On the legislative front, Preckwinkle is among the candidates who have pledged support for raising the Chicago minimum wage to $15 an hour, in keeping with the union’s “Fight for $15” campaign. SEIU Local 1, which Balanoff also leads, has sought to expand its influence by working to increase airport worker wages and make it easier for them to join unions. That effort frayed relations between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the union after the mayor early in his tenure pushed through a new O’Hare International Airport janitorial contract that cut wages.