Unions Endorse Cary Moon, Call Out Big Jenny Durkan Supporters

SEATTLE, WA - A group of four local labor unions endorsed Cary Moon for mayor Friday morning, and in doing so directly called out some of the biggest supporters of Moon's challenger, Jenny Durkan. Moon was endorsed simultaneously by UFCW 21, Unite Here! Local 8, SEIU6, and SEIU 925 at an event Friday at the UFCW's Georgetown office.

Speakers from each union talked about why they were picking Moon. Lucia Flugencio of Unite Here! Local 8 underscored the union's struggles against entities like Alaska Airlines, the Seattle Hotel Association, and LSG Sky Chefs.

Alaska and the Seattle Hotel Association have donated to People For Jenny Durkan, an independent group that spends money in support of Durkan. The Seattle Chamber through its political action committee, Civic Alliance For A Sound Economy (CASE), have given $86,000 to People For Jenny Durkan. Alaska Airlines has given CASE at least $20,000 this election cycle. CASE also endorsed Durkan before the primary election.

In June, the Seattle Hotel Association's PAC, Seattle Hospitality For Progress, endorsed Durkan. That PAC has also donated $20,000 to People For Jenny Durkan.

LSG Sky Chefs, a subsidiary of the German airline Lufthansa, and Unite Here! Local 8 have been battling over pay for several years. In 2015, workers at the company's West Seattle plant realized they were not being paid the city of Seattle minimum wage. Unite Here is engaged in a similar struggle with Alaska Airlines - trying to get the airline's catering workers up from an hourly $11 wage to the city of SeaTac minimum wage of $15.34.

Unite Here! Local 8 was also behind Initiative 124, which Seattle voters approved in 2016. The initiative grants protections to hotel housekeepers, and the Seattle Hotel Association and other hospitality groups sued last December to overturn it. A King County judge tossed that suit in June.

Moon gains considerable financial and manpower support with the endorsements. UFCW 21 is the largest private-sector union in the state with about 44,000 members. Joe Mizrahi, the union's public policy director, said UFCW 21 supported Mike McGinn during the 2013 election and Jessyn Farrell before the primary.

Durkan, however, has picked up her own labor endorsements: the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, Washington State Council of County and City Employees, the Seattle Fire Fighters Union Local 27, and others.

Durkan began this week with a big endorsement from King County Executive Dow Constantine, perhaps the most powerful elected official in Western Washington and a possible future gubernatorial candidate.

“I’m the only candidate for mayor who is not taking money and support from the same corporate special interests that tried to block Seattle’s progress on workplace fairness and economic equity,” Moon said while accepting the union endorsements.

Image via Neal McNamara/Patch.com