FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                        

March 26, 2010

Contact: Mary Gutierrez, 213-276-3384

SEIU CA Workers Endorse
Jerry Brown for Governor

700,000 Member Union
Will Work to Elect Brown, Rebuild California

(SACRAMENTO) – The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California announced today that it has endorsed Jerry Brown for Governor after an unprecedented open and democratic endorsement process. This process allowed for all 700,000 members to participate in selecting the team of candidates that will lead California’s recovery after a long and painful recession that has cost Californians their jobs, their homes, their healthcare and their retirement security.

“Jerry Brown is uniquely qualified and unquestionably committed to be the Governor who will lead California’s recovery, and that’s why 700,000 SEIU California members will make electing him our first priority as we lead the fight to rebuild California,” said Bill A. Lloyd, President of the SEIU California.

Today’s endorsement comes after thousands of working Californians in eleven video- linked sites took part in an unprecedented “Rebuild California Town Hall” meeting on Saturday where candidates running for Governor and other statewide offices made their case for how they plan to Rebuild California.   Last Saturday’s town hall enabled all 700,000 workers represented by Service Employee International Union (SEIU) California to participate in person or via the internet and hear firsthand how candidates plan to lead the state out of a deep recession and invest in our future.

“After a long and painful recession, California’s recovery must be job number one for our leaders in Sacramento,” said Dianne Bradford, a nursing home evaluator in San Diego. “We know that Jerry Brown is committed to protecting jobs and vital services so that we can once again invest in service – like education and education that affect peoples’ lives.”   

More than 2000 members of the SEIU California’s local unions participated in the first-of-its-kind town hall from 11 locations across California.  Janitors, social workers, security officers, home care workers, school and university employees, healthcare workers, and city, county and state employees posed tough questions to candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, and Superintendent of Public Instruction.  

SEIU California is expects to announce its endorsements in other statewide races in the coming weeks.

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SEIU California is a coalition of over 700,000 janitors, social workers, security officers, home care workers, school and university employees, healthcare workers, and city, county and state employees represented by SEIU local unions throughout California. We come together to build a better California by fighting to pass policies and elect candidates that benefit working families and advance the issues we care about: affordable healthcare, good wages, retirement security for all, a healthy environment, good schools and universities, and stronger communities. We believe that by working together we can build a California where working families can thrive again.

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Service Employees International Union (SEIU), 1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005 United States