A hotel workers union has endorsed Robert Fortes for one of the four City Council At-Large seats, his campaign said Friday. "Local 26 strongly endorses Rob Fortes for City Council because he understands the challenges that our members face every day as they work hard to support their families in the City of Boston," Janice Loux, president of 5,000-member UNITE HERE Local 26, said in a statement. "Rob is with us on the issues that matter most to the working families of Local 26, and I know that we will be able to count on him as a friend and a partner at City Hall." Fortes is one of the few Republicans in the 15-person race. The press release from Fortes' campaign is below.

UNITE HERE LOCAL 26 ENDORSES ROBERT FORTES FOR AT LARGE CITY COUNCIL SEAT

UNITE HERE Local 26, the 5,000-member-strong hotel workers union, has endorsed Dorchester’s Robert Fortes to fill one of the open At Large seats on the Boston City Council.

“Local 26 strongly endorses Rob Fortes for City Council because he understands the challenges that our members face every day as they work hard to support their families in the City of Boston,” said Janice Loux, president of UNITE HERE Local 26, which has 5,000 members. “Rob is with us on the issues that matter most to the working families of Local 26, and I know that we will be able to count on him as a friend and a partner at City Hall.”

The 5,000 members of UNITE HERE Local 26 work in Boston’s burgeoning hotel and hospitality industry. The most active and politically organized labor organization in the city, the UNITE HERE endorsement is one of the most sought after in every election.

“I am honored to have earned the trust of the members of Local 26 and welcome their endorsement,” said Fortes. “Good people like the members of Local 26 make our City run effectively every day and they deserve a City Councilor who fights to make sure their concerns are heard and their needs addressed; I pledge to do all I can to help them as a member of the City Council.”

About Robert Fortes:

A lifelong Boston resident, Rob was born and raised in Mattapan and the South End. He learned about the importance of service from his parents. His late father, Robert Fortes Sr., was a state representative for Mattapan in the 1970s and a member of the Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus. His mother was a social worker in Boston for more than 20 years and currently serves as Director of the New Chardon Street Women’s and Children’s Homeless Shelter in Boston.

Rob has served the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for fourteen years. He worked as an aide in the state legislature and for the Governor’s Alliance Against Drugs. He was a community organizer for the Save the Children Foundation and Director of Outreach and External Relations in the Governor’s office. Rob also served as the Executive Director of the State Office of Minority & Women Business Assistance and as Assistant General Manager of Strategic Planning Performance and Accountability for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Massachusetts Building Authority, and a board member of the City on a Hill Foundation, which supports the City on a Hill Charter Public School in Roxbury. Rob is also a trustee of The Learning Project in the Back Bay, which he attended from third to sixth grade and served as vice-president of the Meetinghouse Hill Civic Association. The Association of Minority Business Enterprises of New England honored Rob with the Government Advocacy of the Year award for his work with SOMWBA. Rob is a former member of the Boston Finance Commission, the agency that monitors the finances of the city of Boston.

Rob has built a solid reputation as an innovative leader with a proven track record as a change agent. From drafting legislation and delivering on constituent services to helping minority and women owned businesses in Massachusetts grow, Rob has earned this reputation by getting things done.

Rob holds a bachelors degree from UMass-Boston, and a master’s degree in public administration from Suffolk University. A Fellow of the UMass-Boston School of Management Emerging Leaders Program, he lives in the Meetinghouse Hill Section of Dorchester.

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