Healey and Unite Local 26 Endorse Lydia Edwards

Attorney General Maura Healey endorsed Lydia Edwards for Senate with a canvass kick-off at LoPresti Park in East Boston. The campaign was joined by Unite Local 26, which also formally endorsed Edwards today. Members and over 100 volunteers rallied their support and then hit the doors to ask voters across the district to cast their ballots for Lydia Edwards for Senate on December 14, 2021.

“Lydia always shows up for the people she serves, but most importantly, Lydia knows that good change comes from public policy rooted in humanity. It’s not enough to protect workers’ wages; she protects their dignity,” said Attorney General Healey. “No one will fight harder for this District than Lydia Edwards. This election matters and we’ll do everything we can to make sure she wins on December 14.”

“Attorney General Healey is a champion for working people and beyond, and I am so grateful for her support and excitement about this campaign,” said Edwards. “This energy is the perfect way to hit the ground for the final sprint to Election Day, and as I see the strong voices and leaders who have joined us today, I am overwhelmed by your faith in me. I am inspired everyday by the strength and character and grit of the people who live here and you are the reason why I am fired up to go to Beacon Hill as your next senator!”

Standing with Edwards and Attorney General Healey were dozens of members from UNITE HERE Local 26, representing workers in the hospitality industries of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. “For our members to recover from the pandemic, we need to elect Lydia Edwards to State Senate,” said UNITE HERE Local 26 President Carlos Aramayo. “We have six weeks to change the lives of generations in Massachusetts with the courage and commitment of Lydia Edwards. When we endorse, we put in the work and we will be getting out the vote – for our moms, our kids, and our future.”

Edwards was also joined by City Council colleagues Kenzie Bok and Ed Flynn, as well as State Representative Nika Elugardo. A number of organizations joined the rally and hit the streets in Winthrop, Revere, Boston and Cambridge, including: OPEIU Local 453; the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters; UFCW Local 1445; Iron Workers Local 7; Teamsters Local 25; IBEW Local 103; SEIU 509; Massachusetts Nurses Association; the Brazilian Workers Center; and the Chinese Progressive Association.

UNITE HERE Local 26 represents workers in the hospitality industries of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Its members work in Boston and Providence’s best hotels, restaurants, and university dining halls in addition to the Boston Convention Centers, Fenway Park and Logan International Airport. Local 26 members clean hotel rooms, greet guests, and prepare and serve food for hundreds of thousands of travelers to Boston and the northeast.

Prior to entering the City Council, Councilor Edwards worked extensively in the legal field serving as a judicial law clerk with the Massachusetts Superior Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Edwards worked as a public interest attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services focusing on labor issues such as fighting for access to unemployment insurance, back wages, fair treatment for domestic workers and combating human trafficking. She served as the statewide campaign coordinator for the Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers, which advocated for the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. In 2015, she was named Bostonian of the Year by the Boston Globe. 

Lydia Edwards is a candidate for State Senate representing the First Suffolk and Middlesex District, following the departure of Senator Joseph A. Boncore. For a full and up-to-date list of endorsements, visit: LydiaEdwards.org/endorsements.

Councilor Lydia Edwards is a career advocate, activist, and voice on behalf of society’s most vulnerable. She is currently the Chair of the Committee on Government Operations and the Committee on Housing and Community Development in the Boston City Council. Learn more at LydiaEdwards.org/meet-lydia.

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