The S.E.I.U., one of the largest and most politically influential unions, has about two million members, half of which are females.
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“We feel very confident about Hillary Clinton’s capacity to fight, win and deliver for working people”, SEIU worldwide President Mary Kay Henry said in an interview immediately following the endorsement vote.
SEIU boasts close to 2 million members nationally and joins the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the dockworkers’ worldwide Longshoremen’s Association and the National Education Association in endorsing Clinton, meaning that the former Secretary of State now holds endorsements from unions representing about 9.5 million union members.
But according to an worldwide Business Times review of federal records, Clinton was raising big campaign cash – and her family was being paid speaking fees – from Wall Street firms well before the 9/11 attacks. Mrs. Clinton has defended the Affordable Care Act, while Mr. Sanders would like to move to a single-payer system, something Mrs. Clinton previously advocated before Obamacare was passed.
The endorsement represents another show of strength for Clinton, who has locked up most of the major unions despite Sanders’ message of helping workers overcome income inequality. Bernie Sanders, who has made great efforts to gain the sympathy of unions. “Everybody knows that”, Sanders said.
At most of his campaign stops, Sanders talks about making health care a right, not a privilege. Sanders has received labor endorsements from smaller unions. For Saturday’s debate, the widely cited website factcheck.org has disputed: O’Malley’s statement about the marginal tax rate during President Ronald Reagan’s first term; Sanders’ remarks on where the United States ranks in income inequality; and Clinton’s description of the stagnancy of real wages. “Being a union delegate and being deeply involved with the union, Bernie would have been the right person for the job”.
The union is the main backer of the Fight for $15 protests by fast food workers and other low-wage service employees, who are demanding a $15 hourly wage and union recognition.
Clinton responded on Saturday night by arguing that her Wall Street plan was “tougher, more effective and more comprehensive” the others. “The SEIU should have waited until after the primary to make an endorsement”. In fact, over the course of that Democratic party race, more SEIU locals endorsed John Edwards than both Clinton and Obama.
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On Sunday, Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon elaborated, saying in a statement that her work to help the financial industry rebuild after 9/11 “did not mean she ever hesitated to call out and seek to reform the abuses and excesses that led to the economic crisis”.
