Michael Bloomberg and Dennis Rivera, the former head of SEIU 1199, have teamed up again, this time to co-author a piece on Huffington Post about the need for health care reform
They write, "In our respective roles as Mayor and leader of the nation's largest union of nurses, doctors and healthcare workers, we have worked tirelessly to improve the health care of our city residents and fellow New Yorkers."
On March 31, at an event in Washington, Rivera referred to Bloomberg as his "friend." He said, "It is my sincere hope is that we have his leadership and vision to guide us for many, many years to come.” Rivera now works for SEIU Healthcare in Washington.
At the time, a Rivera spokesperson said the comments were not an endorsement.
UPDATE: A spokeswoman for 1199 SEIU emailed to say Rivera's bond with Bloomberg has no bearing on who the union will support for mayor:
"Azi, nothing has changed since we last spoke about this. We haven't begun our formal process. No decisions have been made on the mayoral race."
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"This has nothing to do with our endorsement process."
