Unions Furious with Roberts
Monday, September 13, 2010
Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts is in hot water with unions after she spoke at a fundraiser last Thursday for state Rep. Doug Gablinske, a Bristol Democrat whom unions are fighting hard to defeat in the primary.
“It didn’t sit very well with us. I would characterize him as one of the highest-profile anti-union candidates” George Nee, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO told GoLocalProv. “Going to an event like that—we would interpret that as her turning her back on the labor movement.”
Nee said he has notified his executive board and affiliated unions of the event and is leaving it to them to decide how to respond. “The reaction we hear from people is that they are very upset by that,” Nee said.
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The row with the unions comes just as her Democratic primary opponent, Red Sox executive Jeremy Kapstein, suddenly launched an 11th-hour negative ad campaign. Nee said union supporters who decide not to vote for her or go with Kapstein could have an impact on the race. “If it does have an impact on this race, then I will be happy,” Nee said. “It probably has more of an impact in a primary election than a general election. It’s a smaller group of voters.”
But Nee did not think it would be enough to actually prevent Roberts from winning the primary.
Roberts Focusing on Small Businesses
Roberts campaign manager Dan Meuse confirmed that Roberts had appeared at a fundraiser at Jacky’s Galaxie and Sushi Bar in Bristol last Thursday.
“The Lieutenant Governor, along with a number of other state and local elected Democrats attended a fundraiser for Rep. Gablinske at his invitation,” Meuse said. “The Lt. Gov. and Rep. Gablinske have worked closely on small businesses issues in Bristol for the past two years and he hosted the Lt. Gov. in Bristol when she visited businesses on her Buy Local RI Main Street tour. The Lt. Gov supports his candidacy and looks forward to their work together on Buy Local RI and other small business initiatives.”
Meuse did not specifically respond to the union criticism. But he did say Roberts was confident of victory on Tuesday, citing an August Brown University poll that showed her with a 30-percent lead over Kapstein.
Roberts has been endorsed by Rhode Island Council 94, AFSCME. Union President Michael Downey could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
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