Politics
SEIU Locals 1 and 73 back Giannoulias, deepening split with Mayor Johnson
Two major Chicago labor locals have endorsed Alexi Giannoulias for mayor, breaking with Brandon Johnson after disputes over school workers and a proposed CPS loan. The decision shifts support from a union coalition that helped elect Johnson in 2023 to a candidate with a reported $19.2 million campaign fund.
SEIU Locals 1 and 73 endorsed Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias for Chicago mayor on Tuesday, marking a sharp break with Mayor Brandon Johnson and a progressive labor coalition that helped elect him in 2023.
The two locals represent about 50,000 Chicago workers, including janitors, custodians and public employees. SEIU affiliates contributed more than $4.5 million to Johnson’s previous mayoral campaign and supplied campaign workers and materials. Giannoulias’s campaign has $19.2 million on hand, while Johnson’s reported cash balance is $379,471.
The endorsement follows a dispute that began in early 2025, when SEIU accused the Chicago Teachers Union of proposing contract language that could shift work away from SEIU Local 73 members and weaken the union’s future membership. The disagreement was resolved after CTU backed away from the contested proposal and a new teachers contract added teaching assistants and job protections. But Local 73 President Dian Palmer said Johnson’s failure to remain neutral damaged the union’s trust in him.
“I understand relationships. I asked him to stand down,” Palmer said, describing her efforts to get Johnson to let the unions resolve the matter through a grievance process. “That was hurtful.”
SEIU also objected to Johnson’s support for a plan with CTU to have Chicago Public Schools take out a high-interest loan to reimburse the city for a $175 million pension payment for non-teaching school employees. The loan proposal contributed to the firing of CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. His replacement, Macquline King, rejected the loan and advanced a budget that assumes a $150 million increase in state funding.
Palmer said SEIU feared that if the district could not make loan payments, support staff represented by her union could face job cuts. She said members see Giannoulias as more likely to stay neutral in future labor disputes.
Johnson’s senior adviser, Jason Lee, said the mayor would make his case directly to SEIU members and pointed to Johnson’s record on labor issues. “What this election is going to come down to is the records of the individual candidates,” Lee said.
The split has also played out in school board politics, where CTU and SEIU have supported rival candidates. SEIU-backed candidates are seeking seats on the newly elected 21-member board, including Jessica Biggs, who is running for board president.
The endorsement gives Giannoulias support from a large workforce and a union network that previously helped Johnson organize and campaign. For Chicago voters, the dispute puts the mayor’s relationship with labor—and the competing interests of school employees—at the center of the mayoral contest.