SEIU Labor Union Backs Obama

1.8 Million-Member Service Employees International Union Cites Senator As Candidate Of The Future

(CBS/AP)  In a conference call with reports Friday, the 1.8 million-member Service Employees International Union endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president.

The sought-after endorsement is Obama's largest from organized labor, and gives him a powerful boost against rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the March 4 presidential primaries in Ohio and Texas.

SEIU president Andy Stern said the union has enormous respect for Clinton, but he said Obama "is creating the broadest and deepest coalition of voters we’ve ever seen."

“This is one of the most important presidential elections workers have faced," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger. "Families are struggling, we’re fighting two wars, and a majority of Americans are now worried that their children will be worse off than they are. Obama is the right person at the right time to lead the change we so desperately need in our country.”

SEIU backing is one of the most important labor endorsements available. The organization has donated more than $25 million, mostly to Democratic candidates, since 1989. In addition, the union has a powerful get-out-the-vote structure and has been courted by all the Democratic candidates since the beginning of the race.

SEIU has delayed an endorsement since September, when it had Obama, Clinton and other Democratic candidates speak to its members in Washington. It eventually narrowed the field to Obama, Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, but could not make a decision.

The union allowed its state affiliates to make endorsements, and many backed Edwards.

Edwards dropped out of the race just before the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5, leaving the field to Obama and Clinton.

The national endorsement trumps the endorsements offered previously by statewide SEIU organizations.

Union leaders decided after a conference call Thursday night to go with Obama.

Separately Thursday, Obama also won the backing of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a politically active union with significant membership in the upcoming Democratic battlegrounds.

The 1.3-million member UFCW has 69,000 members in Ohio and another 26,000 in Texas.The food workers also have 19,000 members in Wisconsin, which holds a primary Tuesday.

The union is made up of supermarket workers and meatpackers, with 40 percent of the membership under 30 years old. Obama has been doing especially well among young voters.

With an SEIU endorsement and the United Food and Commercial Workers' backing, Obama would only need to pick up one more union endorsement to be eligible to collect the Change to Win labor federation's support. There are seven unions in the federation, and it would take endorsements from at least four of them to make the federation consider a joint endorsement.

Obama was endorsed in January by UNITE HERE, which along with SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers, would give him three of the seven member unions. The Teamsters, the Laborers' International Union of North America, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America have yet to endorse a candidate.

The seventh union, the United Farm Workers, endorsed Clinton in January.

Obama also was endorsed earlier this month by the Transport Workers Union and the National Weather Service Employees Organization.

[sjbj2322]

P.S.....hahaha..the next time your at WalMart. I liked that one. Okay, I don''t have the book handy. Will try to get to the library tomorrow and find it for you but if it has been checked out and it comes down to my having to buy it, I can promise you I won''t. Once through it was enough.

[sjbj2322]

realpatriot...sorry for the delay in getting back to you. No, I am not truly "scared" of Islam infiltrating our government. I actually have no problem with Islam or any religion though I will admit that fundamentalist zealots of any religion do scare me. I do have a problem with the people in Kenya that Obama is associated with. Odinga is a terrorist leader....not speculation - fact. He has open communication with Obama who he claims is his cousin. I simply feel that it would place undue pressure on Obama to either support this man or heaven knows what it could mean. Moreover, to be quite honest, I know that there are horrendous problems in Africa but given the problems facing us here at home, I''m not real sure how I feel about the possibility of Obama abruptly ending the war in Iraq and not protecting our allies there just to divert funds to Kenya or elsewhere in Africa. Given that he is a faithful member of a church that''s mission statement claims to be "pro-Africa" I feel that it is possible that he has an agenda that he is avoiding being brought to light. It might even be one that I would willingly support but the fact is Obama keeps avoiding discussing it altogether. Where is this transparency he speaks of. That''s it...pure and simple.

[whitepicks2]

Those lies must be those "solutions" I heard were coming down from Hillary to us all.

[realpatriot1]

sjbj2322,

I try to do my homework on the candidates, but I must admit that I''m not enough of an Obama cultist to have actually read his book. However, if you will help me by providing the page reference and paragraph where Obama made the alleged being with the Muslim statement I promise i''ll check it out the next time I''m at Wal Mart.

For the time being let''s play a hypothetical game. Let''s assume that this guy who wanted to attack Al Quaeda bases in Pakastan which Bush, Clinton, & McCain too wussy to even threaten to do is actually the "Muslim Manchurian Candidate".

Exactly what do you propose is his evil strategy to bring Sharia Law to America and how will he pull if off without the cooperation of the Congress, The Pentagon, The Supreme Court? Is he going to use the authority Bush gave him to impose martial law in order to force Congress to enact Sharia Law?

Will this Muslim takeover occur in Washington, D.C. or in Second Life?

[realpatriot1]

sjbj2322,

I try to do my homework on the candidates, but I must admit that I''m not enough of an Obama cultist to have actually read his book. However, if you will help me by providing the page reference and paragraph where Obama made the alleged being with the Muslim statement I promise i''ll check it out the next time I''m at Wal Mart.

For the time being let''s play a hypothetical game. Let''s assume that this guy who wanted to attack Al Quaeda bases in Pakastan which Bush, Clinton, & McCain too wussy to even threaten to do is actually the "Muslim Manchurian Candidate".

Exactly what do you propose is his evil strategy to bring Sharia Law to America and how will he pull if off without the cooperation of the Congress, The Pentagon, The Supreme Court? Is he going to use the authority Bush gave him to impose martial law in order to force Congress to enact Sharia Law?

Will this Muslim takeover occur in Washington, D.C. or in Second Life?

[eddynewhope]

Hahaha - The Clintons can be "trusted"? With what exactly? Bill had *** with an intern in the oval office and told us all with a wagging finger "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" then committed perjury by lying to Congress. OK - so a trist in the oval office isn''t the end of the world, but they lie all the time. "I have been against the war since the beginning." That is a bold faced lie and that''s a lie about an illegal war that they voted in favor or, that both Clintons supported vocally at the time. Lying about a war that has cost almost a trillion dollars, 4000 American soldiers and counting, and upwards of 500,000 Iraqis is a treasonous lie. I would prefer McCain over Clinton because at least he is honest even though I don''t agree with all of his views. Clintons, like Bush, consistently say one thing, then do the other. Liars. The Clintons are bona fide liars.

[sueann702]

George W Bush has experience and look what that got us. Broken economy, trillion dollar wars, 4k dead americans, 100k dead iraqis, failure with katrina, Osama and the Taliban still a threat, ok to spy and torture people, loss of respect around the world ect.
Experience is NOTHING... TIME FOR CHANGE!
By crying in front of the camera, using superdelegates to override the people, using negative/untrue ads against Obama, coming up with 10-20 different slogans,flip flopping on issues, lying(he debated her 18 times with 2 more scheduled,he''s not afraid to debate you liar Hillary and his health plan will not leave 15 million uninsured you liar), having Mr Clinton spread lies, using states where her name was the only one on the ballot, hiring an african american in the last minute to run her campaign to win more black votes,acting classes to deceive us, not showing the people her income tax to hide the source of her income, sided with the lobbiest and screwed us with the bankruptcy bill. Imagine how she will screw us if she''s elected.
Don''t vote for evil Hillary.
Obama 08!
Obama believes in the Constitution, he even taught it.
I am voting for Obama. If Hillary defies the will of the people, I will vote for McCain.

[sjbj2322]

Better yet....let''s have a third column where they have to report how much they or their campaign has received from each candidate. I don''t think many supporters for either candidate realize how much of their hard earned money goes to other people in this process. Maybe we should all write the DNC and tell them that we feel it should be a rule that no superdelegate is allowed to take money from any of the candidates just to clear any suspicions of their having been paid for their vote. Of course, others might say why do we need them in the first place. Oh the debates that could be held on this whole process.

[sjbj2322]

Emily, I agree with you. Wouldn''t it be great if they forced the Superdelegates to report their votes to the media as they were made the same way states report votes for the candidates. Somehow I doubt that will happen but it would certainly be interesting.

[emilybailey1]

I agree that the superdelegates should be able to vote in whatever way they believe to be the best for the nation. Their votes, though, must be made public -- very public.

[sjbj2322]

fireason..Get your facts straight. Obama took a call from Raila Odinga, the leader of the terrorist organization that is responsible for all the killings of thousands in Kenya. Obama''s brother is Abongo "Roy" Obama. He did not take the call from his brother. He took it from Odinga. Moreover, you want to talk about changing spots! You don''t even know what spots your man conceals and your denials won''t set you free but it was OBAMA''S words written in his book Audacity of Hope that read, "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." You want to shoot the messenger? Well Fool %u2013 it%u2019s YOUR candidate that said it. I could give you examples of other statements he''s made that could or should curl your toes but it is clear you prefer to live in ignorance rather than face the truth about your candidate. I don''t. I know everything good and bad about Hillary. Nothing you can say will shock me. I am not afraid to say that I''ve done my homework so why are all these so called Obamaniacs unwilling to do theirs. Answer - Because their too caught up in the make me feel good speeches that don''t require their actually having to do any homework. What that tells me is that the minute this election is over, they will go back to sitting on their bottoms while the rest of us who have been working all along go on to continue to do the real work that change requires. We did it under Bill and we''ll do it again under Hillary.

[realpatriot1]

Hopetrumps,

Hillary can be trusted...with those words you can''t be!

[sbnilsson]

Obama has by far the best ability to create a broad voter coalition and defeat John McCain in November. Poll after poll shows him ahead of McCain while Hillary is behind.

[flreason]

sjbj2322:

I guess you''re proof positive that a leopard can''t change his spots. Whatever your degrees and qualifications, you still seem to enjoy the Republican sport of smear tactics. Move over Willie Horton.

You brandish the fact that Barak Obama''s father was Muslim and so was his half-brother as a weapon to cast him as a traitor. He took a phone call from his half-brother during the campaign...ipso facto, presto changeo, he''s a closet Muslim, incapable of independent thought, who will sell U.S. interests down the river because of family ties. (That would be in contrast to GWB, who would do it for fun and profit.)

Yep, you still sound like a fear-mongering Republican.

[realpatriot1]

girlnvermont,

Or we could do it by the most toal votes or the most states won. You''d like that because barack would win right?

shouaxx,

maybe they endorsed him because he sponsered the Employee free Choice Act , he wants to index the minimumwage to inflation so it goes up each year that non-wage prices go up,that he opposes the Bush NLRB decisions classifying nurses, contruction workers, and professionals as "supervisors" not protected by federal labor laws. Maybe they like the fact that he wants to ban permanent replacement of striking workers.

Maybe they like his proposals to reform the bankruptcy, credit card, and mortgage laws to protect the working class.

Perhaps that played a part in the decision of these unions.

[eddynewhope]

TracyMorgan - You''re a racist pr ick who hides behind the anonymity of the web to talk big and mean. Proof positive that you''re a tiny, feeble, fearful little coward who mouses through life until you can spew your hatred on the web. What a tool...

[jedi08]

I can almost see the witches legs under that house.

Ding dong the witch is dead the wicked witch is dead

[prinzowhales]

realpatriot1--I''m waiting for them to pass a bill declaring Smithfield''s corporate hog raiser''s lagoons as ''community swimming pools'' and put a diving board for children to jump in....then the DOT can build a private road for them...''The Easely Headfirst program''...

These animals are grain-fed GMO corn...Smithfield gets the cost-savings on production...and the low wages for its workers while the taxpayers get to bear the costs of clean ups and the long term damage from polluted wells.

[shouaxx]

THESE BIG WIG UNIONS ARE WHITE MALE MONEY HOGS THAT DONT CARE ABOUT THERE EMPLOYEES. ALSO GO TO DEMOCRACY NOW SITE AND READ ABOUT THE PRESIDENT TO THIS POWER UNION, I GUESS A BIG POWER POSITION GUY SAL ROSSELLI RESIGNED BECAUSE THE POWER HEAD ANDY STERN WAS ABUSING HIS POWER IN THE UNION AND NOT CARING ABOUT THE COLLECTIVE DECISIONS FROM THE MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE IN OHIO. SICK WHITE MALE GREED, OBAMA PROBABLY BOUGHT THEM OUT. ALSO WHAT SAID THAT ANDY STERN WAS SECRETLY MEETING GOV ARNOLD IN CAL ON A CERTAIN HEALTH CARE PLAN. HILLARY 08!

[shouaxx]

I CONTACTED THE SEIU AND ASKED WHY THEY SUPPORTED OBAMA CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT HILLARY AND EDWARDS HAD THE SAME HEALTH CARE PLAN. THE GUY STUMBLED AND SAID RUDELY THAT HE WAS THE BEST CHOICE AND THAT WAS ALL HE HAD TO SAY. I ASKED HIM DID YOU ASK THE WORKERS IN A MASS OPIONION IF THEY WANTED OBAMA HE SAID NO. I ASKED HIM SO YOU THINK THAT MOST OF THE WORKERS THAT ARE IN HEALTH CARE DONT WANT UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE HE WAS SILENT AND SAID HE DIDN''T KNOW! WELL I SAID WE WILL SEE WHO VOTES FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE LOOK WHAT HAPPENED IN NEVADA WITH THAT BIG WORK ENDORSEMENT FOR SAINT OBAMA! HE LOST!