Hillary Clinton Wins SEIU Endorsement, Organizing Power From Giant Union

The Service Employees International Union announced on Tuesday that its leadership will back Hillary Clinton for president. The endorsement comes about 7 years and 9 months after the SEIU endorsed then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. The SEIU’s embrace of Clinton is a major blow to Bernie Sanders. His supporters have pleading with the SEIU to hold off on an endorsement for a few more months. SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry said in a statement that the labor organization wouldn’t wait any longer.

“Hillary Clinton has proven she will fight, deliver and win for working families,” Henry said.

“SEIU members and working families across America are part of a growing movement to build a better future for their families, and Hillary Clinton will support and stand with them.”

Clinton’s new backers represent 1.2 million SEIU members. The announcement won’t stop individual members from supporting other candidates, but it will refocus the energy of thousands of paid organizers and media messengers. It means that the SEIU might be producing videos like these.

It’s unknown how SEIU locals will react to the announcement, and if they will fall in line. The SEIU said in a statement that they have consulted with their membership extensively about the decision. However, many of the member polls, conferences, and leadership discussions listed in the announcement happened before Sanders and Martin O’Malley, the third Democratic contender declared their candidacy.

"We are gratified that hundreds of thousands of workers are part of the growing grassroots movement supporting Bernie's campaign to help working families by raising the minimum wage, providing health care for all and making college affordable," Sanders campaign spokesperson Michael Briggs said in an email statement following the SEIU announcement.

Is Sanders’ campaign hoping for some insurrection among SEIU members? It’s unclear which candidate enjoys the majority of support of the members. The SEIU did not respond to requests for specifics on the polling of its members.

Ahead of the announcement, SEIU leaders said that an endorsement by the national leadership wouldn’t blunt their endorsement for Sanders. Some locals have already endorsed the candidate. Rand Wilson, a communications director for SEIU local 888 in Boston, told Politico that an endorsement wouldn’t change his own support, but it will affect how he can express it.

“The union’s support for another candidate will definitely have an impact on the kinds of roles that we can play at the grassroots] level,” Wilson said.

Sanders has earned some support from labor, including a major endorsement from the American Postal Workers Union last week. But with the SEIU behind her, Clinton now commands the organizing power of around two-thirds of America’s unions. That muscle may mobilize caucus-goers and primary ballot voters in early states like Nevada, where labor is key to Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts.

The endorsement also follows a politically positive week for Clinton, whose foreign policy experience made her shine in Saturday’s Democratic debate following the ISIS-led terrorist attacks in Paris. In a statement, Clinton thanked the SEIU and pledged to support their membership.

“As President, I will be proud to stand with SEIU and fight alongside them—to defend workers’ right to organize and unions’ right to bargain collectively, to raise incomes for working people and the middle class, and to ensure that hardworking Americans can retire with dignity and security,” Clinton said.