Pol wins unions’ label in hot race

Two major unions will back Democratic City Councilwoman Yvette Clarke in a hotly contested Brooklyn congressional race.

The presidents of two powerful Service Employees International Union locals, 1199 SEIU, which represents health care workers, and 32BJ, which stands for building services workers, told the Daily News yesterday they would back Clarke’s bid to replace retiring Rep. Major Owens.

“Yvette has a proven record of leadership in the fight for quality affordable health care, a humane immigration policy and opposition to the Iraq war,” 1199 President Dennis Rivera said.

Mike Fishman, president of 32BJ, praised her for pressing for higher wages and health care benefits for private security guards.

The endorsements carry weight because the unions represent tens of thousands of voters in the district, which covers Flatbush, Park Slope, Crown Heights and other Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Officials of both unions said they plan active campaigns before the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, in which roughly 100,000 people are expected to vote.

The other candidates for the seat are state Sen. Carl Andrews, City Councilman David Yassky and Chris Owens, son of the retiring incumbent. All the campaigns say they expect a tight race in a district split along many lines: among African-American, Caribbean-American and white voters, and between supporters and opponents of the massive Atlantic Yards development.

Each candidate is struggling to “cross over” beyond a core of ethnic support – in Clarke’s case, to reach outside the Caribbean community in which her mother, Una, was a political pioneer.

“We’ll do everything we can to make sure she’s elected,” Rivera said.