AFSCME’s Saunders: With Laphonza Butler, ‘working people have a new world-class fighter in the United States Senate’

WASHINGTON — AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement after California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to fill the state’s vacant U.S. Senate seat: 

“Working people have a new world-class fighter in the United States Senate. As president of SEIU California, Laphonza Butler won the nation’s first statewide $15 an hour minimum wage law. And as former president of SEIU Local 2015, she understands the care economy and the need for fair wages and dignity for home care providers across the country. Laphonza Butler is not just a labor leader; she is a labor organizer. I have no doubt that these values will guide her in her role as California’s newest United States senator.”