For Immediate Release: September 15, 2009

Contact: Alex Zaroulis (617) 549-0358 

Boston, MA — The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 and the Teamsters Union Local 25 today announced their endorsement of Attorney General Martha Coakley for United States Senate.

“I am honored to have the Teamsters and IBEW’s support,” Coakley said. “We share many of the same goals to improve the lives of working men and women -- from supporting the Employee Free Choice Act to making sure we enact health care reform that provides a viable public option.”

“IBEW Local 103 is honored to endorse Martha Coakley for United States Senate,” said Mike Monahan, Business Manager of IBEW Local 103. “Martha cares about the issues that working families face each and every day and she has been a steadfast friend to labor.”

"We are excited to endorse Attorney General Martha Coakley to fill the void left by the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy in the United States Senate," said Sean M. O'Brien, President of Teamsters Local 25. "Martha Coakley is an independent, aggressive and competent leader who we believe is the best candidate to serve in the United States Senate."

Coakley became Massachusetts’ first female Attorney General in January 2007. She has established herself as a leader on issues affecting Massachusetts residents, including the foreclosure crisis that has plagued families in Massachusetts.  In addition, she has protected workers in Massachusetts and achieved record recoveries for employees and the Commonwealth in enforcing the Massachusetts wage and hour laws. 

Coakley, 56, was born in Lee, MA, and raised in North Adams, in the Berkshire mountain region of western Massachusetts.  She is a graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, MA, where she was a member of the first class admitted to the college that included female students.  She received her law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1979.  Coakley resides in Medford with her husband, Thomas F. O’Connor, a retired police Deputy Superintendent.

The mission of IBEW Local 103 is a simple one – to provide the most skilled and productive workforce in the world, while at the same time protecting the rights and benefits of every worker. Local 103’s success in training and developing workers who deliver on-time and on-budget projects and foster a safe working environment speaks for itself. Local 103’s members and contractors have been literally lighting the skyline of Eastern Massachusetts for over 100 years.

Founded in 1903, Local 25 is the largest Teamsters' union in New England, representing more than 11,000 men and women throughout Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. For more than a century, the Teamsters Union has helped millions of workers achieve the American Dream. Their success is a testament to those who came before them, who stood together to form a union and a labor movement.

The Coakley Campaign has also received the endorsements of the Pipefitters’ Association Local 537, the Utility Workers of America Local 369, Brotherhood of Utility Workers’ Council, and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 877.

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