Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Candidates make their pitch to Las Vegas union

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Steve Marcus

Democratic presidential candidate businessman Tom Steyer, center, poses for photos with union members during the SEIU Local 1107 Unions for All Summit at the Sahara Las Vegas hotel-casino Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020.

SEIU Unions for All Summit

Democratic presidential candidate businessman Tom Steyer speaks to union members during the SEIU Local 1107 Unions for All Summit at the Sahara Las Vegas hotel-casino Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. Launch slideshow »

Union membership is a family tradition for Kevin Hawthorne. The McCarran International Airport worker is part of Service Employees International Union Local 1107. His father was also a union member.

Democratic presidential candidates are targeting Nevada’s sizable union population as a potential bulwark of support going into the caucuses next month, meaning Hawthorne and his colleagues have heard plenty of proposals on how to address organized labor issues facing the country.

“I think we need to change everywhere in the nation, change the right-to-work laws — everyone should be able to join a union, get a (better-paying) and better jobs (and equality),” he said

Multiple candidates spoke this weekend at the Unions for All Summit hosted by SEIU, hoping their message of the nation’s middle class would directly appeal to workers such as Hawthorne.

Businessman Tom Steyer touted his family’s working class bonafides: his mother was a New York public school teacher; his father was a lawyer who served in World War II. “First partner, organized labor. Best partner, organized labor. My last partner will be organized labor,” Steyer said.

Interestingly, when Sanders spoke over the phone to workers, there was loud support when he mentioned “Medicare for All,” his signature government-run health care policy. This was a contrast with other Las Vegas union events at which attendees were more outspoken of the plan due to their loss of negotiated health care under it.

Sanders’ wife, Jane, represented him at the event, saying after that initial fears from union members about loss of negotiated insurance has died down.

“What my hope is, is that union members realize that this takes one of the big bargaining problems off the table for them, so they’ll be able to not have to trade good health care benefits for good wages or other benefits,” Jane Sanders said.” They’ll be able to count on good health care and be able to bargain more strongly for the other benefits.”

Grace Vergara-Mactal, the executive director of SEIU Local 1107, said that while it was unfortunate that most candidates couldn’t be there in person  she was appreciative of the campaigns’ participation. Bernie Sanders, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and businessman Andrew Yang called into the event. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent surrogates — former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, respectively. Steyer attended in person.

Vergara-Mactal said that she wished campaigns would reach out more, but that this cycle has seen more interest in unions from candidates than past cycles.

“They’ve done more now than in the past,” she said. “A few years ago, they didn’t do this much outreach.”

The Nevada Democratic caucuses are Feb. 22, and candidates are expected to make a final blitz of campaigning after the Iowa caucuses Feb. 3 and the New Hampshire primary Feb. 11.