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
The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...
in 2018.
Early life and family
Julie Kushner's parents were Sheldon and Marcia Kushner.
The Kushners lived in Iowa during the 1950s,
when Julie Kushner was born.
She had a sister, Cathy, and brothers, Michael and Benjamin.
Kushner was raised in a Jewish family in
Hamburg, Iowa
Hamburg is a city in Fremont County, Iowa, United States, that is the most southwestern city in Iowa, hugging the borders of Missouri to the south and Nebraska to the west. It is situated between the Nishnabotna and Missouri rivers. The populat ...
, where her father was a grocer.
In the 1960s, her family returned to her father's hometown,
Lincoln, Nebraska.
Following primary school in the
Hamburg Community School District
Hamburg Community School District (HCSD) is a school district headquartered in Hamburg, Iowa.
Its schools are Marnie Simons Elementary School, which was known for a period as Nishnabotna Elementary School, serving preschool through fifth grade, ...
, Kushner attended Lincoln's Irving Junior High School, and graduated from
Lincoln Southeast High School
Lincoln Southeast High School is a public government education school located in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lincoln Public Schools school district.
Lincoln Southeast High School has the highest accreditation from th ...
. She attended five colleges, graduating from the
University of Wisconsin.
Kushner moved to New York City with her first husband in 1977.
Before the relationship ended, the couple had two children.
Kushner later remarried to Larry Morgan,
with whom she had another child.
Kushner and her family moved to
Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut.
Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...
, in 1993.
United Auto Workers
Kushner was a secretary for three years, after graduating from the University of Wisconsin.
She subsequently joined the
United Auto Workers (UAW), a labor union. During her tenure as vice president of UAW's district 65,
Kushner advocated for clerical and technical workers at
Columbia University. The effort for the UAW to represent Columbia's clerical workers took five years, including a contentious representation election held in May 1983. Certification for UAW's district 65 to represent Columbia's clerical and technical employees was granted in February 1985. 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." In 2000, as a subregional director for UAW, Kushner worked to form a union of postgraduate researchers at
New York University.
By 2002, efforts to establish a union for adjunct instructors at NYU were underway. The UAW won a representation vote held in July of that year. During Kushner's tenure as a subregional director, the UAW represented adjunct faculty at
New School University, as well. Following NYU president
John Sexton's 2005 decision to pull recognition of the graduate student union at the school,
Kushner participated in a August 2006 protest against the decision, which was reversed in 2013.
Prior to her June 2018 retirement from the UAW,
Kushner aided the UAW's efforts to organize a graduate student union at Columbia University.
Political career
Prior to campaigning for political office, Kushner was co-chair of the
Connecticut Working Families Party for eight years.
During her 2018 campaign for the
Connecticut State Senate
The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...
's 24th district seat, Kushner was endorsed by the Connecticut branch of the
League of Conservation Voters, labor unions, and ''
The News-Times''.
[Alternative URL]
Republished by th
Associated Press
/ref> Her campaign was backed by the Connecticut Working Families Party and the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
. Kushner defeated incumbent Michael A. McLachlan in the general election.[ Republished by the ]
Houston Chronicle
' Following her upset victory, Kushner was sworn in on 9 January 2019. Kushner announced that she would run for reelection in January 2020, and defeated Susan Chapman in the general election.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kushner, Julie
1950s births
Living people
21st-century American women politicians
Women state legislators in Connecticut
Democratic Party Connecticut state senators
American women trade unionists
Jewish American state legislators in Connecticut
Politicians from Lincoln, Nebraska
United Auto Workers people
People from Fremont County, Iowa
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Politicians from New York City
Politicians from Danbury, Connecticut
Working Families Party politicians
21st-century American politicians
Trade unionists from New York (state)
Trade unionists from Connecticut
Trade unionists from Iowa
Trade unionists from Nebraska
Jewish American activists
Jewish women politicians
21st-century American Jews