The Examiner headline today is about as misleading as you can get: “Labor leaders unite against mayor candidates Jeff Adachi, John Avalos.”
That’s pretty ridiculous, since Avalos has the endorsement of the largest city employee union (SEIU Local 1021) and the local teachers union and is about the most pro-labor person in the race. And when you look at what’s actually going on, only three “labor leaders” (out of 150 unions represented in the San Francisco Labor Council) are going after Adachi and Avalos — and they’re among the most conservative labor unions in the city. Who are these “labor leaders?” The cops, the firefighters and the plumbers.
The plumbers, I guess, are mad about Avalos’ local-hire law. The cops and firefighters are mad that Avalos doesn’t give them everything they want. And the fact that they’re going to raise money to go after Adachi and Avalos suggests that they think one or both of them is a serious threat to Mayor Ed Lee.
Or else they’re just blustering and throwing money around because they can.
The reality is that Avalos will have strong labor support, as he always has. Adachi will have a lot more than the cops and firefighters and plumbers to worry about — nobody in organized labor is happy with his pension-reform legislation. So this little rump group making a fuss and getting Examiner headlines means very little.