A top adviser faces an uphill climb in winning labor backing for the Vermont senator
Sen. Bernie Sanders, shown speaking about the Workplace Democracy Act in Washington, D.C., last month, has fewer union endorsements than Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. PHOTO: SHAWN THEW/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
WASHINGTON— Larry Cohen, a top adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, is charged with winning support from labor union leaders. Lately, it’s been an uphill climb.
On Tuesday, the mammoth Service Employees International Union endorsed Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton, her 13th national union nod compared with Mr. Sanders’s two. Mr. Cohen hopes to expand this number, but absent that, would be happy to keep unions on the sidelines while Mr. Sanders makes his case.
Mrs. Clinton’s overwhelming support from unions in this race is something of a surprise, given that Mr. Sanders has led labor’s fight on free trade and economic inequality, and backs a $15 federal minimum wage, as well as government-funded college and health care. Mrs. Clinton’s record on those issues is more mixed.
But unions are also pragmatic, and while many rank-and-file members favor the Vermont senator, their leaders are largely in the front-runner’s camp. Mr. Cohen, a retired union president himself, is trying to exploit that divide.
Philosophically, he reaches back 2,000 years to the rabbi Hillel, the Jewish philosopher who encouraged followers to put their values into action. “If not now, when?” Mr. Cohen, quoting Hillel, asks over lunches, phone calls and meetings with union leaders, he recounted in an interview. “If we don’t stick up for our own values, why should anyone else?”
Union membership has declined, but the movement still plays an important role in elections because of its ability to turn out voters and volunteers, and spend heavily in doing so, in amounts that can hit hundreds of millions of dollars in election years. It is also a prime source of direct campaign contributions for Democratic candidates, with 90% of union donations supporting Democrats in the 2012 election, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The Amalgamated Transit Union is neutral, and its president, Larry Hanley, said that is partly because “Larry’s twisting our arm.” He said he has had a “long relationship” with the Clintons, and that outreach from her began last spring. So far, Mr. Hanley’s union isn’t picking a side.
“We have an obligation not to stand in [Mr. Sanders’s] way, not to help kill or dilute his message,” Mr. Hanley said.
The giant labor federation, the AFL-CIO, would be a big prize, and it is unclear if Mrs. Clinton can win its endorsement, which requires two-thirds support of members.
Several unions that endorsed Mrs. Clinton have faced a backlash. After SEIU announced its decision, its Facebook page was filled with protests, as well as support. Before the announcement, rank-and-file members who are part of SEIU for Bernie warned that a Clinton endorsement could undercut the union’s fight for a $15 minimum wage.
The SEIU said Mrs. Clinton is a champion for its causes. “Hillary Clinton has proven she will fight, deliver and win for working families,” said SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry.
Mr. Cohen, 66 years old, was a mental-health worker at state hospitals and prisons in the Philadelphia area when he got involved in organizing workers to unionize. In 1979 he began working full time for the Communications Workers of America, and in 2005 he was elected president. He retired in June, in part to help build a “democracy movement” that would take on campaign-finance issues and voting rights. Two days later, he began working for Mr. Sanders.
Last month, Mr. Cohen brought Mr. Sanders to a New York City rally of Verizon workers trying to organize. Last summer, he organized a call to pitch thousands of union members. And last week, the American Postal Workers Union endorsed Mr. Sanders after lobbying from Mr. Cohen.
He recently accompanied the candidate to an interview with a powerful local, SEIU 1199 in New York, where Mr. Sanders suggested that no elected official would take the union seriously if it “walks away from people who have committed their life” to their values.
Larry Cohen, a former president of Communications Workers of America, is a top adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders in his bid for the Democratic nomination. PHOTO: TIM SHAFFER/REUTERS
Mr. Cohen faces hurdles partly because Mrs. Clinton has slimmed the policy differences between her and Mr. Sanders on trade and other issues. A month ago, Mr. Cohen hoped he could win over the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. He cited a video where AFSCME members offered scattered applause for Mrs. Clinton and a wild reception for Mr. Sanders.
“Is that some kind of message?” union President Lee Saunders asked the crowd.
AFSCME ultimately sided with Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Saunders said he received her assurance she would enthusiastically support working families, and the union said nearly two-thirds of members surveyed backed her. Polling found that nearly seven in 10 members thought electability more important than total agreement on issues. “We have to win in 2016,” Mr. Saunders said.
