The Service Employees International Union is unleashing its purple army and launching voter initiatives to fight Midwest Republicans in mid-term elections.
Even before the ink from his veto pen was dry, knocking down a bill to raise Illinois’ minimum wage to $15, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) had already declared war on Illinois’ governor, Bruce Rauner.
The pro-Marxist SEIU will be spending millions to target politicians who do not support its multi-year, multi-million dollar campaign to raise the minimum wage and unionize low-wage workers.
[via the Chicago Tribune]
Over the 14 months leading up to the fall 2018 election, SEIU members and workers participating in the wage campaign will pledge to volunteer 40 hours of their time to reach out to disengaged voters and encourage them to turn out for candidates who support union priorities such as a $15 minimum wage and universal health care.
“We’re going to take our case to people who have given up and don’t show up on Election Day because no one is giving them a reason to stand in line and vote,” said Scott Courtney, executive vice president at SEIU. “And we’re going to engage them in organizing at their workplace and in their communities.”
. . . .
SEIU plans to roll out the voter initiative across a dozen battleground states mostly in the Midwest, including Illinois and Michigan, as well as Florida, Colorado and Nevada. Paid canvassers as well as “tens of thousands” of SEIU and Fight for $15 members are expected to participate. There are 150,000 SEIU members in Illinois.
The drive comes as Fight for $15 sets its sights on organizing nonunionized low-wage hospital workers, including dietary aides, nurses’ assistants and patient transporters. Since launching its organizing efforts in 2012 with fast-food workers, the campaign has grown to include airport, retail, home health, child care and building service workers, as well as Uber drivers and university instructors. [Emphasis added.]
Although the SEIU doesn’t publicly label its target by political affiliation, it is highly likely that all of the union’s 2018 targets will be Republicans as the SEIU is anti-Republican, as evidenced by its past political donations and close alliance with the Democrat Party.
