Tension with unions shadows Moore's run-up to 2028 (axios.com)

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has cast himself as a champion of workers, but behind the scenes his relationships with some labor unions are increasingly rocky. Several union officials tell Axios that the potential 2028 presidential candidate says the right things to them but often doesn't follow through — and that he's even combative toward organized labor at times. Why it matters: The tension with labor officials is the latest obstacle that Moore, an Afghanistan veteran and former investment banker, faces in his backyard as he builds a national profile ahead of a possible run for the White House. Moore is a self-described political outsider who won public office for the first time only four years ago, and he's acknowledged some growing pains. One of the clearest signs of that friction has come from unions. The Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO hasn't endorsed Moore's reelection campaign this year, after backing him in the 2022 general election. Zoom in: Donna Edwards, president of the Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO, told Axios that Moore's team didn't return an endorsement questionnaire, "and we must have a questionnaire returned by a candidate in order to consider anything." But sources told Axios that the issue goes deeper than that — and that no one at the group's spring meeting spoke up in favor of backing Moore. Meanwhile, Baltimore/Washington International Airport food service workers launched a "Poor Because of Moore" campaign this month, saying he hasn't done enough to help them win higher wages with companies. Moore has "been pretty antagonistic," said Tracy Lingo, a vice president of the state AFL-CIO and president of Maryland's Unite Here Local 7, which represents the airport employees. "It's hard to say whether it's because they don't actually care about working people's interests or they're just too busy running for president to actually be governing the state." Another state labor leader said of Moore: "He's been godawful, and I think it's been a combination of, like, he has bad politics, and his administration just doesn't seem to function very well." Multiple union officials told us that it can be difficult to reach the governor's team, including Dyana Forester, Moore's senior director of labor relations. Forester said her personal and work phone numbers "have always been public. Labor leaders call me at sometimes 5 a.m. in the morning till 10 o'clock at night." She added that the state AFL-CIO leadership advised Moore's team not to submit a questionnaire because "we were unlikely to secure an endorsement." Another Moore aide said Forester "is wrong" and that the campaign has had "productive" conversations recently about a general election endorsement. Moore also has had friction with some in the building trades over a lack of clarity over whether the Francis Scott Key Bridge is going to be rebuilt with a project labor agreement, which unions prefer. And AFSCME Maryland Council 3, which represents public service workers, did not reach an