The race to lead the Democratic Party has divided the labor movement with major unions split between former Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison.
Ellison has captured major endorsements from some of the most powerful forces in organized labor especially among public sector and service industry unions. He has won the support of the Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Government Employees, and hotel workers union UNITE HERE. SEIU, which represents nearly 2 million healthcare and government workers, has not formally endorsed the five-term congressman but urged its affiliates to campaign for Ellison.
"I welcome the SEIU's support, and, as DNC Chair, I will always stand with SEIU and the working people of America," Ellison said in a statement.
Ellison's biggest endorsement came from the nation's largest labor group. AFL-CIO announced in December that its 12-million-member union had decided to back the arch-liberal congressman. In the announcement, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka hailed Ellison's leadership and ability to stir organizers.
"Representative Ellison meets the high standard working people expect from leaders of our political parties," Trumka said in a release. "He is a proven leader, who will focus on year-round grassroots organizing to deliver for working families across America. Under his leadership, the Democratic Party will embody the values that our members stand for every day."
Ellison's popularity among AFL-CIO leadership did not please all of the 55 member unions under its umbrella. The International Association of Fire Fighters broke ranks with the national organization 11 days after the Ellison endorsement when it announced that it would support Perez's bid for the office.
At least five other AFL-CIO affiliated unions, all of which represent private sector workers and manufacturing trades, have also bucked Trumka's Ellison endorsement. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) praised Ellison's experience in the House of Representatives but said that the union's personal relationship with Perez during his tenure at the Labor Department led them to support his candidacy.
"Tom Perez helped the ILWU at a critical time in our negotiations, and working with him gave me the opportunity to see firsthand that he is hardworking, trustworthy, and a straight shooter," union President Robert McEllrath said in a release. "My personal experience seeing Tom Perez work hard to solve problems for my union’s membership is what makes this the right decision for me."
One of AFL-CIO's newest and largest member unions also endorsed Perez. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) officially affiliated with AFL-CIO in 2013 in the hopes of fostering a "more united labor movement." Despite their affiliation, UFCW broke with the AFL-CIO's leadership and said that the DNC race represented a "crossroads" for which Perez was better suited.
"The Democratic Party is at a crossroads, and it needs leaders with strong progressive voices as well as unique skills and experiences to lead the party forward," UFCW President Marc Perrone said in a release. "While there are a number of very good candidates in the DNC chair race, Tom Perez offers the party what it so desperately needs—bold leadership and ideas, strong experience managing an organization at the state and federal level, and someone singularly focused on rebuilding the party across the country."
Peter List, a former union official turned labor watchdog, said that the divide among labor leaders can be traced to their appreciation of Ellison's more left-wing record and Perez's close ties to Hillary Clinton. Perez was an early supporter of Clinton's primary campaign against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), a self-described socialist. Many union executives, including Trumka, privately groused about Clinton's embrace of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Perez continued to endorse the deal into December—long after Clinton had formally denounced the deal. President Trump killed the TPP as one of his first acts in office.
"It appears that much of the hard Left’s animosity toward Thomas Perez is due to his prior support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as well as his ties to Hillary Clinton," List said. "Ellison's support is because he's further to the Left and an 'organizer.'"
Some unions have mentioned Ellison's experience as an organizer in their endorsements of his candidacy. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten pointed specifically to Ellison's work as a community organizer in announcing her union's support.
"His track record as an organizer and a Congressman shows it. Americans must trust that Democrats are on their side if we hope to take back White House and Congress," Weingarten said in a statement.
The vote for DNC chair will take place on Saturday.