LAS VEGAS — Hillary Clinton made a surprise stop the night before the first Democratic debate, rallying with union workers outside the Trump Hotel on the strip.
The Democratic front-runner, who has the most union endorsements of any candidate in the race, told members of the Culinary Union Local 226 that they have a right not only to organize but to have a living wage. “This means saying no to Donald Trump,” she told the crowds, bashing the GOP front-runner who owns the flashy Las Vegas hotel.
The union has over 55,000 members in Nevada, over half of whom are women and a high percentage of Latinos. Active in the stage for over eighty years, the labor group has yet to endorse in the 2016 primaries.
The Culinary Union was rallying to discourage attendees of the Democratic debate from staying at hotels currently under active labor disputes, including Trump’s hotel. For the past three months, the group has worked to unionize Trump International employees, with little success.
Clinton’s Democratic challengers are likely to also make a play for union support at the debate, especially Bernie Sanders.
“These union workers must be relieved that Hillary Clinton’s private jet got her to Las Vegas just in time to pander to them,” Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Short scoffed in a statement. “The truth is, rank and file union members aren’t running to Hillary Clinton’s side after seeing her politically-motivated flip flops on trade, health care, and the Keystone Pipeline. Their guess about where Hillary Clinton will stand the next time the political winds shift is as good as anyone else’s.”
Clinton last visited Nevada over the summer speaking for the AFL-CIO annual conference. The state hosts an early caucus and is also usually competitive in the general election.
