A labor-unions group that once supported Stacy Garrity for Pa. treasurer is campaigning against her bid for governor

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A Philadelphia unions group that supported Republican Stacy Garrity’s reelection as state treasurer two years ago is now campaigning against her bid for governor, accusing her of breaking promises made to building-trades unions.

The Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents more than 50 unions, endorsed Garrity in her run for reelection in 2024. Ryan Boyer, its business manager, said Garrity has promised them she would not run against Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose campaign for governor also received the council’s endorsement.

“We think that Josh Shapiro’s a superior governor and for her to break that promise led me to say that I wouldn’t support her if she ran for dog catcher,” Boyer said, referring to comments he made last year.

Boyer added that he and the council initially supported her reelection campaign, after she promised to support labor in her role, such as seeking an increase in Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation disbursements.

“She said the right things,” Boyer told reporters after the event. “She said that she would support the working men and women of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Garrity’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment by publication, but she has previously denied that she promised labor leaders she would not run. In July 2025, a spokesperson called Boyer’s account “blatantly false” and noted that he had praised Garrity when the building trades endorsed her for reelection in 2024.

Garrity went on to win the 2024 treasurer’s election with about 3.5 million votes, the largest vote total received by a statewide candidate in Pennsylvania history. Her coalition included some labor organizations that frequently support Democrats, helping her defeat Democratic nominee Erin McClelland.

Boyer is now actively campaigning against Garrity and joined Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and other local Democrats at a union training center in North Philadelphia on Monday for the latest stop on the Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s “100% MAGA” tour.

Garrity and the ‘right to work’

At the event, political leaders criticized Garrity for accepting an endorsement by the political arm of the Associated Builders and Contractors, a national trade association representing the construction industry, which supports “right-to-work” legislation that prohibits labor agreements that require members of a staff to join a union or pay dues, even if a staff won the right to organize.

Unions often argue that wages are lower in “right-to-work” states a contention supported by some research. However, the precise effect remains debated because right-to-work states differ from other states in their industries, living costs and other labor policies.

Davis pledged that Pennsylvania would not adopt a right-to-work law while he and Shapiro remain in office.

“Pennsylvania will never be a right to work state under our watch,” he said at the event.

Garrity has not made enacting right-to-work legislation a central proposal of her gubernatorial campaign. Her campaign has accused Shapiro of being too closely aligned with building-trades unions and has argued that Pennsylvania needs to expand workforce opportunities beyond traditional union apprenticeship programs.

Shapiro has secured endorsements from several of Pennsylvania’s largest labor organizations in his bid for a second term, including the state’s largest labor federation, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, and the state’s largest teachers union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

However, Garrity has not yet announced comparable support from a major, traditional labor union in the race. The divide is markedly different from 2024, when the Philadelphia Building Trades, the Pennsylvania Laborers and other labor groups crossed party lines to support Garrity for treasurer.

The current realignment underscores the difference between the state treasurer’s race and a contest in which labor organizations view one of their closest political allies as being directly threatened.

Boyer said the building trades remain willing to endorse candidates from either party, but argued that Garrity forfeited their support by challenging Shapiro and aligning herself with groups hostile to organized labor.

“I’m not an R or a D,” Boyer said. “I’m a J for a job or O for an opportunity.”

The gubernatorial election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.