Happy Labor Day!

I am thinking H-Town Mayor John Whitmire is pleased this Labor Day morning with the Chron E-Board take written by Opinion Editor Evan Mintz. See the featured photo.

Here is the headline from the online take:

Move over Mamdani. Mayor Whitmire is the real left-wing Labor Day hero. | Opinion

Here is the sub-headline:

No, I’m not kidding. Looking purely at relations between labor and capital, Whitmire delivers for workers and unions more than any other Houston mayor in recent memory.

This is how the E-Board take starts:

Listen to Texas Republicans and you might think that the November ballot was overflowing with radical socialists. Alas, it isn’t — at least not according to the Houston branch of the Democratic Socialists of America. They told me they don’t have any endorsed candidates this year. Nor have I met any socialists during the editorial board’s candidate interviews.

If you’re looking for a local left-wing politician, though, just check out City Hall. That’s because Mayor John Whitmire may very well be the most left-leaning mayor of my lifetime.

That claim may sound absurd if you associate leftist politics with, say, riding a bike to an anti-ICE protest while wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh. But if you believe that the real core tenet of leftism is siding with workers in the inexorable, humanity-defining conflict between labor and capital — like, say, the workers who founded Labor Day — then Whitmire has a leg up on New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

And this:

There was the 40-day strike at the city-owned Hilton Americas — the first of its kind in Texas — that resulted in the Unite Here Local 23 union successfully negotiating a $20 minimum wage for hotel workers, with a promised future payraise, lighter workloads and a 401(k) option. Whitmire refused to cross the picket line and delayed his State of the City address until the strike was settled. And when the union emerged victorious, he celebrated alongside them.

The mayor also celebrated with the Service Employees International Union Texas when he signed a new contract for unionized airport workers, including concessionaires and subcontractors, that raised their minimum wage to $20 immediately and $23 by 2028.

To quote SEIU Texas President Elsa Flores, that win was only possible because of “the unwavering support of pro-labor leaders like Mayor John Whitmire.” 

Housekeepers and concession workers at the George R. Brown Convention Center also won similar deals. That means the city-created Houston First Corporation will be getting the bill for “some of the highest-paid dishwashers, bartenders and cashiers” anywhere in the city, according to the Texas chapter president of Unite Here Local 23.

And finally, this:

You won’t see Whitmire at a local DSA meeting. No Republican is going to accuse him of being a communist. He’ll never be confused for Mamdani, who remains a leftist darling while fighting with New York City’s teachers union over pay bonuses. 

Whitmire is a real-deal pro-worker politician who delivers higher pay, better benefits and more power for organized labor. So if you want to celebrate the real meaning of Labor Day, make sure to send a little appreciation to Houston’s left-wing mayor.

Here is the entire E-Board take: Forget Mamdani. Mayor Whitmire is the real left-wing Labor Day hero.

A great Labor Day take by Evan Mintz. If you appreciate the meaning of Labor Day, you must admire the mayor’s positive relationship with workers and unions. I would like to know how the Whitmire haters are reacting to the editorial.

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I am sure you have heard of this:

Prominent Latino lawmakers are urging Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, to spend $10 million to help elect Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas Governor.

If elected, Hinojosa, who is mounting a tough challenge to incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (R), would be the first Latino to serve in the post. 

In a letter obtained by Axios, 39 Latino leaders and organizers, including Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), warned Beshear that “not investing in Texas would not only send a message to Latino voters in 2026, but it [would also send] a message to Latino voters heading into 2028.”

“The party can’t afford to continue to make the same mistakes of the past and not invest in our Latino candidates and Latino voters. Latinos will make the difference in this race, and this race has great implications for the makeup of Congress and our democracy,” the letter reads.

I saw a Hinojosa ad during the Astros game telecast yesterday.

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We should have won both Saturday’s and yesterday’s games. We lacked timely hitting. We have a 2-game lead with 18 games to go. 12 roadies and a half dozen at Daikin Park. We have Labor Day off.

Have a nice Labor Day.