Unionism infuses his politics
Card-carrying UAW member leads Connecticut Legislature
The first time UAW Local 376 member Christopher Donovan ran for public office, he lost. That was in 1990. Undeterred and with UAW support, he tried again in 1992, this time winning a seat as a Democratic state representative in Connecticut’s 84th Assembly District.
Since then Donovan, who joined the UAW when he went to work at the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges, has been a key sponsor of health care reform legislation and minimum wage increases. He’s pushed for laws requiring contractors to pay janitors and food service workers a living wage. That kind of progressive passion led him to become the state House Majority Leader in November.
The Connecticut official says his UAW background remains a significant influence in his political life.
Q. What is your labor background?
I’m drenched in labor. I knew about the UAW from working in the community. While I was attending college, I worked with UAW members and became close to several staff members and to John Flynn, UAW Region 9A director at that time. Joining the UAW was a natural progression. I am still a dues-paying, card-carrying member of UAW Local 376.
Q. How does your labor background influence your approach to policy and legislation?
I understand what a contract is and that when a company negotiates with its workers it’s a legal, binding document. I know how important that is. I understand how important collective bargaining is and how important it is for working families to have decent wages and benefits. When you know what is right and what people need, it influences everything and certainly every bill and proposal that comes before me.
Q. What is your reaction to President Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security?
Bush and his allies never liked the New Deal and apparently they never got over that. Social Security has proven itself.
I had a grandfather who was born around 1886. Sometime in the 1930s he had
a problem with something related to Social Security and he went to complain.
Someone told him not to worry about it because Social Security would not be around
long anyway. He lived until he was 93 and Social Security helped him at every
step of the way. It never let him down.
That is a success story. Bush is trying to destroy Social Security, something
that is a pillar of our society.
Q. What is the importance of union members getting involved in politics?
As a unionist, you work side by side with real people and you know what the issues are and what choices affect the pocketbook. If you are a UAW member, you know the connection between who you put in office and who is going to fight for you. That will make a difference in everything from how the government handles companies who want to ship American jobs overseas, to health care that is so out of control that middle-class families are going bankrupt trying to pay their bills.
