Union endorsements play a big role in Philly politics. So why did the mayoral candidates attack each other for winning them?

Philly is a union town.

So it was odd to see candidates in this year’s mayoral election assail each other for winning endorsements from organized labor during a debate Tuesday night hosted by 6abc.

Even weirder: The candidates who made those attacks are among the few who have union backing.

First, former City Councilmember Helen Gym criticized Cherelle Parker, a former state representative and Council member, for the level of support she has received from the Philadelphia Building Trades Council, a coalition of 30 Philly-area unions in the construction industry. Gym made the comment while discussing how many local donors have backed her candidate.

“I’m a candidate who has actually raised the most amount of money from Philadelphians themselves. Seventy-two percent of my donors are Philadelphians,” Gym said. “Other candidates in this race are wholly funded by building trades unions and others. Cherelle Parker’s campaign is two-thirds funded this year by 15 building trades unions. This should be an election for the people. I think my campaign shows that.”

This was a surprising line of attack for Gym on several levels. As a progressive, she is a vocal supporter of labor and has received money from building trades unions in the past.

» READ MORE: Philly’s powerful electricians union has endorsed Cherelle Parker for mayor

Additionally, she was notably supportive of a champion of the Building Trades Council during some dark days for the group.

Gym was the only Council member to be publicly supportive of former Councilmember Bobby Henon in the wake of his and John J. Dougherty’s indictments in a federal corruption case centered around Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a politically powerful union where both men were once top officials. Dougherty at the time also headed the council.

While he was awaiting trial, Henon in late 2019 was angling to retain his role as Council majority leader, while many of his colleagues worked to replace him in the leadership position. Gym at the time was the only member to publicly vouch for Henon.

“I work hard to have a good working relationship with all my colleagues, including Councilmember Henon,” she said at the time. “I firmly believe unions are the best way to ensure quality jobs, decent working conditions, and counter the otherwise out-of-control corporate greed that has exacerbated inequality in our city and our nation.”

Council ended up electing a new majority leader: Parker.

Soon after, Henon and Dougherty were found guilty on bribery and honest services fraud charges. Before the verdict, Gym was seen as a favorite to win the Building Trades Council’s endorsement in the mayor’s race. But Dougherty stepped down after his conviction, and Ryan Boyer, a Parker ally, took over the top spot at the council.

The council endorsed Parker in February, and some of its locals have contributed to an outside spending group, or super PAC, backing her campaign.

The other strange labor-related line of attack in Tuesday’s debate came from Jeff Brown, a ShopRite proprietor and first-time candidate.

Brown criticized Parker over the trades’ endorsement and Gym for being backed by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, calling them “the two concerning unions.”

“I didn’t want even their endorsement, the building trade unions and the teachers union, who have steered us in the wrong direction,” he said. “I have endorsements from working people, the unions of working people who struggle under the current political system. I’m proud of that because I represent them.”

Leaders of both unions called out his comments immediately, saying he indeed sought their endorsements. The teachers union sent a screenshot of an email in which Brown acknowledged having participated in their endorsement interview process.

Boyer went much further and called on unions that have backed Brown to rescind their endorsements.

“To be clear, Jeff Brown practically begged for the endorsement of the Building Trades,” Boyer wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday night. “He was like a crackhead begging for a rock.”

» READ MORE: Top moments from the final Philly mayor’s race debate

Brown has received endorsements from the police union, the Teamsters, transportation workers, the union that represents workers in his grocery stores, and the largest union for city workers.

Oddly enough, Brown has been endorsed by one of the building trades unions: the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 8, which is the only member of the Building Trades Council that did not back Parker.

Brown is no stranger to IATSE because he sits on the board of the Convention Center, which was the focus of years of heated disputes within the building trades between Dougherty and longtime carpenters leader Ed Coryell.

That saga ended with the carpenters being squeezed out of the Convention Center, and the primary beneficiaries were IATSE members, who picked up much of the work.