Congressional candidate Summer Lee picks up SEIU endorsement after unions split last year

State Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, has united two of Pennsylvania’s largest service workers unions in her bid for U.S. Congress.

A year after SEIU 32BJ (Service Employees International Union) and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania split their endorsements in Pittsburgh’s mayoral race, the two large unions have come together to endorse Lee in her campaign for U.S. Congress.

The SEIU Pennsylvania State Council, which is made up of SEIU 32BJ, SEIU Local 668 and SEIU Healthcare PA, endorsed Lee for U.S. Congress on Tuesday. The union represents over 80,000 workers across Pennsylvania, including health care workers, government employees, social workers, maintenance workers, food service workers, cleaners and many others.

Lee is a native of the Mon Valley and has served as a state representative since 2019. She, who launched her congressional campaign last October, said she is honored to receive the union’s endorsement.

“When I think about Pittsburgh of the future and the economy of the future, I think about our labor unions,” Lee said.

In 2021, two of the sister unions within the SEIU Pennsylvania State Council split their endorsement in the Pittsburgh mayoral race. Then-incumbent Bill Peduto was backed by SEIU 32 BJ, but SEIU Healthcare endorsed Ed Gainey, citing his support of UPMC workers’ quest to unionize and questioning Peduto’s support for that effort. Gainey went on to win the race.

Matthew Yarnell, President of SEIU Healthcare PA, said the unions are “all in” to elect Lee.

“Summer Lee is the candidate in this primary who’s proven her commitment time and again by putting workers and patients first at the table,” Yarnell said.

Lee is running against University of Pittsburgh Law professor Jerry Dickinson and local attorney Steve Irwin.

Campaign finance filings released Monday by the Federal Election Commission showed Irwin raised the most money in last year’s fourth quarter, bringing in nearly $338,000 with nearly $296,000 on hand. Lee raised $272,000 and had about $200,000 cash on hand, while Dickinson raised about $120,000 and had $158,000 cash on hand, the records showed.

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, announced in October that he would not seek a 15th term representing a district that includes Pittsburgh and dozens of suburban communities in southern and eastern Allegheny County. The new lines for the district have yet to be finalized in the redistricting process that occurs once every 10 years, so it is unclear how it might change. It is assumed, however, that the district will include Pittsburgh and some of its suburbs.

Lee said her campaign is built around bringing a voice to marginalized communities, regardless of the district’s boundaries. She supports increasing the minimum wage and addressing disproportionate pollution in minority neighborhoods.

Several progressive groups already have backed Lee’s campaign, including the Working Families Party, Democracy for America, the League of Conservation Voters, and Progressive Change Campaign Committee. She also was endorsed by Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.

If Lee were to win, she would be the first Black woman from Pennsylvania to hold a seat in Congress.

Carmen Williams, a 32BJ SEIU member who works as a security officer at Allegheny General Hospital on Pittsburgh’s North Side, said she thinks Lee understands the issues that workers like her face.

“She understands that the key to rebuilding our economy is to ensure workers can come together and collectively fight for living wages, good benefits and respect on the job,” Williams said.