Mission Local está publicando artículos de campaña para cada una/uno de los principales contendientes en la carrera por la alcaldía, alternando entre los candidatos semanalmente hasta noviembre. Esta semana:Ahsha Safaí. Lea los artículos anteriores aquí.
El viernes por la mañana, Ahsha Safaí llegó al desayuno del Consejo Laboral de San Francisco previo al Día del Trabajo en el Hotel InterContinental, en el centro de la ciudad, alrededor de las 10 de la mañana.
Safaí, que llevaba ocho años de carrera sindical cuando se postuló por segunda vez -y con éxito- como supervisor del distrito 11, se sentó junto a Olga Miranda, presidenta del sindicato SEIU Local 87 y antigua jefa suya.
Safaí conoce bien a Miranda: Fue el director político del Local 87, que representa a los conserjes, de 2008 a 2016, trabajando en la inscripción de nuevos miembros en lugares de trabajo no sindicalizados, organizando huelgas y presionando a los políticos para que apoyaran las diversas campañas del sindicato, como involucrar a los conserjes en las conversaciones cuando la ciudad pidió a los residentes y a los edificios del centro que usaran contenedores de reciclaje.
“Es el único candidato que ha surgido de los sindicatos”, afirma Miranda. “Él ve desde la perspectiva de las familias trabajadoras, que se ha reducido año tras año, mes tras mes con cada administración”.
En el desayuno, los trabajadores sindicalizados del hotel sirvieron tocino, salchichas, huevos y pastelillos. Se repartieron calcomanías de “Es mejor en un sindicato” a representantes sindicales y políticos. La sala se puso en pie cuando la representante Nancy Pelosi subió al escenario y pronunció un discurso en el que aplaudió a los trabajadores y los movilizó para la campaña presidencial.
En un breve momento de enemistad, una mujer con un cartel escrito a mano que decía “Alto al genocidio” fue escoltada fuera de la sala; había estado protestando por la guerra de Israel contra Gaza.
Safaí, el principal candidato a la alcaldía que cuenta con una larga trayectoria en el movimiento obrero organizado – “Hice mi maestría en planificación urbana, y el doctorado en el movimiento obrero”, ha dicho – estaba allí para recabar simpatizantes.
El Consejo Sindical, que agrupa a más de 150 sindicatos que representan a más de 100,000 afiliados en la ciudad, ha respaldado a Connie Chan, Dean Preston y Myrna Melgar en las elecciones a supervisores, pero aún no ha entrado en la carrera por la alcaldía.
Pero ese apoyo puede ser difícil de conseguir. Es posible que el Consejo Laboral no elija oficialmente a ningún candidato a la alcaldía, ya que no es probable que ningún candidato alcance el umbral de dos tercios necesario para obtener su respaldo, dijo su directora ejecutiva, Kim Tavaglione.
“Es un ciclo extraño”, dijo Tavaglione. “Con tanta gente presentándose a la alcaldía, no parece que haya una coalición en torno a ningún candidato”.
“La carrera por la alcaldía nunca ha funcionado muy bien para los trabajadores en general”, añadió Tavaglione. “Creo que la gente le tiene una aversión natural”.
En su lugar, la prioridad del Consejo Laboral es centrarse en las elecciones de los distritos 1 y 5, donde Chan y Preston se enfrentan a una dura pugna por la reelección: ambos han sido blanco del grupo de presión pública GrowSF, que ha invertido $297,347 dólares en un comité de acción política «Dump Dean» y $72,101 dólares en un comité similar «Clear Out Connie».
Sin embargo, Safaí ha recibido el apoyo de otros sindicatos: San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, que representa a 32 sindicatos, apoyó tanto a Safaí como a Mark Farrell como primeros candidatos; United Educators of San Francisco apoyó a Safaí y a Aaron Peskin; National Union of Healthcare Workers y Unite Here Local 2 apoyaron a Peskin en primer lugar y a Safaí en segundo.
SEIU Local 87, el antiguo sindicato de Safaí, tomará pronto una decisión sobre su apoyo. Para obtener su aprobación, dijo Miranda, los candidatos tienen que trabajar un día en los zapatos de los trabajadores de limpieza – Safaí lo ha hecho tres veces, la alcaldesa London Breed lo ha hecho, Daniel Lurie trabajó un turno, pero Peskin no lo ha hecho.
Pero también hay brechas en la lista de sindicatos que apoyan a Safaí: El Local 798 de los Bomberos de San Francisco solo apoyó a Farrell, y el SEIU 1021, el mayor sindicato de la ciudad, solo apoyó a Peskin.
Ese apoyo del SEIU se sumó a Peskin a pesar de que Safaí está trabajando con el sindicato en la Proposición I, una medida electoral para mejorar la contratación y retención de los operadores sindicalizados del 911 y las enfermeras mediante el refuerzo de sus beneficios de pensiones.
Brenda Barros, presidenta del SEIU 1021 del Hospital General de SF, dijo que la falta de apoyo no significaba que haya mala voluntad entre el sindicato y Safaí. “Cuando organizamos protestas con trabajadores negros, él nos apoya al 100 por ciento”, afirmó. “Nos apoya cuando nadie lo hace”.
Pero Barros dijo que hay una narrativa dominante, “propaganda”, la llamó, que Safaí no puede ganar.
Rudy González, secretario-tesorero del San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, no cree que a Safaí le falten apoyos sindicales. “No hay un candidato de consenso para los sindicatos”, afirma González.
Y Miranda, antigua jefa de Safaí y su más firme aliada laboral, no ve la falta de consenso como el fin de todo. “Ahsha no contaba con el respaldo de todos los sindicatos cada vez que se presentaba, pero aun así le acompañamos al Ayuntamiento”, afirma Miranda con orgullo.
González, por su parte, se mostró preocupado por el reconocimiento del nombre de Safaí. Ser un supervisor de distrito que “carece de controversia, carece de escándalo y simplemente hace muy bien su trabajo muy bien” no viene con un montón de titulares, dijo González. Y al enfrentarse a la titular de seis años, Breed, y al afianzado político de más de 20 años, Peskin, “es mucho terreno que cubrir”.
“Ahsha tiene una dura cuesta que subir para ganar”, continuó González. “Pero hay que considerar una estrategia de elección por rango. Sé que va a hacer una campaña limpia y basada en valores, y veremos qué pasa en noviembre”.
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