Tag Archives: State Employees Association

Nashua Area Union Members Hold In-District Meeting With Legislators

  By Matt Murray | February 8, 2013 - 11:10 am | ,
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NCC Legislative District Meeting 2-7b

NCC Legislative District Meeting 2-7cLast night members from the Nashua Teachers’ Union (AFT) and the State Employees’ Association (SEIU) hosted an in-district meeting with local Nashua legislators.

Around sixty union members that all work in the Nashua area came to speak directly with the legislators who represent different areas of the city. The legislators in attendance were Martin Jack, David Murotake, Jan Schmidt, Sylvia Gale, Daniel Hansbury, Susan Vale, Efstahia Booras, and Senator Bette Laskey.

The event was emceed by Deb Howes (NTU) a teacher from Nashua, and Magnus Pardoe (SEIU) from the Nashua Community College.

NCC Legislative District Meeting 2-7b“It is great to see so many people here and engaged in the legislative process. We need to keep an open line of communication with our legislators” said Deb Howes in her opening remarks.

The overall tone of the event was much calmer than a similar event held last year. With Right To Work (for less) already voted down by the Labor Committee, the teachers were still very interested in hearing what the legislators had to say on SB 37 (a bill to restrict collective bargaining rights) and HB 142 (a bill surrounding teacher evaluations). Deb Howes wanted legislators to understand that these bills would have significate impacts on the teacher evaluations in the Nashua School District.

Deb Howes said “We have worked very hard to have a say in how teacher evaluations are conducted in Nashua”

Overall all of the legislators in attendance were against SB 37 and HB 142, including David Murotake who was the only Republican to attend the event. Murotake is also a member of the Nashua School Board and does not like HB 142 for the potential impact on teacher evaluations. Murotake said “The Nashua Teacher Union’s involvement in teacher evaluations have really helped Nashua move ahead.”

NCC Legislative District Meeting 2-7aOne of the teachers in attendance wanted to make it very clear that the Department of Education officials are not ‘content experts’, they are more politicians. She said she would welcome anyone with real and practical experience into her classroom to provide feedback, however this bill does not provide for that.

The SEIU Members at the meeting also wanted to bring awareness to a couple of bills they are working on as well. The first is HB 445, a bill to allow all public entities to join in the state’s healthcare plans.

Magnus Pardoe, who is also the President of the Nashua Community College (NCC) chapter of the SEA/SEIU said, “this is a bill to help all public workers in NH. It would open up options for cities, towns and all municipal employees to have a choice in their healthcare options.”

Diana Lacey, President of the State Employees’ Association reminded the legislators that right here at the NCC, full time employees are being replaced with part time employees who have no benefit options. Lacey stated, “80% of the community college instructors are part time with no benefits.” This is a sad trend in many of the state agencies.

The other bill that sparked conversation was HB 591, a bill about ‘bullying’ of public employees. Currently there is no place for workers to report abusive behavior by their supervisors. This bill could be similar to those provided in the federal whistleblowers protections act.

As a former state employee, Rep Sylvia Gale is very much in favor of this bill. She is even a co-sponsor of the bill in the House.

Senator Laskey admitted she was unfamiliar this specific house legislation. She said this is why we need to have more events like this to ensure that legislators know what bills are really important to the people she represents. She encouraged everyone to take the time are reach out to your legislators and tell them how you feel on these bills.

Everyone was deeply interested in the soon to be released budget by Governor Hassan. All of the legislators were in favor of restoring the cuts made to education and especially the university programs.

Rep Gale was completely sincere when she said that the previous legislature “raped” our state budget with their draconian cuts. She said, “there are many people who were hurt by the last budget.”

Everyone agreed that the community college system is a great way for people gain the real world knowledge and experience to find work at a livable wage. Not everyone can afford or even want to attend a major four year university. The community college system is perfect for those people.

Senator Laskey said “NH has always been a frugal state, spend has never been our problem.”

This prompted some discussion on the current tax structure, however the conversation quickly ended when the crowd was reminded that Governor Hassan has already stated she would veto any broad base tax.

Overall the night was a success for the memberships and the legislators. Both gain an awareness and insight into what the people want, and what the legislative process truly entails.

Why Kevin Landrigan May Be Wrong About The State Employees Contract Negotiations

  By Matt Murray | February 3, 2013 - 9:43 am |
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contract signatures

contract signatures

I want to start by saying, that I completely adore Kevin Landrigan.  He is knows more about State Politics in New Hampshire than many of the actual legislators.

However today Kevin and the Nashua Telegraph released this video  ”Pay raise for state employees likely to come at a price” (http://bcove.me/qdgazvi5).  In this short two minute video, Kevin talks about how the State Employees Association is currently entered in negotiations for a new contract.  In this contract negotiation, the SEA is asking for a pay raise among other things.

As always Kevin was very knowledgable about the work that the SEA and other labor unions did to help elect Governor Maggie Hassan.  This however is where I would like to correct Kevin.  The labor unions in New Hampshire who worked to elect Maggie were not doing it to get some huge pay raise.  Many of the unions in NH worked to ensure that Ovide Lamontagne did not get elected.

Yes, as Kevin said, labor and Democrats have a “symbiotic” relationship.  This is mostly because the Republicans tend to be more business friendly, while the Democrats tend to be more worker friendly.  This was completely the case in the race for NH Governor.  The election of Maggie was more about survival.   Ovide Lamontagne was a strong supporter of Right To Work, as well as against Project Labor Agreements (PLA’s).  Lamontagne’s ideas were anti-worker and very anti-union, this is why labor unions were against him.

Now back to the present negotiations with the SEA.  In the video (http://bcove.me/qdgazvi5) Kevin talks about how the SEA is looking for a pay raise.  The problem is that the Governor has a very very tight budget on her hands this term. A budget that, I am sure Kevin would agree with me, will shape her political future as Governor.

Kevin brought up one good point that the SEA is ensuring that everyone knows.  The State Employees (SEA) have gone with out a pay raise for nearly four years.   This has been the case for many employees not just state employees.   Workers pay has been stagnant for quite a while and the recession has pushed workers further down.   The collective bargaining process is one of the ways that workers are going to start making gains in the workplace again.

The process of negotiations is a very delicate balance. It is give and take.  If one side does not give, then the negotiations fall apart. So the idea that in order to get a pay raise the SEA must give something back is a given. The problem is that they have already given. They have given for two full contracts now.

Kevin suggested that if the SEA wants to get a pay raise they are going to have to make concessions on their healthcare package.  I want to make something very clear, giving up on healthcare for a pay raise is not a win.  For example if a worker gets a $1.00 per hour raise, but healthcare goes up by $50.00 per week then workers again lose! ($1.00 p/h X 40= $40 -$50.00 = -$10)

This is a common trick used in corporate business, give the workers a small pay raise and increase their cost (retirement deductions, or healthcare).  The employees are tricked to believe that they are getting something when they are actually being pushed further down.   It is a shell game and I hope that the SEA (and everyone else) does not fall for it.

In many cases labor unions have forgone a pay raise in order to keep their benefits the same.  This is still a net loss for the workers, because the cost of living is always going up.  Just to keep up with inflation workers need a pay raise and this has not happened in years.  This applies to all workers, not just the SEA.  I am sure that Diana Lacey and her team will not be falling for this type of shell game.

I would also like to applaud Kevin Landrigan for his exceptional coverage, of the State House and Government operations.  I just wish that in his next video, he would not imply that workers must give more, to get pay raises that are long overdue.

The State Employees’ Association Recaps The Right To Work For Less (HB323) Hearing

  By New Hampshire Labor News | January 31, 2013 - 4:49 pm | ,
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Right To Work 2

A message from our friends at the State Employees’ Association of NH (SEIU 1984)

O’Brien and Co. Continue RTW Crusade

Rep. William O’Brien continued his crusade to bring right-to-work (for less) to New Hampshire on Wednesday, testifying in favor of his bill before the House labor committee.

While the bill may have a new name – the Franklin Partin act, after an anti-union activist – the arguments and attacks are the same. Sponsors promised economic growth if the state adopted the legislation.

As an example, the unseated NH Speaker of the House pointed to the case of Caterpillar Inc.’s relocation to Indiana after that state adopted right-to-work (for less) legislation. But SEA President Diana Lacey tore up that example during her testimony, noting Caterpillar pays its Indiana workers poverty-level wages.

“The move had nothing to do with Indiana’s right-to-work bill,” Lacey said. “Those two things coincided in 2012, although this process started in 2009,” when Caterpillar opened a factory there to take advantage of the depressed economy.

Despite his own twisting of facts, O’Brien still charged that opposition to right-to-work (for less) is often emotional, “because that’s where you turn when you’re short on facts.” O’Brien was then followed by the bill co-sponsors, including an, at-times, rambling Rep. Al Baldasaro, whose testimony was heavy on emotion and light on facts.

In arguing that the bill would make the state more fertile for job creation, Baldasaro mentioned that his children had to leave the state to find jobs.

“They can’t come back home, because the jobs aren’t here,” Baldassaro said.

Rep. Sally Kelly then pointed out that the states Baldasaro’s children work in, Massachusetts and Maine, are not right-to-work (for less) states, either.

This, of course, isn’t the first time O’Brien has pursued right-to-work legislation in New Hampshire. The last time, in 2011, he repeatedly delayed a final vote in order to get enough support. Still, the bill, that former Gov. John Lynch vetoed fell short of the votes needed to override the veto.

Ray Buckley, the state Democratic Party leader, noted the consistent rejection of such legislation here in his testimony.

“The reality is, there has always been a consensus in state government that they should not interfere in the rights of management and labor to collectively bargain,” Buckley said. “There is absolutely no evidence this legislation will give any benefit to New Hampshire companies, its workers and its families.”

There were some lighter moments, a marked difference from the intense hearing on the bill that took place two years ago.

Former Rep. David Welch drew laughs when he noted that he his eventual opposition to the bill came with consequences.

“I lost my election because of this issue,” Welch said, though he eventually realized “all the emails I got about the union thugs, it turns out the thugs are not in the unions.”

The biggest laughs, though, came when John Kalb, the director of New England Citizens for Right to Work, was asked if he could name any high-paying non-union shops.

Kalb’s completely straight-faced answer? “Goldman Sachs.”

The two hour and forty-five minute hearing ended without the committee making any recommendation on the bill.

Another thing that went wrong in the Bush Economy

  By Liz Iacobucci | December 1, 2012 - 10:15 am | ,
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AZ Correctional Industries

Watch this employer-recruitment video produced back in 2004 by the National Corrections Industry Association in partnership with the US Department of Justice:

Yep, if you’re a business, that’s certainly one way to “control labor costs”.  You don’t have to pay health benefits; you don’t have to pay overtime; you don’t even have to pay minimum wage.

If you’ve been watching the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) closely, this probably isn’t a big surprise.  ALEC has been pushing “prison industry enhancement” (PIE) laws at the state level for about 20 years.   Read “The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor” in The Nation here.

Industry spokesmen describe the program as a “win-win” – but that’s from their perspective.

“I asked an NCIA spokesperson how private companies can get away with what could reasonably be described as forced labor. He explained that the PIE program classifies certain work functions as a ‘service’ rather than an actual ‘job’, and therefore is not subject to [restrictions in a 1979 federal law]. Conveniently, then, the backbreaking work of picking crops in the blistering sun counts as a ‘service’, so prisoners can be paid even less than the immigrants who have traditionally performed this work.”

(Yes, of course there’s a Wal-Mart connection.  Read about it in the British newspaper The Guardian, here.)

Here’s how the prison labor system works in Arizona: 

  • State law requires all able-bodied prisoners to work.
  • “Arizona statute requires that all inmates that are making $2 per hour will have deductions of 30% to offset the cost of their incarceration. In addition, thirty percent of the prisoner’s wages will be deducted for court ordered restitution.”  (Are you doing the math here?  Sounds like the inmates actually receive 80 cents an hour for their work.)
  • Nevermind the recession, the prison labor business is growing.  The number of inmate hours worked during FY12 was up 8.5% over FY11.  Room and board “contributions” were up by 9.8%.  Sales were up.  Profits were up.  Arizona Correctional Industries added new products and new customers, and “are currently working on finalizing contracts that will help grow our telemarketing and service business.”  (ACI helpfully explains “How we do it: We provide a positive learning experience for all of our workers.  We balance our home and business life.  We continually strive to improve our quality focusing on Lean Continuous improvement.  We are passionately involved in making the customer happy.”)
  • Arizona is now leading the nation in efforts to crack down on those same immigrants who used to pick crops.  Read National Public Radio’s “Prison Economics Help Drive Arizona Immigration Law” here.

Think about that employer-recruitment video that was funded by the Bush Administration in 2004:

“I have a workforce that doesn’t have car problems, or baby sitter problems et cetera.  They’re always here, and they’re always willing to come to work.”

“The situation here allows us to be able to control costs far more than we could in the past.”

“Partnerships between correctional industries and private business are a rapidly growing segment of a multi-billion dollar industry in America.”

“Bring us your business challenge.  Chances are, there’s a nearby correctional facility that can supply dependable labor, enhance your competitiveness, and increase your profitability.”

Now, think about the growth in the non-violent inmate population.

  • As of 2008, non-violent offenders made up over 60 percent of the prison and jail population.
  • If incarceration rates had tracked violent crime rates, the incarceration rate would have fallen to less than one third of the actual 2008 level.

Don’t you think something went terribly, terribly wrong?

Related Article

New Hampshire is considering privatizing the NH correctional facilities. We cannot let that happen. 

Statewide Watch Group Shines Light On Prison Privatization

  By New Hampshire Labor News | November 9, 2012 - 6:00 pm |
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Jail For Sale, Image from NH Prison Watch

Cross-posted from SEA / SEIU 1984 Blog

Image from NH Prison Watch .Org

The issue of privatizing New Hampshire prisons will be the topic of a series of panel discussions and documentary screenings between now and the end of the month.

The 45-minute film, “Billions Behind Bars,” explores the for-profit industry that is rapidly growing across the U.S – generating incredible revenue for shareholders and CEO’s from the incarceration of individuals.  Locally, New Hampshire’s Department of Corrections is currently reviewing proposals from for-profit companies seeking to build and operate its state prisons.

Evidence shows that private prisons do not save money. In fact, they frequently cost states more than publicly operated facilities. They are more dangerous than publicly run prisons, and they raise key moral issues.  Questions to be discussed include whether the state faces an inherent conflict between allowing profit-making prisons to operate and a moral obligation to rehabilitate prisoners.

The events are free and open to the public.

The CNBC documentary “Billions Behind Bars,” will be shown courtesy of NHPrisonWatch, a group of organizations that oppose prison privatization. To learn more visit www.NHPrisonWatch.org.

  • Nov. 14, 7 p.m. at the Congregational Church in Exeter, 21 Front St., Exeter.
  • Nov. 19, 5:30 p.m. at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton.
  • Nov. 26, 7 p.m. at Keene State College, the Mabel Brown Room, Young Student Center, 229 Main St. Keene.
  • Nov. 27, 6 p.m. at the Red River Theatres, 11 S. Main St., Concord.

Attention Younger Workers: Your Retirement Is At Stake, Too

  By New Hampshire Labor News | October 27, 2012 - 10:00 am | , ,
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retirement egg

Cross posted with permission from SEIU 1984 / SEA

If retirement is a long way off for you, it’s understandable that you might tune out what’s been happening with New Hampshire’s pension fund. Putting it simply, the defined benefit pension plan ensures that you and your family have a secure future, and that the state doesn’t dig itself further into the unfunded liability mess it’s created for itself. Here are some key points on why keeping the defined benefit (DB) pension makes more sense for younger workers than the proposed defined contribution (DC) plan:

  • Defined contribution plans are more costly: Two reports found that switching plans would increase the unfunded liability. This is largely because there would be fewer members paying into the system, leaving fewer dollars to reduce that liability.
  • Cost gets passed down to you: With the unfunded liability rising, employers would have to pick up more of the tab. Those employers include the state itself and many local communities. It is foolhardy to believe these employers will be able to offset the added expense with new revenue. This means higher tax rates for you and a decrease in vital public services.
  • You take all the risk, too: Unlike a defined benefit plan, the defined contribution plan forces you to take on all the risk of investment. The only thing that’s well-defined is how much you have to put in. How much you eventually benefit depends on how well your investments perform.
  • DB plans perform better: The pension fund has been at this a while. It’s negotiated lower rates and takes a long-term view, and the results show a DC plan could leave you with as much as 15% lesser benefit.
  • Who’s benefiting? With DC plans, fees paid to Wall Street banks take a bite out of your benefit.
  • Will it be enough? In order to make the DC plan more appealing, employer contribution rates were set at a lower level to make it look like the employee is getting a good benefit, even though it’s mostly the employee paying. That said, those contribution rates might not even be high enough to accumulate enough money to ensure an adequate retirement income.
  • Not fixed: In 2008, the legislature adopted a plan to fully fund the DB plan.  However, in 2010 the Bill O’Brien led legislature “fixed” the plan by enacting changes that undercut the 2008 plan, making the situation worse.  This is the action that led to SEA and other labor unions to file lawsuits against the state’s actions, which we expect to prevail and correct the situation.  At O’Brien’s insistence, the legislature is still considering the DC plan that will allow lawmakers to continue to raise your employee contribution rates.  Remember, with a DB plan, you have a guaranteed benefit – not a benefit based on Wall Street AND the legislature.
  • Portable, yes, reliable no: A perceived bonus to DC plans is that you can roll the money over when you leave for a new job. But that doesn’t matter if your investments don’t perform well. Again, the DB plan offers a better assurance that you’re not left without a safety net in your senior years.

Retirement may seem light years away to younger employees. You may think you have plenty of time to prepare. In the meantime, you need to ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I want to work into my 70’s to meet my living expenses?
  • Do I have the time and knowledge to manage my own 401K type plan?
  • Do I want to bet on Wall Street’s actions?
  • Can I afford to pay higher taxes for the rest of my years caused by converting the system from DB to DC?

Rabid Ideologues Will Destry Us by Susan the Bruce

  By The New Hampshire Labor News | June 22, 2012 - 1:42 pm | Uncategorized
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This is a cross post from New Hampshire writer Susan the Bruce.  This was also posted in the Conway Sun today.  You can follow Susan’s Blog here (http://susanthebruce.blogspot.com/).

Also if you want to hear more about privatization of the New Hampshire prison system, Susan will be on Arnie Arneson’s radio show: http://www.nhnewsviewsblues.org/joomla17/ or https://www.facebook.com/NHNVB.  If you live in the Concord area you can listen live on the radio.  If not you can listen live through your computer.

Special Thanks to Susan for allowing us to share this post.

The state of NH is looking into privatizing its entire prison system. Four companies have submitted bids. If Governor Lynch and the Executive Council accept one of those bids, NH would become the first state in the nation to hand over the entire prison system to a private company. The four venders are:
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Management & Training Corporation (MTC), The Geo Group Inc. and the Hunt Companies.

None of these companies are altruists, who want to ensure that prisoners are rehabilitated and leave prison prepared to tackle the challenge of turning their lives around. These are private companies with only one interest: turning a profit. That means cutting corners in every way possible, while working to ensure that the prisons remain full.

A recent story in USA Today focuses on a deal being offered by one company in some 48 states. CCA is offering to buy prisons from cash strapped states, in exchange for a guarantee that the governments guarantee a 90% occupancy rate for at least 20 years.

If NH’s prison system becomes privatized, the corporation will be leaning on legislators to pass the kind of laws that guarantee harsher sentences, and fuller prisons. Other states will send their prisoners here. The corporation will build more even more prison facilities in the state, and I think you all can guess where those prisons will be. The north country seems to serve as the dumping ground for the rest of the state.

A study in Arizona revealed that the privatized prisons were actually costing the state more. The Arizona legislature responded to this by inserting a provision into the budget that eliminates the need for a cost and quality review. In other words, they didn’t like the report, so the solution is not to take action – the solution is to ensure there will be no further reports.
If you don’t think that could/would happen here, you haven’t been paying attention to the sorts of things the NH legislature has done in the last biennium.

CCA has eliminated about 240 jobs in their Colorado prisons. Remember, this is a business. Profit means cutting costs, and that doesn’t leave a lot of choice in a prison. It means hiring people who aren’t well educated or trained, and as few of them as possible. It means cutting back on programs for sex offenders and addicts. It means a lot of solitary confinement. No need to have a big staff if everyone is locked in a cell 23 hours a day.

There is a reason other states don’t do this. It’s a really bad idea.

Apparently studies and numbers really are a bad idea. A story just now making the rounds in northern New England reports that the ski business in the US as a whole experienced its worst winter since the early 1990’s. In 2011, visits to alpine areas in NH were down by 20% from the year before. The ski industry continues to try to make the case that if folks don’t see snow in their back yards, they don’t come to the mountains to go skiing, but in these days of easily accessible information, that’s just lame.

A story in the Laconia Sun about bike week revealed that no one wants to come up with any numbers about attendance. If it had been huge, they’d be falling all over themselves to speculate. It wasn’t huge, as was quite obvious to anyone who has lived in this area for six or seven years. There were bikes, but not nearly as many as there have been in the past.

No one likes to tell these stories or recount these facts. The US is the only country that is in denial of climate change. Those changes are affecting our winters. Only the most devout anti-science ostriches can deny that our snowfall is diminishing. Another factor here that no one wants to get into is the economy. Since the 2008 collapse of the economy, the news media and many economists have fallen all over themselves to present this as a recession, even calling it “the great recession.”

Earlier this month, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman spoke at the 2012 Netroots Nation gathering in Providence, RI. Krugman calls our current economic situation a depression. At NN he said, “When things are going down, it’s a recession. When things are down for a long time, it’s a depression.” Of course we can’t call it what it really is, because that would look bad, and it might call into question our obscene level of military spending. Krugman also said, “This is not an economic problem, this is a political problem.” He’s right. The US has rebounded from a depression before. We know how to do it.

We have a Congress that isn’t interested in solving problems; they’re interested in preventing solutions. They would prefer to ensure greater destruction rather than let the black guy appear to succeed. These aren’t public servants; these are rabid ideologues that will destroy us, if we let them.

We have rabid ideologues in NH, too. On Facebook the other day, the Conway Sun asked what questions readers would ask 2012 candidates. I would ask all of our local candidates for the NH House and Senate how they intend to solve NH’s infrastructure problems. Our roads, bridges, and dams are in trouble, and our telecommunications infrastructure is no better. The bad economy is hurting tourism, as is the change in our climate. Tourism is NH’s second largest industry. We don’t fund our state parks adequately. We have rows of outhouses at our information centers, something that should be a source of great shame to us all, here in the wealthiest state in the union.

If they tell you we can privatize, cigarette tax and/or casino our way out of this mess, they’re lying. Casino revenues are down at Foxwoods, in Atlantic City, and in Nevada. NH needs to have some serious discussions. I wish I thought that would happen. In a state where the media functions as the propaganda wing of the NH GOP, it seems unlikely.

“He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning.” Danish proverb

This was published as an op-ed in the June 22, 2012 edition of the Conway Daily Sun Newspaper
© sbruce 2012

Chris Shane did the great cartoon.

The State Employees Association Endorses Jackie Cilley for NH GOV

  By The New Hampshire Labor News | June 18, 2012 - 11:26 pm | Uncategorized
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Via Twitter @jackieforNH

Jackie Cilley thanks the State Employees Association for their endorsement

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jackie Cilley thanked members of the state’s largest labor organization for their endorsement of her candidacy for governor

CONCORD – Surrounded by friends and supporters from the union, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jackie Cilley today gratefully accepted the endorsement of the State Employees Association of New Hampshire at their office in Concord today. Cilley, who has made investments in the state’s education, communication, and transportation infrastructure systems a centerpiece of her campaign, was happy to have earned the support of the people with whom she will be working closely – the state’s public sector employees.

“Our public sector workers are the folks who make our state welcoming to visitors, who provide the services businesses count on and who make many of our citizen’s life just a bit easier each and every day,” said Cilley. “I am very proud to have earned their confidence and endorsement. I look forward to partnering with our employees, as well-run businesses do, to address the challenges we face.”

“Jackie Cilley is a New Hampshire leader who has never forgotten her roots or the values that make life in the Granite State special. Senator Cilley has a strong record of fighting for the issues most important to working families — good jobs, education, healthcare, safety, the environment and so much more. She understands how interconnected the success of working families is to the success of our business community, and how these come together to build a better future for our state,” said Diana Lacey, President of the SEA.

The State Employees Association, SEIU Local 1984 represents nearly 12,000 members throughout the New Hampshire and at all levels of government in the state. They join labor organizations representing electricians, letter carriers, and building trades professionals in their support of Jackie’s run for governor.