ALBANY — Bernie Sanders may be the one supporting a $15 federal minimum wage, but it’s Hillary Clinton who has scooped up support from almost all of the state’s biggest and most powerful unions.
The Service Employees International Union Local 1199, which represents health care workers; the influential state and city teachers unions, and building workers union SEIU Local 32BJ, are all backing Clinton.
The former First Lady-turned U.S. senator-turned-secretary of state also has the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York in her corner.
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Sanders, meanwhile, has the backing of the labor-backed Working Families Party, the Communications Workers of America, the Amalgamated Transit Union, the New York State Nurses Association, and the American Postal Workers Union.
Officials from the labor groups supporting Clinton point to their longstanding relationship that began when she successfully ran for the U.S. Senate from New York in 2000.
“We have a long history with Hillary,” said city teachers union President Michael Mulgrew. “We’re finally moving things in the right direction in terms of public education, and we want someone who can get things done, not people who will stand up and just scream about what’s wrong, but don’t have a track record of getting things done.” Clinton on Friday addressed the state teachers union conference in Rochester.
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Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council, cited Clinton’s advocacy for a health care bill for 9/11 rescue workers and a World Trade Center rebuilding funding.
Former President Bill Clinton met privately with members of LaBarbera’s union on March 31, the same day the organization formally endorsed Hillary Clinton. The candidate reached out personally to LaBarbera on Tuesday.
Hector Figueroa, Local 32BJ president, also cited Clinton’s work as a senator and her longtime ties with his union.
Figueroa and Helen Schaub, 1199’s state director of policy and legislation, said there was no division among the members even though Sanders supports a $15 federal minimum wage. Clinton says she supports a $12 federal minimum, though she says she also backs states’ efforts to go to $15 like the recent moves in New York and California.
“Obviously we admire and like Bernie,” Figueroa said. “He also has been a strong champion of working people and unions for many years as a Vermont senator.”
Schaub downplayed suggestions that the union endorsements of Clinton are not only about established relationships, but also the political reality of not wanting to get on the wrong side of the Democratic front-runner.
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“You’re always making calculations about who is likely to win in addition to what candidate you like better,” Schaub said, “but there’s a lot of genuine enthusiasm for Hillary in our membership and they’re excited about her.”
Bob Master, political director of the Communications Workers of America and co-chairman of the Working Families Party, said Sanders has resonated strongly with members of the two organizations.
“From our perspective, Bernie’s campaign is a huge opportunity to advance an agenda that really strengthens the labor movement,” Master said. “I wish more unions would have seized that opportunity, but I respect their decisions.”
Master didn’t deny some unions might want to place their bets on the front-runner for political reasons.
“The labor movement tends to be very practical in the way it approaches politics,” he said. “My own view is that sometimes being a little bolder and a little more adventurous would be a good thing for the labor movement.”
Carl Ginsburg, a spokesman for the Nurses Association, said his group backs Sanders because he supports the push for a single-payer health care system.
“We have waited for a candidate to come along and say the things we’ve said about access to care, about Medicare for all,” Ginsburg said. “He’s done that.”
