West Hollywood, CA – Six progressive worker, renter, and civil rights leaders have endorsed Mayor John Erickson and Commissioner Danny Hang for this fall’s West Hollywood City Council elections. Today, renters’ group Coalition for Economic Survival (CES), the hotel workers’ union UNITE HERE Local 11, LGBTQ civil rights leader Cleve Jones, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 11 all announced their endorsement of Mayor Erickson and Commissioner Hang. Both Mayor Erickson and Commissioner Hang are themselves renters and both are long-time supporters of raising the minimum wage. These six progressive organizations have named them as the candidates who will best fight for working families and renters to be able to live, work, and play in West Hollywood.

“As a hotel worker and 20-year renter in West Hollywood, I know how difficult it is for working people to make ends meet in our amazing city. Mayor Erickson fought for workers and renters like me, and we need Commissioner Danny Hang to join him on the Council to support him in that effort. Erickson and Hang are the Progressive Slate for Council,” said Jorge Seperak, Social Justice Task Force Commissioner, long-time renter in WeHo, In-Room Dining server at the SLS Hotel, and UNITE HERE Local 11 Shop Steward.

Mayor John Erickson is also a long-time renter in a rent-stabilized unit. Mayor Erickson voted for the highest citywide minimum wage in the country and led groundbreaking legislation to protect hotel housekeepers from sexual assault. Erickson also served as the president of his AFSCME local when he worked as staff at West Hollywood City Hall. Danny Hang currently serves on the Business License Commission and lives in a rent-stabilized building. His father is a union machinist who participated in the 2005 Boeing strike.

Larry Gross, Executive Director of the renters’ rights organization Coalition for Economic Survival (CES) said, “West Hollywood needs City Council Members who will work to keep renters in their homes, protect the city’s existing affordable, rent stabilized housing stock and build more affordable housing. We believe Mayor Erickson and Commissioner Hang are committed to these goals.” The Coalition for Economic Survival led the efforts to incorporate the City of West Hollywood in 1984 and was instrumental in winning the city’s rent control law.

“Mayor Erickson fought for our members to get Hero Pay when our members were on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Commissioner Hang has looked out for cannabis workers during his time on the Business License Commission. We need these strong voices for workers on the City Council,” said Kathy Finn, President of UFCW Local 770. 

“We’re proud to support Mayor John Erickson and Danny Hang for West Hollywood City Council,” said Sophia Mendoza, president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers. “Mayor Erickson has stood with our members at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and helped create a mobile mental health team to provide specialized care to people in crisis. It’s never been more important to have working people leading our cities, and both John and Danny have shown that they are committed to making sure that workers are paid fairly and keeping tenants from being priced out of their city.”

Legendary LGBTQ+ activist Cleve Jones, co-founder of the San Francisco AIDS coalition, founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, and author of “When We Rise: My Life in the Movement”, said he was encouraged by the success of the renter and worker alliance in winning progressive changes in West Hollywood. “Working people go home with more money in their pockets and they work in safer conditions and they have access to better health care and their kids go to better schools and they’re treated with more respect by their bosses. Those are really exciting victories. People’s lives can be transformed by this movement.”