UNITE HERE New England Union
Locals Endorse Bernie Sanders: He “Resonates With Our Members”
UNITE HERE's New England Joint
Board (NEJB) endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for president on January 22 after
the union’s executive board voted unanimously to “[answer] Bernie’s call for a
political revolution.”
The NEJB is a regional
collection of 10,000 workers from 51 different UNITE HERE locals that have
historically represented women and new immigrants in manufacturing, hotel and
food service jobs. “Over the years we have come to know Bernie as a relentless
and unflappable fighter for workers,” says Bert Barao, a rank-and-file member
of UNITE HERE Local 177 and president of the NEJB executive board. “Bernie is
the candidate who will put workers and their families first.”
NEJB is centered in Boston,
potentially strengthening Sanders’ campaign in the state, ahead of its Super
Tuesday primary election on March 1. Only one of the locals organized under
NEJB is made up of New Hampshire workers, so the union’s get-out-the-vote
efforts might be negligible with Sanders already surging well-ahead of his
chief Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
But the locals of NEJB have
joined the 47 locals
across the country that have already picked Sanders as their candidate.
Clinton has received most of her endorsements at the national and international
level, from
unions’ official leadership—facing criticism by Sanders supporters who have
demanded more internal
debate among rank-and-file members before making such a decision. (This
indignation is most visible in the immediate avalanche of Facebook
messages posted by members of nearly every union after Clinton
endorsements.)
Labor for Bernie, a grassroots
network of pro-Sanders union members have called on their home unions to either
endorse Sanders or at least withhold
endorsements until the end of the primary. Rand Wilson, a staff member at
SEIU Local 888 in Boston, who is currently helping lead Labor for Bernie, explained
the group’s purpose to Jacobin last November: “For all the failings
and weaknesses of the labor movement, unions are still democratically
structured and the member’s voice can have a real impact. We’ve tried to just
make sure that members realize that they have a role and a responsibility and a
right to speak out and wherever we can. We’ve tried to give the megaphone to
the members to do that.”
With Sanders coming up ahead
of Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire in some polls, the Democratic caucus in
Nevada on February 20 will be crucial in building momentum for either camp.
Culinary Workers Local 226, also a UNITE HERE affiliate and Nevada’s most
politically active union, recently announced it would
not be endorsing any candidate before the state’s caucuses. The Culinary
Workers notably endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama in 2008 after his upset win
over Clinton in Iowa earlier that year. That endorsement started a drawn-out
war between the Obama and Clinton campaigns, with Clinton later accused
of race-baiting and trying to limit voting access for casino workers whose
union had endorsed Obama. (She would end up winning the Nevada caucuses but
losing the primary.)
NEJB President Barao said in a
statement, “In these times, where big banks, corporations, and the wealthy few
hold enormous power over both our economy and political process, we are in
desperate need of a President who will challenge the powers which have whittled
down our middle class. Bernie’s pledge to fight inequality, take on the big
banks, and spread opportunity to all Americans not just the few, resonates with
our members.”
Mario Vasquez is a writer from
Santa Barbara, California. You can reach him at
mario.vasquez.espinoza@gmail.com.
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