Washington, D.C. – Members of the Service Employees International (SEIU) Maryland/DC State Council today announced their endorsement of Ward 6 candidate Charles Allen as well as DC City Council members Mary Cheh, Jim Graham and Chairman Phil Mendelson. SEIU members interviewed candidates about their work to protect the rights of hard-working immigrants and working families such as Council’s recent passage of a minimum wage increase.

“Charles Allen has worked closely and thoughtfully with low-wage workers in counseling City Council’s support of clean election laws and responsible city contracting to ensure that taxpayers only support the creation of good jobs and quality city services,” said Jaime Contreras, State Council President and 32BJ SEIU Vice President. “We are confident in Allen’s record of leadership and the years we’ve spent working with him to improve life for working families in the District. Each of these individuals understands that law-abiding immigrant workers deserve protection from harsh Bush-era policies that distract police officers from real threats to our communities.”

State Council members will announce their endorsement in Ward 5 on Saturday, January 25th and for the at large and mayoral races in February.

“It’s empowering to know we are an important part of the process,” said Mark Hopson, a Maintenance worker at Georgetown University. “The candidates all showed us a great amount of respect and took us seriously. I felt so proud to be a part of SEIU.”

The SEIU Maryland and D.C. State Council represent nearly 45,000 members in the areas of health care, public services, education, property services and the non-profit sector who are united to help improve the workplace and lives of not only SEIU members, but working families across the region. It includes 32BJ SEIU, Local 500, 1199 SEIU UHE, Local 400 PG, Local 722, and SEIU NAGE 5000.

With 2.1 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas.

# # #