Socialist District 3 representative Kshama Sawant’s relationship with the region’s organized labor has become an issue in a now four day-long carpenters strike.

“Outside interference in the fight for fair wages for 12,000 hard working carpenters plays right into the hands of anti-union forces,” Evelyn Shapiro, head of the Northwest Carpenters Union said in a statement earlier this week:

We appreciate all elected officials who stand with us during the strike, but Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant is going too far by interfering in the NW Carpenter Union’s democracy just to grab the limelight for her own political agenda. If she or other elected officials want to truly help rank and file workers, they should work with us to address extremely expensive parking rates near work sites. Unlike white collar office workers, carpenters must haul heavy tools to job sites, making parking an expensive and unreimbursed expense that sucks money out of workers’ wallets.

The statement follows allegations Sawant encouraged members to “vote against the union’s proposed contract with the Associated General Contractors” and supporting “a group of union members who are active on Facebook, including some self-identified Marxists who believe the contract doesn’t go nearly far enough to protect workers’ wages, health care, and pensions,” Publicola reports.

UPDATE: A spokesperson for Sawant says it is not true that Sawant has encouraged members to vote against the proposed contract:

That was an untrue statement when it was published in Publicola, and it’s still 100% untrue. Kshama has consistently said she supports the Carpenters Union members and recognizes that whether or not to accept a contract is the members’ decision to make democratically. You can read her public statements here and here and also her open letter to the union leadership right here. And her press release from earlier today, right here.

We have also updated our description of Publicola article which reported that the accusations against Sawant were allegations of the union’s leadership. This was not clear in our summary. Sorry for the error.

“Carpenters are correctly opposing the idea of a four-year contract separating them from the majority of the building trades’ contract negotiations,” Sawant wrote in an update to her city council website. “Workers have the most power when we stand united in the face of the bosses’ drive for increasing profits at our expense.”

The now four-day-old strike has slowed work at construction projects across the region including Microsoft office projects on the Eastside as the union tries to pound out a deal for higher wages.

My alarm clock this morning; the carpenters are on strike and ppparently being on strike requires a lot of loud chanting :) They want a fair contract and they want it NOW!!!! pic.twitter.com/5W1VNjMPzS

— Jonathan Caves (@opera_geek) September 17, 2021

“Causing more division during a union strike is a very serious matter,” the union’s Shapiro said. “Thousands of real carpenter families with children and rents to pay are putting their bodies and welfare on the strike line, and we must stand united. Anti-union interests are the only ones who benefit from this kind of political meddling. We are grateful for unity and solidarity during the strike from our union brothers and sisters, as well as other elected officials and allies.”

Sawant’s support among organized labor groups, long a strength for the Socialist Alternative leader, has frayed this year. In June, the Recall Sawant campaign trying to remove the longest sitting member of the city council announced that the Seattle Building and Construction Trades Council representing 19 affiliated local union locals endorsed their effort.

With signatures to put the recall on the ballot still in the process of being verified by King County Elections, the vote is shaping up for a likely winter special election in District 3 covering Capitol Hill, the Central District, and neighboring areas to decide whether Sawant should remain on the Seattle City Council.

UPDATE 9/22/2021 9:20 AM: Sawant’s city council office has announced a media event Wednesday at which Sawant “will join with rank-and-file members of the Western Washington Carpenters Union, currently on strike for better wages and working conditions, alongside union members and community activists” to announce “a community sign-on letter in solidarity with” the strike, and “proposed City of Seattle legislation” related to the situation.

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