The Service Employees International Union Endorses Andy Levin for Congress

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) today endorsed Andy Levin for Congress, citing his track record of fighting and winning battles for the working class.

“Andy Levin got his start organizing nursing home workers for SEIU, helping them stand up and demand better pay and working conditions for themselves and their residents,” said Andy Potter, President of the SEIU Michigan State Council. “We chose to endorse him because we know, as a product of the labor movement, he will represent our Union members’ interests when it comes to those issues.”

SEIU represents 2 million working people and is the largest health care, property services and public services union. In Michigan, the SEIU Michigan State council consists of four local unions: SEIU Healthcare Michigan; SEIU Local 526M and Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO); SEIU Local 517 and SEIU Local 1.

“I worked with Andy to implement the No Worker Left Behind program, which helped 162,000 Michigan citizens receive training for new job opportunities during one of Michigan’s most difficult economic downturns,” said Liza Estlund Olson, Treasurer of the Michigan State Council. “His ability to create, fund and implement a policy to immediately help Michiganians during an economic transition demonstrates why Andy Levin is the person we need to serve the citizens of Michigan’s 9th Congressional District in Washington. He understood that people needed to quickly train for the new Michigan economy and he put the policies in place to make it happen.”

Levin has spent decades fighting and winning battles for the middle class, both inside and outside of government. Throughout his career with AFL-CIO, Levin created the Union Summer and Voice@Work campaigns and other groundbreaking efforts. When Levin gets to Congress, he will work to create a new movement focused on creating jobs and restoring Michigan’s middle class.

“SEIU’s endorsement is so important to me. The best job I ever had was helping health care workers across Michigan form unions and bargain for a better life with SEIU,” Levin said. “Indeed, the role of organizer is the model I seek to follow in Congress, not just representing the people of the 9th District but seeking their active participation in rebuilding our democracy, protecting the rights of all, and creating good jobs that provide our people with a decent life. In the end, that’s all we seek: good jobs, health care, a dignified retirement.”

Levin has been named a Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate and has been endorsed by the Communications Workers of America, International Association of Machinists, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, National Weather Service Employees Organization, UFCW Local 951, UNITE HERE, Utility Workers Union of America, Congressman Dan Kildee, former Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer, former U.S. Rep. David Bonior, former Governor Jennifer Granholm, State Rep. Bill Sowerby and State Rep. Henry Yanez, Oakland County Water Resource Commissioner Jim Nash and retired Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh.

Photos: Andy Levin celebrates organizing victories with nursing home workers as they became members of SEIU in 1984.

For more information, visit www.andylevinforcongress.com.