Boston, Oct. 17, 2014, — Members of Chinese Progressive Political Action (CPPA), a political advocacy organization working for equality and empowerment of the Chinese community, announced today that they will endorse and work for Martha Coakley for Governor.
President client stumps for Coakley in Worcester, Mass.(AP photo).
“Martha Coakley is the candidate who strongly supports working class families on issues like earned sick leave, immigrants’ right to driver’s licenses, and increased funding for rental vouchers and other affordable housing programs,” said CPPA board president Tom Louie.
“In Chinatown, many people know that Martha Coakley has a record of standing up for worker rights and consumer rights,” said community activist Karen Chen. “As attorney general, she worked closely with immigrant communities to counter wage theft and took disreputable companies like Sky Energy Travel to court for consumer fraud.”
CPPA leaders call for a vote of No on Question 1, which would repeal the indexing of the gas tax, explaining that a tax rollback would create a shortfall in the state’s transportation budget, potentially harming both drivers and transit riders.
CPPA endorses a Yes on Question 4, the proposal to establish the right of all Massachusetts workers to earned sick time. Companies of 11 or more employees would be required to provide approximately one week of paid sick time per year to a full-time worker, while companies of 10 employees or less would provide unpaid sick time. Currently, no law requires a company to grant sick time, and more than a million workers in the state have no such rights.
“Paid sick time is a really important issue for Chinese workers,” said South Boston resident Baolian Kuang. “So many people work in restaurants with no sick days.”
CPPA members are engaged in outreach efforts to voters in Chinatown, South End, South Boston, Fenway, Charlestown, Mission Hill, and Allston-Brighton.
Martha Coakley will visit Chinatown on Sunday, October 19th, 5:00 – 7:00 pm at the Metropolitan Community Room for an Asian American and Pacific Islander Endorsement Rally with Asian American elected officials and Governor Deval Patrick.