Pittsburgh's unions divided over support for Mayor Ed Gainey and Controller Corey O'Connor
Who is the candidate for labor in the upcoming Democratic primary for Pittsburgh mayor?
Both incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey and his challenger, County Controller Corey O'Connor claim the title but the labor unions in Pittsburgh themselves are divided.
Some unions are lining up behind Gainey for his re-election while others are ready for a change with O'Connor.
"Pittsburgh is a union town, we will remain one, and we will stand with our union brothers and sister," Mayor Gainey said.
In a downtown rally, the leadership of half a dozen unions said they stand behind the mayor. It included Pittsburgh teachers, Starbucks workers, the Steelworkers Union, and the SEIU branches representing healthcare workers and service employees. All of them noted his strong support of workers' rights.
"He has met with, he has marched with, he has stood with workers organizing all over this city for good union jobs right here in the city of Pittsburgh," said Matt Yarnell of PA SEIU Healthcare.
"Why would someone who considers himself a progressive turn his back on him now? The members of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers will not," added Billy Hileman of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.
While the mayor has consolidated the backing of the city's more progressive unions, O'Connor has garnered more support from those more business-friendly. This week, he won the endorsement of the Pittsburgh Building Trades Council whose member unions said the city has stalled and their workers have been sidelined by a lack of development and growth under Gainey.
"A lot of the building trades, and myself being a Steamfitter, are frustrated with the lack of economic development in the city," said Kenneth Broadbent, Steamfitters Local 449. "I have 80 people working in other parts of the county. There should be more economic development. More working with developers to bring people in here."
O'Connor also said he has the support of people who work under the mayor, getting most of the endorsements so far from the city's municipal unions - the paramedics, the laborers, and the Teamsters.
"You want to talk about workers, when most of the city workforce is endorsing me, that's a sign they want change," O'Connor said.
Union leadership remains divided in their support of the mayoral candidates, but what is important is the way their members vote and that may be the thing that sways the election.
