LA County Labor Union backs Karen Bass, slams Raman as ‘political opportunist’
The head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, criticized Nithya Raman on Wednesday, calling the city council member an “opportunist” for mounting a campaign to oust Mayor Karen Bass after previously expressing her support for Bass.
Federation president Yvonne Wheeler said in a statement that her union, which represents about 800,000 workers, will “use every tool” in its power to get Bass re-elected.
“With Donald Trump’s ongoing war against the people of Los Angeles, our working families and immigrant communities, now is not the time to be distracted by a political opportunist – especially one who supported the Mayor’s re-election campaign just weeks ago,” Wheeler said.
Raman, whose district stretches from Silver Lake to Reseda, was announced as one of the mayoral candidates in Jan. 27 in the campaign’s press release listed Bass’ San Fernando Valley supporters. Two days later, she appeared in a second campaign press release as one of Bass’ female supporters.
Raman launched his own last-minute mayoral bid on Saturday, saying City Hall can’t “manage the basics.”
The primary election is June 2, followed by November if no candidate receives a majority of the vote.
Raman’s campaign team did not immediately respond to Wheeler’s comments after being contacted by The Times.
In his statement, Wheeler described Bass as a “lifelong progressive” while suggesting that Raman, whose congressional campaigns were supported by the Democratic Socialists of America and many other progressive groups, falls short of that.
“You can’t really make progress unless you are a true champion of working people,” he said. “Karen Bass is the only candidate who meets those criteria.”
The coalition represents about 300 labor unions in LA County, including unions representing teachers, social workers, construction workers and entertainment industry workers. In the previous city elections, the party spent a lot of money on candidates, paying for campaign materials, door-to-door canvassers and other expenses.
Raman broke with the Labor coalition and his colleagues in September, voting against the $2.6 billion expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Before that vote, labor unions said the development would create much-needed construction jobs at a time when housing production has slowed. Raman and Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky warned that the project is too risky financially and would put the city in a major budget deficit starting in 2031 — after Bass leaves office.
“My fear is that we will have a beautiful new Convention Center surrounded by more homeless people than today, which will drive away tourists, which will prevent people from coming here and holding their events here,” Raman said at the time.
Bass supported the project, as did most of the council.
Raman also angered some construction union leaders last month by drafting a last-minute proposal to ask voters to replace Measure ULA, a tax on sales of properties $5.3 million and up. Raman, who described himself as a supporter of Measure ULA, brought his proposal to the council floor one day before the deadline to act.
Raman, who sponsored Measure ULA in 2022, said he now believes it had unintended consequences, putting a huge dent in housing development and preventing much-needed housing production.
