Organized Labor Rushes to Embrace Kamala Harris

Organized labor, a key part of the Democratic coalition, is quickly coalescing around Kamala Harris after she announced her presidential candidacy. Within hours of her announcement, some of the nation’s largest unions offered outright endorsements, while others heaped Harris with praise and acknowledged that an internal endorsement process must run its course.

Labor’s Embrace of Harris

The support for Harris from labor unions stems from a perception of her as a labor ally and an heir apparent to Biden, as well as an acknowledgment of the difficulty of a shortened campaign in which unions are eager to defeat President Trump.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), with 1.7 million members, endorsed Harris on Monday. AFT President Randi Weingarten said Harris has “close ties to many, many unions.” The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation’s largest private sector union with 2 million members, endorsed Harris on Sunday. And Local 3000 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a labor organization in the Pacific Northwest, endorsed Harris last week.

The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor organization with 12.5 million members, is in the midst of its endorsement process but issued a statement speaking of Harris in favorable terms.

Unions Move Quickly

Steve Smith, deputy director of public affairs at AFL-CIO, said things are moving quickly. “Several of our affiliate unions have already endorsed Harris,” he said.

Johnnie Kallas, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois, said unions are coming out in support of Harris because of Biden’s perceived strength with organized labor and the limited time remaining in the campaign.

“The reality is we’re three-and-a-half months out from Election Day,” Kallas said. “If this was a conversation, it should have been had a year ago.”

Biden Allies Reluctant to Back Harris

Not all Biden-aligned labor leaders are ready to join their peers in backing Harris. John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union, described the public push to remove Biden from the Democratic ticket as a “betrayal.”

“I don’t have a relationship with her,” Samuelsen said of Harris. “I got to know Biden pretty well. I have faith in Biden that he wouldn’t screw transport sector workers.”

The Teamsters, a 1.3-million member union whose President Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention last week, has not released a statement about Harris. The union has not traditionally endorsed a candidate until after both major party conventions.

Despite these holdouts, the overwhelming majority of labor unions are coalescing around Harris. This reflects the deep ties between organized labor and the Democratic Party, as well as the unions’ desire to defeat Trump in November.