When leaders of Philadelphia’s construction unions gathered Thursday, along with a cadre of local elected officials and the president of the North American Construction Unions (NABTU), the packed room quickly picked up on the atmosphere of a victory party.
At the event, hosted by NABTU at the Laborers’ District Council Training Center in North Philadelphia, labor leaders and politicians talked about a future in which a growing population of trade unionists, more diverse than ever before, uses federal investments in infrastructure and the state. -funded projects for a middle class life, or better.
“When you look back in 10 years, … you will see whole communities changed,” NABTU president Sean McGarvey said.
They did so with a clear sense of possibility, pointing to recent victories by union-backed candidates in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where Democrats won a majority last fall, and the governor’s mansion. Another key part of the vision: Cherelle Parker becomes the next mayor of Philadelphia.
With his decisive victory in the May primary, Parker is very likely to take that title, and construction leaders are counting on him. They supported Parker in a crowded primary, in which the polls offered no certainty as to who would be a fair bet. It was a huge success for Parker, given the amount of political influence and performance of construction unions in local and state elections.
For Ryan Boyer, business manager of the city’s Building Trades Council since 2021, it was his first mayoral endorsement as leader of the 30-union coalition. His predecessor, John J. Dougherty, who resigned in 2021 after being convicted on federal bribery charges, had a record of broad support from other unions after choosing who to endorse, and it was unclear whether Boyer would get the same.
If the primaries were a kind of political test for Boyer, it seems he passed with flying colors.
As for Parker’s victory, McGarvey said, “The first thing it says is that Ryan Boyer and the other leaders of the Philadelphia Building Trades are engaged, paying attention and extremely politically savvy.”
When introducing Parker at Thursday’s event, Boyer reflected on the decision to endorse her in the primary, recalling that “the first time I met her was on the picket line.” He noted that building trades leaders chose to endorse her out of a field of competitors that included multiple union-friendly options.
“We went for principle, not polls,” Boyer said, referring to the mayoral primary. “We got with someone who was with us.”
Parker, in his own remarks, said he “took a lot of hell this election season” for his close ties to the building trades, but said he was “not apologetic”.
“When we started this journey, the powers that be in Philadelphia told us it was impossible to do. I wasn’t in the right zip code. I wasn’t born rich,” Parker said.
Noting that she still has to win a general election in November before becoming mayor-elect, Parker said she “hoped to close the hope deficit,” drawing a line from the city’s gun violence crisis to trade union employment.
“When we provide access to training and the opportunity to learn a skill that will allow you to… take care of your family and be self-sufficient, it is the best tool we have and will put to good use. to reduce violence in our city,” Parker said.
But others in the room refused to cover up.
“Parker will take and even expand on what we’ve done in this great city, and when we’re done and she’s done, Philadelphia will be the crown jewel of America,” said Robert Bair, president of the Pennsylvania Building. and Construction Trades Council.
Bair and Boyer pointed to their own close relationship, which they say is unprecedented. They talk at least once a week, Boyer said, but his Philadelphia predecessors didn’t do the same with the statewide organization.
Bair said Philadelphia’s pre-apprenticeship programs have become a model for unions across the state to bring in workers who don’t have family ties to the trades. He echoed a sentiment that Boyer certainly made in the first minute of the several-hour event: that unions are looking to recruit anyone willing to work.
“If you’re black, if you’re white, if you’re a man, if you’re a woman, if you’re non-binary, if you want to work hard and want to endure the rigors, you have a place in the construction trades of Philadelphia,” Boyer said.
That promise “is no longer just talk, but real action,” said state House Speaker Joanna McClinton, who called Boyer’s election “a significant change in leadership.”
He also highlighted the role of elected officials like Parker, as well as Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson, who created a digital guide to help Philadelphians navigate the path to union apprenticeships.
“It provides a real moment where we have leaders … who have focused on making sure that communities of color have a pipeline into the trades,” McClinton said.
Boyer, taking the microphone between each speaker, not only celebrated the moment, but also urged the union members seated in front of him to continue donating to pro-union candidates. They should give to Democratic Senate candidates so they can win majorities in both state legislatures, he said.
But, he warned, his first priority should be to support Parker in the general election. They can’t take a win against a “well-funded” Republican opponent, former councilman David Oh, for granted.
With a roughly 7-to-1 ratio of Democrats to Republicans in the city, Parker’s victory in November looks like a much safer bet than his victory in May. But if Boyer’s tone is any indication, even then it was no gamble. He repeated a metaphor he used right after announcing Parker’s endorsement.
“Philadelphia’s building trades have never been a thermometer,” Boyer said. “We are a thermostat and we turn it up.”
