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Julie Kushner

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Julie Kushner
Member of the Connecticut State Senate
from the 24th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 January 2019
Preceded byMichael A. McLachlan
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic Party
Other political
affiliations		Working Families Party
Children3
ResidenceDanbury, Connecticut
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin

Julie Kushner (born c. 1952) is an American politician and retired trade unionist. She worked for United Auto Workers, and was elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 2018.

Early life and family

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Julie Kushner's parents were Sheldon and Marcia Kushner.[1][2] The Kushners lived in Iowa during the 1950s,[3] when Julie Kushner was born.[4][5] She had a sister, Cathy, and brothers, Michael and Benjamin.[1][2] Kushner was raised in a Jewish family in Hamburg, Iowa, where her father was a grocer.[6] In the 1960s, her family returned to her father's hometown, Lincoln, Nebraska.[6][3] Following primary school in the Hamburg Community School District,[7] Kushner attended Lincoln's Irving Junior High School,[8][9] and graduated from Lincoln Southeast High School.[10] She attended five colleges, graduating from the University of Wisconsin.[6] Kushner moved to New York City with her first husband in 1977.[6] Before the relationship ended, the couple had two children.[6] Kushner later remarried to Larry Morgan,[1] with whom she had another child.[6][11] Kushner and her family moved to Danbury, Connecticut, in 1993.[11]

United Auto Workers

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Kushner was a secretary for three years, after graduating from the University of Wisconsin.[6] She subsequently joined the United Auto Workers (UAW), a labor union. During her tenure as vice president of UAW's district 65,[5] Kushner advocated for clerical and technical workers at Columbia University.[12] The effort for the UAW to represent Columbia's clerical workers took five years,[13] including a contentious representation election held in May 1983.[14] Certification for UAW's district 65 to represent Columbia's clerical and technical employees was granted in February 1985.[15][16] During a two-day strike in mid-November 1991 organized by Columbia's clerical workers, Kushner stated, "Our people are fed up with the refusal of Columbia to acknowledge that our members are underpaid and unfairly treated. So we're raising the stakes both for Columbia and its allies."[17] In 2000, as a subregional director for UAW, Kushner worked to form a union of postgraduate researchers at New York University.[6][18] By 2002, efforts to establish a union for adjunct instructors at NYU were underway.[19] The UAW won a representation vote held in July of that year.[20] During Kushner's tenure as a subregional director, the UAW represented adjunct faculty at New School University, as well.[21] Following NYU president John Sexton's 2005 decision to pull recognition of the graduate student union at the school,[22] Kushner participated in an August 2006 protest against the decision,[23] which was reversed in 2013.[22][24] Prior to her June 2018 retirement from the UAW,[25][26] Kushner aided the UAW's efforts to organize a graduate student union at Columbia University.[27]

Political career

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Prior to campaigning for political office, Kushner was co-chair of the Connecticut Working Families Party for eight years.[25][28] During her 2018 campaign for the Connecticut State Senate's 24th district seat, Kushner was endorsed by the Connecticut branch of the League of Conservation Voters,[29] labor unions,[30] and The News-Times.[4] Her campaign was backed by the Connecticut Working Families Party and the Democratic Party.[31][28] Kushner defeated incumbent Michael A. McLachlan in the general election.[32][33] Following her upset victory,[33] Kushner was sworn in on 9 January 2019.[26] Kushner announced that she would run for reelection in January 2020,[34] and defeated Susan Chapman in the general election.[35][36]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Deaths: Sheldon Kushner". Jewish Press. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b "...has birthday dinner..." Hamburg Reporter. 27 May 1954. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Local businessman Kushner dies at 81". Lincoln Journal Star. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Endorsement: Julie Kushner for the 24th District". The News-Times. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2020. Alternative URL Republished by the Associated Press
  5. ^ a b Serrin, William (31 January 1985). "WOMEN ARE TURNING TO COLLECTIVE ACTION AS A KEY TO POWER AND PROTECTION". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Hoffman, Jan (25 April 2000). "PUBLIC LIVES; Behind the Wheel, an Organizer in Pearls". New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Second grade". Hamburg Reporter. 18 February 1960. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Talk around town". Lincoln Star. 3 December 1966. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Talk". Lincoln Star. 23 December 1966. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  10. ^ Howard, Lucille (18 October 1969). "Lincoln Girls Visit Israel In Summer". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Activist Grandmother From Danbury To Challenge For State Senate Seat". Danbury Daily Voice. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  12. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (18 October 1985). "CLERICAL WORKERS STRIKE COLUMBIA ON PAY ISSUES". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  13. ^ "UNIONS IN NEW YORK REGION SEE A WHITE-COLLAR FUTURE". New York Times. 4 August 1986. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  14. ^ Serrin, William (31 December 1984). "COLUMBIA FACES THREAT OF STRIKE OVER UNION VOTE". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Workers at Columbia End Threat of a Strike". New York Times. 1 February 1985. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  16. ^ "THE CITY; Union at Columbia Wins Certification". New York Times. 9 February 1985. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  17. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (15 November 1985). "Classes at Columbia Are Moved Off Campus During 2-Day Strike". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  18. ^ Arenson, Karen W. (2 November 2000). "U.S. ALLOWS UNIONS OF POSTGRADUATES". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  19. ^ Arenson, Karen W. (27 May 2002). "2 Unions Vie to Represent N.Y.U. Adjuncts". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  20. ^ Arenson, Karen W. (10 July 2002). "When Are Teachers Auto Workers? When They're N.Y.U. Adjuncts". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  21. ^ Cardwell, Diane (1 May 2005). "An Adviser to Ferrer Is Elevated to Director". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  22. ^ a b Greenhouse, Steven; Kaminer, Ariel (27 November 2013). "With New Agreement, N.Y.U. Would Again Recognize Graduate Assistants' Union". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  23. ^ Skalka, Liz (30 August 2006). "57 NYU Graduate Students Arrested During Union Rally". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  24. ^ Greenhouse, Steven (13 December 2013). "N.Y.U. Graduate Assistants to Join Auto Workers' Union". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  25. ^ a b Pazniokas, Mark (18 January 2018). "Working Families co-chair Julie Kushner running for state Senate". Connecticut Mirror. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  26. ^ a b Phaneuf, Keith M.; Kara, Jake (9 January 2020). "Lawmakers find hope in diversity, bipartisanship as 2019 legislative session opens". Connecticut Mirror. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  27. ^ Harris, Elizabeth A. (30 January 2018). "Columbia University Says It Won't Bargain With Graduate Student Union". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  28. ^ a b Farrell, Lindsey (28 October 2018). "Derogatory' puppet ad criticized". The News-Times. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  29. ^ "CTLCV Endorses Julie Kushner for the Connecticut General Assembly". Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  30. ^ Melendez, Yeny (3 November 2018). "Julie Kushner fights for working people". Associated Press. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  31. ^ Dignan, Clare (6 October 2019). "Hamden Working Families candidates stirring controversy among established parties". New Haven Register. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  32. ^ Murdock, Zach (17 October 2018). "Danbury state Senate race offers opposing views of Connecticut's 'crossroads'". The News-Times. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  33. ^ a b Murdock, Zach (6 November 2018). "Democrat Julie Kushner upsets Sen. Mike McLachlan". The News-Times. Retrieved 29 July 2020. Republished by the Houston Chronicle
  34. ^ Perkins, Julia (22 January 2020). "Kushner runs for re-election to State Senate". The News-Times. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  35. ^ "Former First Selectman to run for State Senate". WLAD. June 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  36. ^ Perkins, Julia (4 November 2020). "Kushner claims victory in Senate race, Miner holds firm lead". The News-Times. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
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