Obama to Take Backing of SEIU, Food Workers Union Gives Nod
WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama is expected to be endorsed Friday by the Service Employees International Union, one of the nation’s most powerful, union officials have told The Associated Press.
The sought-after endorsement would be Obama’s largest from organized labor, and give him a powerful boost against rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the March 4 presidential primaries in Ohio and Texas.
The 1.8 million-member union is likely to endorse Obama on Friday, the union officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
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.
Union leaders decided after a conference call Thursday night to go with Obama.
The officials who spoke anonymously cautioned that the union was still voting, but Obama was “99 percent” likely to get the endorsement, one of the insiders said.
The union had announced earlier Thursday that “President Andy Stern and Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger will discuss a major political announcement with reporters” on Friday.
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.
I VOTEING FOR BARACK OBAMA HE IS THE PERSON WE NEED TO BE OUR PRESIDENT BECAUSE THE PRESIDENT THAT WE HAVE KNOW THAT IS BUSH IS NOT HELPING THE PEOPLE THAT DONT HAVE PERMISSON TO WORK
I keep hearing about this guy Larry Sinclair. This man is a compulsive liar. He also claims to have been this bigshot drug dealer making 200K per month. He also claims to know all these famous people. Be reasonable people. This man is lying. This guy is basically a celebrity stalker like John W. Hinkley Jr. Hinkley shot Ronald Reagan so Jodie Foster would marry him. Or all these nut job 9/11 freaks. Just becasue they all sound good, doesn’t mean they are telling the truth. This man needs help, not encouragement. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
Larry Sinclair is not reliable. This man is a compulisive liar and mentally unstable. He also claims he was a drug dealer making 200,000 per month at the same time. Go hear the interview on rightperpective.com. He also claims it was his friends limo, however in the original video he claims it was HIS limo. In another interview, he also claims to have known and done drugs with several other famous people around Chicago. This is why the media has ignored this story. It is not a grand conspiracy. They are actually protecting their credibility. It is importnat to tell the truth first, otherwise you look like a fool.
I saw the Larry Sinclair comment, so I had to respond. This man is a compulisive liar and mentally unstable. He also claims he was a drug dealer making 200,000 per month at the same time. Go hear the interview on rightperpective.com. He also claims it was his friends limo, however in the original video he claims it was HIS limo. In another interview, he also claims to have known and done drugs with several other famous people around Chicago. This is why the media has ignored this story. It is not a grand conspiracy. They are actually protecting their credibility. It is importnat to tell the truth first, otherwise you look like a fool.
MY KIDS WANT TO FEEL GOOD,,,THEY WANT TO GO TO DISNEYLAND….
SO TODAY I M GONNA MAKE SURE,,,WE LISTEN TO OBAMA SPEECH TOGETHER,,,,,,
THAT WILL GIVE US HOPE,,,,FAITH,,,AND DISNEYLAND EXPERIENCE,,,,,,PLUS WE DON,T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PROBLEMS FACING US,,,OBAMA WILL FIX IT ALL,,,WITH HIS HOPE,,,,,,
WOW,,,I CAN,T WAIT ,,,,,,,,,,,,I THINK I M GONNA VOTE FOR HILLARY ,,,SO I CAN SAVE MONEY TO TAKE MY KIDS TO ACTUAL DISNEYLAND
EVERYBODY THOUGHT,,,WOW,,,CLINTON,,,SHE HAS MONEY,,,,,,BUT FORGOT FROM WHERE,,,JUST LIKE OTHER CANDIDATES ,,,SHE NEEDS FUNRAISING TOO,,,,,,
AND HER SUPPORTERS ARE MORE WOMEN,,LOW INCOME PEOPLE,,,,,,,,,AND PEOPLE WHO DON,T USE PC,,,,,,,
SO SHE FELL BEHIND,,,,,,PLUS HILLARY DID NOT EXPECT BLACK PEOPLE TO ACT BLACK RATHER THAN AMERICAN,,,WHEN VOTING,,,,,,,,,
AND WHITE MEN SUPPORTING EDWARDS,,,RATHER VOTE FOR OBAMA THAN HILLARY,,,,SEXISM