By Antonio Ray Harvey, Tanu Henry and Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media
Last week, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) and former Compton city councilmember Michelle Chambers received key endorsements from powerful California unions in their respective candidacies for elected office.
Teamsters Joint Council 42, which represents 250,000 members in 23 local branches across Southern California, Southern Nevada, Guam, Saipan and Hawaii, endorsed Jones-Sawyer his run for L.A. City Council.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO is supporting Chambers, who is a former AFSCME member and the former external affairs manager for California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Chambers is running to represent Senate District 35, currently being represented by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), who terms out next year.
Jones-Sawyer, who is termed out from his Assembly seat, has received the support of more than 20 unions and professional organizations in his bid to represent Council District 10 in California’s largest city.
“Teamsters Joint Council 42 is proud to support Reggie Jones-Sawyer for Los Angeles City Council because as a state lawmaker, he has been a champion on behalf of our members and all of California’s working families,” said Teamsters 42 President Hector Delgado in a statement.
“Throughout his decades-long career in public service, Reggie has fought tirelessly for better conditions, wages, and benefits for working families time and time again, while demonstrating a profound commitment to social and economic justice,” Delgado continued.
Yvonne Wheeler of the LA County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO said she looks forward to partnering with Chambers when she is a lawmaker in Sacramento.
“On behalf of over three hundred affiliated union and labor organizations representing more than 800,000 members, I am excited to announce that the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor has endorsed Michelle Chambers for State Senate, said Wheeler. Michelle proved her support for workers as an elected official, and as a former union member she understands the issues facing California.”