WETHERSFIELD - Councilor Amy Morrin Bello, a Democratic candidate for the 28th State House District, already has sitting incumbent Russ Morin in her corner, and now she has one of his biggest supporters.

       AFL-CIO, an umbrella of labor unions representing over 220,000 public and private sector workers in the State of Connecticut, has made Bello, a former Mayor, one of its four Connecticut primary season endorsements.

       Bello is running against former fellow Mayor Paul Montinieri, a 12-year former Councilor and ex. Wethersfield Democratic Town Committee (WDTC) Chair who resigned the post to seek Morin’s House seat, in the August 11 primary to determine who will face GOP nominee Pat Pentalow this fall.

       Bello qualified, officially, to appear on the ballot three weeks ago.

       â€�"I stand with and will be the voice of working people in Wethersfield and throughout Connecticut,” Bello wrote in a Facebook campaign page post announcing the endorsement. â€�"I understand the need to strengthen our middle class and pledge to be mindful when crafting and supporting legislation. Thank you for placing your trust in me.”

       Bello already stands among the workers the AFL-CIO organization represents – as an administrator at Wesleyan University, she’s a member of the Local 153 Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).

       â€�"We are proud to endorse union member Amy Morrin Bello for state representative in the 28th House District” said Connecticut AFL-CIO President Sal Luciano in a prepared statement. â€�"The economic challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will require strong leaders like Amy Morrin Bello, who will work hard to ensure that the state addresses economic inequities and creates an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few. We believe Amy Morrin Bello will well represent the interests of working families in the district.”

       Montinieri said that while both he and Bello had been interviewed by members of AFL-CIO, it wasn’t immediately clear as to whether they’d be making an endorsement – it’s not unusual for labor unions to sit out a primary, for fear of alienating the wrong candidate.

       â€�"It’s fine,” he said. â€�"They let me know that if I win in August, they’ll be with me, and they know that they’ll have a friend up at the Capitol.”

       Bello and Montinieri made their stances on labor known early in their respective campaigns, aligning on issues such as enhanced paid leave protections and fair wage legislation.

       AFL-CIO’s bar setter has more than likely been Morin, a 14-year House Rep. who will retire with a 96 percent lifetime legislative rating from the organization.

       Morin threw his support behind Bello before WDTC convention time.

       "I hadn't even thought of it [the AFL-CIO endorsement] in that context,” Bello said over the phone. â€�"I was looking at it as in my job, I am in a union in my professional capacity, and I think it's important for people to be in a union." 

       But union membership, she says, also runs in her family.

       "I support people's right to bargain, so I was happy to receive the endorsement,” Bello said. My mother was a teacher for 30 years. My father in law was a member of the united auto workers union." 

       AFL-CIO’s legislative policy priorities include the protection of earned unemployment benefits, the limiting of on-call scheduling practices, enhanced worker health/safety measures, the weakening of binding arbitration practices, and transportation infrastructure investments.