SEIU’s Property Services Workers and Educators Endorse Tom Perez for Governor, Committing Direct Mail and Large Voter Turnout Effort in Maryland
Silver Spring, MD –32BJ SEIU and SEIU Local 500 today announced their endorsement of Tom Perez’s campaign for Maryland Governor on behalf of their diverse membership of essential property services workers and educators. The groups collectively represent over 30,000 education support personnel, janitors, security officers and airport workers in Maryland who will knock on doors and use direct mail to turn out voters.
“As a former Labor Secretary under President Obama and for the state of Maryland, Tom Perez has an unmatched track record of protecting immigrants and helping workers win back wages and jobs when they were wronged,” said Jaime Contreras, Executive Vice President of 32BJ SEIU, the nation’s largest property services workers union. “What sets Tom Perez apart is that he experienced the struggles facing immigrant families and devoted 35 years to protecting the civil rights of minority communities and ensuring working-class families get their fair share. We will do whatever it takes to make the difference in this campaign because the difference he’s made in people’s lives cannot be overstated.”
“On behalf of the thousands of SEIU Local 500 members, we’re thrilled to endorse Tom Perez to be Maryland’s next governor. His years of public service at the county, state and federal levels has prepared him to be an excellent governor on day one!” said Pia Morrison, President of SEIU Local 500, the largest SEIU local in the state. “Tom Perez and Shannon Sneed have a long history of standing with unions and working families and there is no clearer example of a more worker-friendly team. From championing Paid Family and Medical Leave, to fighting to increase wages for woefully underpaid public school support professionals, Tom has stood alongside our members time after time and we’re proud to stand alongside him now.”
“When unions succeed, Maryland succeeds and as Governor, I’ll always ensure that workers have a seat at the table as we work together to create a Maryland where no one working a full-time job lives in poverty, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, where families can access high-quality healthcare, and where workers are able to organize and collectively bargain,” Tom Perez said. “I’ve spent my entire career fighting for working families and I’m honored to have the support of 32BJ SEIU and SEIU Local 500 in our campaign to bring jobs, justice, and opportunity to every community across Maryland.”
As Labor Secretary in Maryland, Perez strongly enforced labor laws, especially wage and hour violations that stood in the way of workers earning a fair wage. Enforcing these labor laws also helps close the income gap between the very wealthy and the rest of us. At the Justice Department, Perez challenged to state and local laws that sought to infringe on the civil rights of minority communities and of all Americans.
With 175,000 members in 11 states, including over 10,000 in Maryland among the 20,000 in the D.C. Area and Baltimore, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country.
As the fastest growing education union in the region, SEIU Local 500 represents over 20,000 members who work at colleges, universities, public schools, and nonprofits across Maryland and Washington, D.C.
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