Somerville Candidates Make Pitch for Labor Support

Twenty candidates running for office in Somerville this fall made their pitches to Somerville's labor unions Tuesday night at the first ever Somerville Labor Coalition candidates forum.

Candidates running for seats on the Somerville Board of Aldermen and Somerville School Committee introduced themselves and answered questions about topics such as privatizing city services, health care costs for city workers, local jobs and other issues related to organized labor.

Participating candidates included John Connolly, Dennis Sullivan, William White, William Medeiros, Maureen Bastardi, Elio LoRusso, Matthew McLaughlin, Maryann Heuston, Suzanne Bremer, Stephen Delani, Matthew Desmond, Robert McWatters, Courtney O'Keefe, Mark Niedergang, Katjana Ballantyne, Joseph Capuano, Dan Futrell, Laura Pitone, Ross Richmond and Caroline Lynch Normand.

You can see who's running for which office here.

The Somerville Labor Coalition is composed of six labor unions: Somerville Municipal Employees Association (SMEA), SEIU Local 888, Somerville DPW School Custodians and Somerville Housing Authority, Somerville Fire Fighters Local 76, Somerville Police Superior Officers Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition, and Somerville Patrolman’s Union Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition.

Each of those unions have their own separate endorsement procedures, but representatives from each union will also meet as part of the Somerville Labor Coalition to determine the new organization's endorsements.