The Service Employees International Union announced their endorsement of Hillary Clinton this morning, in a show of support that means Clinton is now endorsed by unions representing about 2/3 of all unionized workers in the country.
The video announcing the endorsement:
x YouTube VideoMary Kay Henry’s Statement
“Hillary Clinton has proven she will fight, deliver and win for working families,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry in a statement. “SEIU members and working families across America are part of a growing movement to build a better future for their families, and Hillary Clinton will support and stand with them."
The importance of the endorsement:
“Their endorsement I think is very very important,” said Steve Rosenthal, the former political director of the AFL-CIO and president of the Organizing Group, a political consulting firm affiliated with liberal and pro-union groups. “They have a wide reach across the progressive spectrum because they’re smart and strategic and have huge resources.”
Hillary Clinton is the champion working people need
SEIU’s endorsement may reflect the preference on the part of minority voters for Clinton over Sanders. Clinton has consistently polled better among African-Americans and Latinos. More than 40 percent of SEIU members are people of color, the union said. Also likely weighing on SEIU's decision was that Clinton is widely judged more electable than Sanders at a time when unions face existential threats at almost every level of government.
Clinton was the choice of the board and the membership
An SEIU source said the decision to endorse came after months of meetings and polling that showed Clinton was its membership's preferred candidate.
In March, about a thousand SEIU members attended a conference in St. Louis to establish an “issue agenda” outlining the union’s political priorities. These included raising wages, ensuring the right to form a union, modernizing the education and health care systems, reforming immigration, and eliminating structural racism. Following the conference, locals engaged with their members on the endorsement process while the SEIU International conducted tele-townhall meetings and member polls. According to the SEIU source, these polls consistently showed Clinton obtaining more than 72 percent of union members’ support
Working people across the country from every sector of the economy will have an incredible champion in President Hillary Clinton. Service Employees may have jobs that are largely impossible to outsource, but they face incredible struggles in terms of wages and working conditions.
Clinton is also the strongest advocate for immigration reform among all the candidates, another key priority of the union.
This is a big one.