Clinton Gets Major Union Endorsement

[wyldwolf]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United Transportation Union on Tuesday endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, the first national union endorsement of the 2008 campaign.

"The UTU has a long history of picking winners early. Hillary will be a president that America's working families can count on. Time and again, as a United States senator, she has stood with us," UTU President Paul Thompson said in a statement.

"America's workers have been invisible to this administration, and it's time they had an advocate in the White House," said the New York senator.

The UTU, which calls itself the largest railroad operating union in North America, represents 125,000 active and retired members in the railroad, bus and public transit industries.

The UTU also is one of the top political donors in organized labor, contributing $1.3 million in the 2004 federal elections, with 84 percent of the money going to Democratic candidates. The union gave $1.2 million in the 2006 elections, with 89 percent directed to the Democrats in a year in which the party reclaimed the House and Senate from the Republicans.

Several unions are expected to jump into the Democratic nomination fray as Labor Day approaches. The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor federation, has decided not to immediately endorse any of the Democratic candidates, freeing the federation's 55 member unions to endorse whoever they want.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLINTON_UNION_ENDORSEMENT?SITE=OKTUL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[MethuenProgressive]

1. UTU have been solid Democratic Party backers.

"America's workers have been invisible to this administration, and it's time they had an advocate in the White House," -HRC.

[Botany]

2. Oh please

The UTU has a long history of picking winners early. :rofl:

Guess there is no point having the vote and what not.

Hillary will win ... it is her destiny Rinse Lather Repeat

Hillary will win ... it is her destiny Rinse Lather Repeat

Hillary will win ... it is her destiny Rinse Lather Repeat

Hillary will win ... it is her destiny Rinse Lather Repeat

[flpoljunkie]

3. Daily Kos poster: This UTU endorsement was apparently made without any feedback from the membership

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2007/8/28/131038/060/2...

My husband just got off the phone with the DC office. Their response with why they endorsed Hillary is that she is the one polling the best and they need to endorse early so that they are early on the list when it comes to be "payback" time. They did no phoning or letter sending whatsoever to poll the people who are contributing to the PAC. My husband was not only a UTU member but gave a monthly PAC donation. Needless to say, he's cancelling his donation. He even told the guy on the phone out of the three candidates you picked the one who hasn't walked a picket line. Peachy.

by cwaltz on Tue Aug 28, 2007 at 10:38:23 AM PDT

[wyldwolf]

4. do they usually? a friend of mine from the IBEW who said the labor bosses make that call

[flpoljunkie]

5. Don't know, but if I were a UTU PAC member like the poster's husband, I would be pissed, as well.

[wyldwolf]

6. but only because she isn't your candidate. I'm sure union members are pissed every four years

[flpoljunkie]

7. Evidently, she's not the candidate of the dailykos poster or his UTU fellow members, either!

[wyldwolf]

8. so there's two.

[William769]

9. I am sure the person you responded to will spend every waking hour

trying to find a couple more.