SEIU California, one of the state’s most influential and wealthy unions, has un-endorsed state Sen. Scott Wiener in his bid to succeed Nancy Pelosi in Congress. Supervisor Connie Chan is now SEIU California’s sole endorsee.
SEIU attributed the withdrawal of support to Wiener’s opposition to San Francisco’s Proposition D, informally known as the “Overpaid CEO Tax.”
Prop. D, a measure put onto San Francisco’s ballot for the June election by San Francisco labor unions — including local branches of SEIU — would levy taxes on companies where the CEO earns 100 times more than their median employee. The measure is intended to fill the city’s $650 million deficit and stave off layoffs.
“A candidate’s stance on the Overpaid CEO Act is more than just another policy choice — it reveals who is standing with working people in this moment as we fight the Trump Administration’s attacks on our healthcare and our communities,” said Theresa Rutherford, president of SEIU Local 1021 and board member of SEIU California.
“We need elected leaders ready to fight — not equivocate.”
Supporting the tax “should be an easy choice for San Francisco’s congressmember when it means saving the city’s mental health programs, public hospitals, and emergency response services,” she added.
A supermajority of the Board of Supervisors supports Prop. D. But other local politicians, including Mayor Daniel Lurie and Wiener, have opposed it, saying that, if approved by voters in June, it will push businesses to leave the city, and paint San Francisco as unfriendly to business.
“Downtown is still recovering from the pandemic, and I strongly support Mayor Lurie’s economic recovery work,” Wiener said in a statement.
“In Congress, I will fight for progressive taxation, ensuring the largest corporations pay their fair share, starting with reversing the Trump and Bush tax cuts and closing loopholes that enable corporate tax dodging.”
That SEIU’s statewide chapter even endorsed Wiener in the first place was a shock to many, including some of SEIU’s San Francisco branches.
SEIU 1021, a large San Francisco union of government and healthcare workers, did not support Wiener’s endorsement, instead advocating for a sole endorsement of Chan. SEIU 1021 members didn’t like Wiener’s state-level push for YIMBY housing policies and his reluctance to call Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
But they were outvoted by other SEIU locals across the state, which supported Wiener, citing his record at the state legislature on budget and transportation issues. In the end, a co-endorsement of Chan and Wiener was put forward.
Chan had been expected to gain widespread backing from labor, and has racked up endorsements from other progressive unions, including the San Francisco Labor Council, the California Federation of Labor Unions, and the California Teacher’s Association.
“She will be the best representative in Washington for working people,” said Martha Hawthorne, a member of SEIU 1021’s San Francisco political committee. “Her record speaks to our issues: union rights, affordable housing, tenant protections, funding for public services, and taxing billionaires.”
In 2024, San Francisco unions spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on her reelection as District 1 supervisor.
With the sole endorsement, Chan may get funding for her congressional race from SEIU. Previously, any funding would have had to be split evenly between the two campaigns.
“The choice is clear: Connie Chan is the candidate of working people,” said Julie Edwards, Chan’s campaign spokesperson.
“We’re proud to stand with the healthcare workers, janitors, in-home caregivers, school and city employees of SEIU as we work to reach every voter in San Francisco with a simple message: Connie will take on Trump, the billionaires and big corporations to fight for us,” Edwards said.
Wiener’d critics are celebrating.
“It’s about time,” Hawthorne said. “The lesson is that all rank-and-file members should be listened to. Ages ago we endorsed Connie Chan, but our union’s opinion was not taken.”
“I commend the state council for having the courage to change an endorsement,” Hawthorne said. “That’s not easy.”
I kind of hate to say it but … Lurie and Weiner (of whom I am not a fan) are right about this.
Why would a business choose to locate in SF, knowing it will have to pay this tax?
Surrounding cities will be happy about it, as suddenly there’s an incentive to move to Oakland or the East Bay. Austin Texas and Raleigh-Durham, NC, are also probably rooting for Prop D to pass.
It’s a good idea in theory, Prop D. But it’s like Proposition 13. If it passes, it’s going to hurt the city for years and years.
Once Scott Wiener is elected the U.S. House of Representatives, it’ll be “SEIU Later Guys!”
If I were him I wouldn’t give these SEIU reactionaries the time of day.
Now workers have to show up to put some time into the campaigns to elect Connie as well as to pass the overpaid CEO tax. Where the rich have the money to outspend us with repeated ads in mailers, media, and social media, we have the people because we will always outnumber them as long as we stay united and have eachothers backs. There are already city workers who have received layoff notices who are unsure if they will have a job in the near future and this could be just the beginning. If you have complaints about how the city is running now, just wait until there are less and less workers responding to the needs of the city. Of course the big businesses will be taken care as you can see the mayor is on their side but who knows about the rest of us.
Weiner either believes Gazans deserve to be genocided or he is incapable of standing up for what he believes in.
He is unfit to lead.
The mayor and Weiner are correct not to support this.
If you look at Seattle’s current economic health status, you will know what to expect if this passes. You want to bring back businesses and improve the economic status of the city, not telegraphing them to go away. This will also result in more unemployment and more small businesses going away. S.F. Gov has a debt problem that was self inflicted due to various past bad calls. One of them is not learning from history, and repeating it.
When was the last time that SEIU prevailed in a citywide candidate election in San Francisco?
Time’s up Weiner. Elected office and public service are NOT for you. Your job as a Tech and/or YIMBY real estate lobbyist awaits.
I don’t support Chan, either. But I was shocked that Wiener opposed taxing the billionaires. They should be taxed at a much higher rate than they are. They got rich on the backs of the working class.
Yes. Billionaires should be taxed mightily higher,
But they are avoiding federal, not local taxes.
Local taxes are property, employment, and sales taxes,
Progressive’s destroyed the sales tax base with snatch and grab and allowing street crime.
Sf already taxes companies (I think it’s 1%) with payrolls here, Impose a large tax,a den they will just move. Why have an HQ here when you can go anywhere that is 7 miles away and avoid the tax.
Wiener is not a fool, he understands economics, Same reason why newsome is opposing the ca wealth tax,
We will get less tax revenues with these proposals.
Weiner realizes this is an issue that has to be fixed in Washington, otherwise we are just building the economy of Florida and Texas, etc.
Give Weiner 5 minutes, and he’ll change his position.