Gulf Coast labor powers big wins for champions up and down the ballot
Gulf Coast labor won big on Tuesday night, with union electoral mobilization powering a clean sweep of victories in endorsed races.
All propositions and candidates endorsed by the Texas Gulf Coast Labor Federation’s Committee on Political Education (COPE) either won outright or have sizable leads going into the December 9th runoff election.
COPE-endorsed Senator John Whitmire exceeded expectations with an 8% lead going into the December 9th runoff election, thanks in large part to a historic union field program driven by his strong commitments to Houston’s working families.
In his celebration speech Tuesday night, Senator Whitmire committed to support UNITE HERE’s efforts to raise wages at the city-owned Hilton Americas and to sign fair contracts with AFSCME HOPE Local 123 and Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 341, whose members are employed by the City of Houston.
After the results came in, Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation Executive Director Hany Khalil said: “Senator John Whitmire has never been afraid to say that he’s pro-union. He has shown up for working people for decades in the Texas Legislature, so unions showed up for him.”
A supermajority of delegates from the 95 affiliated unions of the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation voted to endorse Senator John Whitmire for Houston Mayor in January due to his long support for labor and advocacy for working families.
The union-led field program knocked on over 100,000 doors, made over 2.5 million phone calls, and spoke with over 50,000 voters in the past two months to get out the vote for Whitmire.
In total, 103 union members from 10 local unions spent long days and nights knocking doors or making calls for the campaign.
These included members from Teamsters Local 988, UNITE HERE Local 23, HOPE AFSCME Local 123, Plumbers Local 68, Pipefitters Local 211, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 716, International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 24, International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 51, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) DC 10, and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 13–1.
Following an extensive endorsement process, the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation runs “member to member” communications to union members and their families during each election cycle, including delivering a “slate” mailer to every union household.
The Texas Gulf Coast AFL-CIO Working People PAC, which is funded through voluntary COPE contributions from union members, reaches out to a broad group of voters, even if they are not in unions. In 2022, the Working People PAC ran the third largest field program in Texas.
