A union that represents thousands of health care workers and had backed Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto in his re-election bid four years ago now plans to endorse one of his opponents.

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is putting its political weight and its membership of nearly 45,000 behind state Rep. Ed Gainey, the Lincoln-Lemington Democrat hoping to unseat the incumbent mayor in the primary election May 18.

The collective of health care workers and service employees in health facilities, part of the Service Employees International Union, will announce its endorsement of Mr. Gainey in a conference call Tuesday. The event will feature workers who will contend that Mr. Peduto has failed to hold health giant UPMC accountable during his two terms.

“I’m very excited about having SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania’s endorsement,” Mr. Gainey said on Friday morning. “They know how much I fight for workers to unionize and get a livable wage. I’m looking forward to continuing my work with them and I’m just very, very grateful to have their endorsement.”

Mr. Peduto could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The union endorsed Mr. Peduto in 2017 along with a slate of other candidates, and its president said at the time the endorsements were about electing officials "who will fight alongside us, not against us" and politicians who "side with working families over corporate money and power."

Now, stakeholders in the union say it's Mr. Gainey who has stood with UPMC workers in their fight for safer working conditions, better wages, a right to form their union and for UPMC to pay its fair share in the community.

The union takes issue with Mr. Peduto for dropping a city lawsuit in 2014 that sought, among other things, to strip UPMC of its tax-exempt status -- and for not seeing to fruition a true, transparent community benefits agreement with UPMC.

Looking for a candidate they think shares their view that UPMC’s whose growing power has driven it farther from the interests of the community, the union will back Mr. Gainey with its members' time, energy and resources.  The union’s political activists say the endorsement isn't just a statement, but an indication that it will work to do everything it can to get Mr. Gainey elected.

One of those union members is Myra Taylor, a 43-year-old East Liberty resident and critical care nurse who has supported both candidates in their past runs for office but thinks Mr. Gainey is committed to health care workers.

"In the past, when I have been working and going to the Capitol in Harrisburg, we have gone and been able to get support from him for patient safety, and he has stood with us for patient safety," Ms. Taylor said of Mr. Gainey.

Ms. Taylor insisted that "we can't ignore that these nonprofit corporate systems" have so much control over what happens in the region. Asked how she thinks Mr. Peduto has fared, she said the city needs a mayor "who is going to stand up and who is going to [put] the health care workers and the patients first."

"We need someone who is going to continue to provide accountability and we need someone who is not going to back down whenever the workers need support," Ms. Taylor said.

The health care union is a separate entity from SEIU Local 32BJ, another union whose endorsement is significant in local politics. Local 32BJ represents property services workers.

Mr. Peduto picked up two key endorsements last week from Pittsburgh City Council's two Black council members, the Rev. Ricky Burgess and Daniel Lavelle.

Also running in the Democratic primary is a retired city police officer, Tony Moreno.

Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth. Additional reporting by Nick Trombola.

First Published: February 19, 2021, 1:52 a.m.
Updated: February 19, 2021, 10:37 p.m.