-kindergarten and for expanding funding for child care.
- She supports paying a minimum $40,000 starting salary to teachers and a living wage to School-Related Professionals.
- She advocates a “fix or pitch” approach to dealing with No Child Left Behind and at the Jan. 16 Delegate Assembly she promised that “we’re going to get rid of No Child Left Behind.” She also would shift the focus from memorization and “teaching to the test” to actual learning.
- Clinton supports making college more affordable for all families.
Health care
- As first lady, she helped found the Children’s Health Insurance Plan and still advocates for quality affordable health care for all Americans with her American Health Choices Plan.
- She has vowed to stop insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
Retirement
- She supported the Pension Protection Act, which requires employers to fund 100 percent of their future employee pension obligations, and opposes privatizing Social Security.
- Clinton supports reforming laws to ensure that companies fulfill their pension and health care obligations. She would also support requiring employers to open retirement savings accounts for employees.
The primary election requires a separate vote for delegates in addition to presidential nominees. UFT members are urged to support three individuals running for delegates and alternates to the Democratic National Convention.
Members living in Congressional District 2, covering parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties, should vote for NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi.
Those voting in CD 4, a portion of Nassau County, should vote for Nina Tribble of JHS 190, Queens, and a UFT Executive Board member.
And those voting in CD 13, covering parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island, should vote for UFT retiree Dilia Schack.
Others of interest in upstate New York include NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin, Cynthia Glozier and Denise King in CD 20, and NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira in CD 21.
In New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Erie, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. In New Jersey, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
