Two popular leaders for a New York City workers’ union recently took the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to the proverbial woodshed, referring to both as being out of touch with blue-collar members of the working class, the very individuals both ran campaigns on supporting. Robert “Bobby” Bartels, Jr., the business manager for Steamfitters Local 638, shared his feelings with Fox News.
“I think they’re communists, and I don’t think they have the benefit of the working class — the real working class, the taxpayers — support,” Bartels said. The union, which was originally founded over 150 years ago, has mostly supported Democratic candidates during its history. The union represents blue-collar steamfitters, pipefitters, HVAC technicians, welders, and industrial mechanical service technicians.
It previously broke away from the vast majority of unions and Democrats by opting to support President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Bartels then took an opportunity to shred the radical left-wing DSA candidates who recently won their primary elections in New York against incumbent and establishment members of the Democratic Party.
According to a report from Fox News, those candidates include Darializa Avila Chevalier in the 13th District and Claire Valdez in the 7th District. Both are proud card-carrying members of the Democratic Socialists of America and have extreme leftist views that were put on full display during their campaigns and were often highlighted by their political opponents.
“They do have the people’s support that want everything for free and want everything handed to them without working for it, and I think the Democratic Party is going way far to the left,” Bartels explained. “And as a matter of fact, the more building trades people you speak to, the more they’re going away from the Democratic Party.”
Bartels then referred to the current batch of Democrats in power as “narcissists” and shared his frustration with how they double down on progressive policies that fail, going further and further to the left instead of properly correcting course. The union leader specifically spoke about open border policies that he believes drive down wages for union members.
“That we don’t like,” Bartels continued. “You know why? Because they’re bringing the illegal immigrants in here to steal the Americans’ jobs and lower the rates.” The popular union leader said that he’s offended when far-left politicians like Avila Chevalier say they are in favor of the working class despite those individuals saying they don’t feel represented by folks like her.
"*" indicates required fields
“Because I’m the working class, and they’re not here to support me,” Bartels said. “They want to support the people who want to take from the working class.” Brian Hunt, president of Steamfitters Local 638, said that the work of the DSA doesn’t align with labor, particularly those involved in the building trades. “I mean, we traditionally have been working class labor Democrats,” Hunt told Fox.
“I think that DSA is going to have to try to find inroads through the labor movement in New York City because the labor movement in New York City — and I don’t want to speak for everybody, but you know, personally — it feels like we align on things when we can, but a lot more of their policy has gone towards progressive politics that could end up getting in the way sometimes,” Hunt continued.
Watch a union boss explain why his men sided with Trump here: