Teachers’ Union Head Nominated As State Labor Commissioner

A Big Labor payback at the state level?  Christopher Keating of the Hartford Courant, has the story.

The governor Tuesday nominated longtime teachers’ union leader Sharon Palmer to be the state’s next labor commissioner, a selection hailed by labor officials and Democrats.    

Palmer, 68, has led the state chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, the state’s second-largest teachers’ union, since July 2003. She starts Oct. 5 in her new position, which pays $148,000 per year, slightly below the governor’s salary.

Palmer is well known at the state Capitol for advocating union issues, and she has worked closely with top union leaders from around the state for years.

Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie reported Tuesday that Palmer was honored in 2004 at the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party USA at the controversial New Haven People’s Center. The center failed to receive bond money for improvements this year following complaints about the Communist Party.