New York City’s Steamfitters Local 638, a union representing blue-collar steamfitters, pipefitters, HVAC technicians, and welders, has publicly rebuked the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Robert “Bobby” Bartels, Jr., the business manager of Steamfitters Local 638, told Fox News Digital that far-left politicians do not represent the interests of working-class Americans.
“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 150-year-old union, which has historically supported Democratic candidates, broke ranks in 2024 and endorsed President Donald Trump, signaling growing frustration with the party’s leftward shift.
Bartels pointed to the recent primary victories of Democratic Socialists of America members Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez in New York’s 13th and 7th Congressional Districts respectively as evidence of a troubling trend.
“The more building trades people you speak to, the more they’re going away from the Democratic Party,” Bartels warned, describing current Democratic leaders as “narcissists” who double down on failed policies.
Bartels directed particular anger at open border policies, arguing they suppress wages and undercut union members by flooding the labor market with undocumented workers.
“Because they’re bringing the illegal immigrants in here to steal the Americans’ jobs and lower the rates,” Bartels said, adding that progressive politicians “want to support the people who want to take from the working class.”
Brian Kearney, president of Steamfitters Local 638, said the DSA’s policy agenda is increasingly misaligned with the building trades and traditional labor values that have defined the union movement.
“I mean, we traditionally have been working class labor Democrats,” Kearney said, noting that alignment with DSA priorities is becoming harder to justify.
Kearney expressed particular concern about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned heavily on promises to use union labor for affordable housing construction but has yet to deliver on those commitments.
“He’s mentioned union labor, union labor, union labor quite a few times throughout his campaign,” Kearney said, voicing frustration that socialist policy priorities have taken center stage over concrete labor agreements.
The New York City Rent Guidelines Board voted in favor of freezing rent, fulfilling one of Mamdani’s core campaign promises, but Kearney said building trade unions are still waiting for action on pledges made directly to them.
“He’s taken care of a lot of I think the agenda that he campaigned on that pertains to like more of the socialist policies, the super socialist stuff… but, he’s mentioned building with union labor, and I’d like to see him fulfill that promise and utilize union labor throughout the city,” Kearney said.
Mamdani, Valdez, and Avila Chevalier did not return requests for comment, leaving union leaders’ grievances publicly unanswered as the Democratic Party’s internal tensions continue to deepen.
