by Martin Barrett
Brittany Williams, Burien City Council candidate for position 2, has received 97%, $23,782 of her total campaign contributions from SEIU, the Service Employee International Union. Williams is an in-home caregiver and SEIU 775 union member,
Patricia Hudson, Burien City Council Candidate for position 4, has received 53%, $8,019 of her total outside contributions of $14,944 from SEIU. Ms. Hudson is the Director of SEIU 775 Human Resources, and has also personally loaned her campaign $2,411. “Go Daddy” has also loaned her campaign $416.
Unlike Ms. Williams, Hudson has some local support, 21 out of 58 individual donors. Williams does not show Burien donors.
SEIU has financed two candidates. Someone from SEIU wants a seat on this council very badly.
“SEIU is the largest organizational federal political spender. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, SEIU-affiliated people and organizations have spent over $272 million on federal politics through 2016, with over 99 percent of the money going to Democrats and progressives.4
In addition to its political activities, SEIU has a reputation for aggressive organizational campaigns and employee representation. The SEIU pioneered the modern “corporate campaign” for labor union organizing, under which labor unions and aligned progressive groups use political pressure and personal attacks on brands and employers to secure representation privileges rather than conventional employee secret ballot votes.5 Most recently, the SEIU has spent tens of millions of dollars on a public relations campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour alongside a corporate campaign against McDonald’s restaurants.6
SEIU’s large budget, high political profile, and prestige in the progressive movement have opened its officers to corruption. Since 2010, two heads of major SEIU local unions have been convicted of felony charges related to corruption in office.9 Other SEIU employees have been implicated in violent demonstrations.10
Source: Influence Watch
