Big Business' Bestie Bruce Harrell Scores Major Labor Endorsement Over Progressive Challengers

This fucking guy

The MLK Labor Council, the unified voice of more than 150 unions in King County, voted last night to endorse Mayor Bruce Harrell. Seattle candidates need the backing from one of two political forces to win their election, either big business or labor. And with Harrell also expected to have his corporate puppet masters trying to buy control of his strings again this cycle, this endorsement could mean Harrell has blocked the most historically feasible path for his challengers. It’s sort of like when Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his burrow and sees his shadow, except instead of six more weeks of winter, the endorsement predicts four more years of Harrell. 

According to MLK delegates, the MLK Executive Board first endorsed Harrell by a “wide margin,” but delegates had to approve the decision. They debated back and forth. IBEW Local 46, Seattle Building & Construction Trades Council, and the Teamsters all spoke in favor of endorsing Harrell. The Seattle Education Association, UFCW 3000, and UAW Local 4121 argued against endorsing Harrell. 

But when it came time for the roll call, opposition softened. Two big, progressive-leaning unions, UFCW 3000 and Protec 17, both abstained, giving the ayes enough oomph to endorse Harrell. 

While progressives shouldn’t be surprised, they’re welcome to feel disappointed. The move marks a complete 180 from Labor's position on Harrell in his 2021 bid when they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his opponent. And it’s unclear that he really deserves that remarkable change of heart considering he’s the same guy who told City workers’ to “rally [their] asses off” when he lowballed them on raises, he’s the same guy plastered on Amazon’s mailers for their anti-social housing initiative, he’s the same guy who did the Chamber of Commerce’s bidding and raided affordable housing funding to avoid taxing the rich. 

But progressive politicos have been working (maybe in therapy) to accept this reality for a while now — labor leaders admitted they didn’t care to challenge Harrell months ago. The PR answer from labor leaders for why they’re cool with Harrell now seems to be that Harrell did a good job in some City contract negotiations.

Katie Garrow, MLK Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer said in a press statement that MLK is proud to offer their "sole endorsement" to Harrell because "he has a proven track redord of delivering real results for working people."

But on the low, labor leaders say that Harrell cut them a few good deals to neutralize some of the council’s most egregious attacks on working people, most notably Council Member Joy Hollingsworth’s short-lived attempt to permanently enshrine a subminimum wage for tipped workers at small businesses. Garrow alluded to this maneuver in her statement, applauding Harrell for "defend[ing] Seattle's nation-leading worker protection laws."

Labor leaders seem to have little faith that anyone can defeat Harrell (sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy coming from the only entity that could make a challenger competitive), so they’d rather stay in his good graces. However, those challengers seem to hold a much firmer alliance to labor: Underdog candidate Ry Armstrong is a National Councilor of AEA (AFL-CIO) and an MLK Labor Delegate of SAG-AFTRA, and Katie Wilson organized several ballot initiatives to secure some of the highest minimum wages in the country. 

Delegates will vote on a motion to dual endorse Wilson and Harrell on Wednesday. However, candidates must submit their voter guide statements by Tuesday at 5pm. So, even if MLK Labor gives Wilson a dual endorsement, she won’t be able to include it in her most important piece of literature ahead of the August primary.