National Union of Healthcare Workers Hosts U.S. Senate Candidate Forum
By Tanu Henry,
Antonio Ray Harvey
and Joe W. Bowers Jr.
California Black Media
The top three Democrats running to become the next U.S. senator to represent California participated in a candidate’s forum at the National Union of Healthcare Workers’ Leadership Conference on Oct. 8, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.
The participants were U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), Katie Porter (D-CA-47), and Adam Schiff (D-CA-30).
They are all running for the Senate seat previously held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and is currently occupied by Sen. Laphonza Butler, who Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed after Feinstein passed away on Sept. 28.
The debate was moderated by Lisa Matthews from the Associated Press. The panelists answered inquiries posed by members of NUHW and a team of journalists. On this team were Melanie Mason from Politico, Benjamin Oreskes from the Los Angeles Times, and Sandhya Raman from Roll Call.
The candidates responded to 20 questions on topics ranging from healthcare, minimum wage, the current Israel-Hamas war, and the potential of Butler joining the race.
During the forum, all three politicians expressed their disapproval and commented on Gov. Newsom’s decision to veto Senate Bill (SB) 799. The bill would have provided striking workers access to unemployment benefits.
“You get what you paid in,” Lee said of striking workers’ unemployment benefits.
“We need to make sure that the working people are protected,” Schiff said.
“Nobody should go hungry for using their legal rights to better themselves and better our entire country’s economy,” Porter said.
The National Union of Healthcare Workers represents more than 16,000 union members.
“Our union’s endorsement is in the hands of our members,” said NUHW President Sal Rosselli. “After we get a chance to hear from the candidates, we’ll take a transparent, democratic and informed vote, and the winner will have NUHW’s full support.”
