Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced he has received the endorsement of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East for re-election as mayor. With over 450,000 members throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, and Washington, DC, 1199SEIU is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in the nation. 

“Mayor Walsh has done a great job for the City of Syracuse,” said Jamila Grimes, who is a Licensed Practical Nurse at Loretto Health and Rehabilitation. “As a woman of color, I look at who he has surrounded himself in his circle of advisors. I see people who look like me.  Mayor Walsh knows every nook and cranny of our city, and I know he cares and loves all of us.  We know that we have a friend in City Hall and we need his leadership for a second term.”

“SEIU 1199 spends every hour of every day standing up for its members and those that they serve — people young and old who live and work in our community.  I admire SEIU’s record of service and caring for all of our residents and it’s strong advocacy for the rights of working people,” said Mayor Walsh. “It is a great honor to have SEIU 1199’s endorsement.”

Walsh is a former union member (Laborers’ Local 633 and UFCW Local One) and employee of the New York State AFL-CIO. With this latest endorsement, Walsh has now received the endorsements of eight major unions including IBEW Local 43, IBEW Local 97, the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, United Food and Commercial Workers District Union Local One, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 158 and the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council No. 4, Local 31.