By JOSH DAWSEY
May 31, 2016
Mayor had backing for his first City Hall bid; organized labor gave $1.5 million to now-defunct nonprofit
When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tried unsuccessfully to bring the state Senate under Democratic control in 2014, he and his advisers collaborated with top union leaders and relied on them to fund the effort.
Unions contributed about $1.5 million of the more than $4 million Mr. de Blasio and his political allies raised for the Campaign for One New York, a now-defunct nonprofit dedicated to advancing the mayor’s agenda.
As Mr. de Blasio faces a number of investigations into his fundraising activities, he and his aides have begun to lay the groundwork for what they hope will be strong union backing of his 2017 re-election bid.
While the probes may complicate matters, many of the unions are likely to back him.
Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, has met with some top union leaders at Gracie Mansion, and union officials have said Mr. de Blasio’s political aides are calling them with greater frequency.
“I think the coalition that elected Bill de Blasio is going to stick with Bill de Blasio,” said Bob Master, political director at the Communications Workers of America in New York, which backed Mr. de Blasio in the 2013 primary.
A spokeswoman for the mayor said Mr. de Blasio “welcomes support from any person, company or organization” that wants to improve New Yorkers’ lives.
During the 2013 race for the Democratic mayoral nomination, organized labor was deeply divided among the top candidates, a setback for union leaders who had hoped to coalesce around a single contender to maximize influence. That year, after Mr. de Blasio secured his party’s nomination, the major unions quickly lined up behind him.
‘The mayor has been constantly trying to bolster his support with the unions. He wasn’t their favorite in 2013. In some ways, he won the primary in spite of them.’
—Labor historian Joshua Freeman
Some of those same unions have been subpoenaed this year as part of coordinated federal and state investigations into the mayor’s 2014 effort to secure a Democratic majority in the Senate.
A state Board of Elections report accused the mayor and his allies of evading contribution limits and disguising the names of contributors as part of “willful and flagrant” violations of the law. Nobody has been charged; the mayor and his allies have denied wrongdoing.
The United Federation of Teachers, the teachers union, and 32BJ SEIU, a union of property-service workers, have received subpoenas, according to people familiar with the matter.
“We cooperate with everything going on,” said Michael Mulgrew, president of the teachers union. “The UFT is always highly scrutinized, and we continue to do our work.”
The property-service workers union, 32BJ SEIU, said it was cooperating with the subpoena.
The Communications Workers of America’s Mr. Master, who was involved in the 2014 Senate effort, said he was confident all laws were followed.
Separately, federal investigators are examining Unite Here!, a large hospitality union with close ties to Mr. de Blasio, for its 2013 contributions to NYCLASS, an anti-horse carriage group. NYCLASS helped bankroll attack ads against former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, one of Mr. de Blasio’s 2013 primary rivals.
Unite Here! also gave $400,000 to the Campaign for One New York. A Unite Here! spokeswoman said the group is cooperating with the investigation and declined further comment. The union’s founding president is Mr. de Blasio’s cousin.
The city’s largest union, Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, which supported the mayor in 2013, gave $500,000 to the Campaign for One New York.
The American Federation of Teachers, the national arm, gave $350,000 when the UFT was negotiating a contract with Mr. de Blasio’s administration.
Investigators are probing whether any donor received special benefits for giving, people familiar with the matter have said.
Organized labor, with its large political budget and membership in New York City, has long played an outsize role in city politics, particularly in Democratic primaries.
“The mayor has been constantly trying to bolster his support with the unions,” said Joshua Freeman, a labor historian at the City University of New York. “He wasn’t their favorite in 2013. In some ways, he won the primary in spite of them.”
Both 32BJ SEIU and the UFT, for example, backed rivals of Mr. de Blasio in the primary.
Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which has about 24,000 members and backed one of Mr. de Blasio’s rivals in the 2013 primary, said he is undecided about an endorsement in 2017.
The mayor “goes after the biggest unions and thinks the rest of the unions will go along,” Mr. Floyd said.
While close with many unions, Mr. de Blasio has struggled with the law-enforcement unions. The main police union is running ads to protest officer pay.
A review of the mayor’s schedules shows he has met with union leaders about 50 times, often at Gracie Mansion. He regularly attends union officials’ holiday parties and conferences, and has staged events at union offices.
Many top officials have close ties to unions, including Emma Wolfe, his top political aide, and Tom Snyder, his chief of staff who served as political director of Unite Here!
In a statement, 32BJ SEIU cited more affordable housing and worker protections among reasons they like Mr. de Blasio.
Officials at 1199-SEIU didn’t respond to a request for comment, but two people close to the union said they are likely to back the mayor next year.
Among union leaders, Mr. Mulgrew has met the most with the mayor, records show. He played down the investigations, saying he agreed with Mr. de Blasio on most issues and appreciated his access at City Hall.
“It’s New York City,” he said, laughing. “When has there not been craziness around City Hall. It’s rough and tumble, it really is.”
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It is incomprehensible that the unions would even consider to have contributed one dollar to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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