A local Teamsters union affiliate endorsed mayoral candidate Jesus "Chuy" Garcia Saturday.
Teamsters Local 743 represents 10,000 workers in the health care, mail order, technical and warehouse industries in the Chicago area, including the University of Chicago Medical Center and Mercy Hospital.
"We like his decency, his respect for ordinary people and his commitment to govern Chicago for all of its people instead of a select group of privileged insiders," Union President Debra Simmons Peterson said.
The affiliate is part of the Teamsters Joint Council 25, which endorsed Rahm Emanuel when he was running for election in 2011.
Garcia and Emanuel are in a battle of endorsements leading up to the April 7 runoff election. Emanuel recently received an unofficial endorsement from Sen. Mark Kirk, who warned that Chicago would turn into the next Detroit if Emanuel was not re-elected.
Both candidates are actively courting former candidate Willie Wilson's endorsement in the hopes of winning the key African-American vote.