Published: July 27, 2010

Eric Schneiderman will continue building his upstate beachhead beyond Western New York for his attorney general campaignon Tuesday with an endorsement by Local 200 United, the Syracuse chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

Though affiliated with SEIU international like 1199 and 32BJ, which have already endorsed Schneiderman, Local 200 United represents separate workers, operating independently, with its own PAC. The union represents a wide array of Syracuse-area direct care workers, nurses, administrative assistants/secretaries, teaching assistants, food service workers, bus drivers, emergency medical service workers, municipal staff, security guards, janitors, buildings and grounds keepers, maintenance workers, ticket takers and ushers, cemetery workers and parking attendants.

Jerry Dennis, the president of Local 200, called Schneiderman “a true friend of upstate workers.”

“While in the Senate, he has steadfastly stood with low wage workers like those in our union and fought for a better way of life for them,” Dennis said.

Schneiderman’s campaign is looking to buttress his downstate support, which is strongest in the parts of his Senate district on the Upper West Side and elsewhere throughout New York City where the progressive, often Working Families Party-affiliated endorsers have been trying to build the foundation for his candidacy. But he has been looking to branch the support out from his downstate base, pulling endorsements from upstate chapters of unions that have backed him, the Western New York chapter of Citizen Action and his Senate colleagues Antoine Thompson and David Valesky.

“We’re making a concerted effort to win beyond Schneiderman’s downstate base,” said a Schneiderman campaign source, “and it’s paying off with growing support in Syracuse, Buffalo and all across the state.”