The Endorsement That Wasn’t


Yesterday,Â  Aubertine put out a statement that he’d been endorsed by the Central Labor Council. The council is the local AFL-CIO affiliate that covers St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Lewis counties.

Today, the New York State AFL-CIO endorsed Republican Will Barclay. And the statewide group said there was, technically, no endorsement from theÂ local CLC.

“They can’t endorse,” saidÂ the state union spokesman, Mario Cilento. In a state legislative race (as well as elections for statewide office like governor), only the state group can make an official endorsement, he said.

What Aubertine described as an endorsement was merely a vote by the local CLC to recommend thatÂ the state body endorse him, Cilento explained.Â Another CLC, representing Oswego County, had recommended Barclay, Cilento noted.Â Â 


  1. concerned_staffer says:

    The local endorsed someone. Uncle Joe stepped in and told the statewide labor organization that this was unacceptable. The Statewide AFL-CIO steps in and says “We endorse Uncle Joe’s candidate,” overruling the interests of the local labor unions that actually live in the district.

    Uncle Joe gets his way. Democracy suffers a setback.

    Uncle Joe is good at exploiting technicalities to deal democracy setbacks.

  2. RHINO Chaser says:

    Does this mean the Business Council, MACNY, and NFIB are going to back Aubertine?

    It would be nice if Mike Long would put a stop to this TOTAL NONSENSE by the Senate so-called Republican Majority.

  3. Kenny The Dog says:

    Another Albany-controlled union comes out for the union buster. And they wonder why organized labor is becoming irrelevant.

  4. Right says:

    Endorsements are not that important, what this guy needs is the rank and file to pull the lever for him and get others to do the same.

  5. Patty Hearst says:

    Probably best to avoid union endorsements, just ask that guy from Yonkers, what was his name??? Former Senator…

  6. Upstate's Finest says:

    In case the “concerned_staffer” cannot read, they explicitly stated that “Another CLC, representing Oswego County, had recommended Barclay.” And why would the Business Council, another ally of the Senate Majority, endorse Aubertine? After Gov. Spitzer’s phone meltdown with Ken Adams, they of all people understand the need for a balanced legislature.

  7. bocuse says:

    A failed attempt by the Aubertine camp to put at least one union nod in their column. Spitzer’s ‘freshman meltdown will pave the way for Barclay.

  8. RHINO Chaser says:

    #6, if accepting the endorsement of every labor union in the state is the senate majority’s way of keeping balance, then I guess I’ll just start voting Democrat.

  9. sbiaf says:

    A vote for Aubertine is a vote to take Bruno’s slippery hands out of everyone’s wallets.

  10. ruralgeek says:

    I think concerned_staffer has it right, probably has a good view. Quite similar, really, to what is happening with the Independence Party endorsement.

  11. devtob says:

    That Boss Bruno has found a possibly corrupt way to buy so many union endorsements for his anti-union candidates is perhaps the major reason that an essentially anti-worker Senate Republican majority endures.

    Every union that has been bought off by Boss Bruno should be deeply ashamed of their betrayal of working people in New York.

  12. monicalewinsky says:

    I hope all the unions who have endorsed Barclay realize he’s voted “no” on many of their top priorities, including to increase the minimum wage. Go labor! I’m sure all Barclay’s constituents working at the local Oswego Wal-Mart have enjoyed their wage increase, with no thanks to the person they’ve elected to represent them.

  13. Saratoga Steve says:

    Local CLCs can never do an endorsement for the State Legislature or Congress (for either party). Packing a local CLC meeting with partisans for either candidate or party with credentials from their Union is mechanically a rather easy thing to do.

    Here in the Capital Region, the only County that has reps with a District solely within that County is Albany (Senator Breslin and Assemblyman McEneny) and in that scenario the local CLC might have the most to say (although it still goes up to the Federation and possibly even higher to Statewide). All the others rep at least two counties (with Farley, Little, Canestrari, McDonald, Sayward and Lopez more and of course McNulty and Gillibrand). Given the diversified constituencies of most of our representatives, it would be a gross injustice to the Unionized working people of a District to have the endorsements of their District determined by one CLC that could be packed by party or candidate partisans on Endorsements Night. The role of a CLC is to represent the organized labor force of their jurisdiction … and not to serve the needs of any particular party or candidate!

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