“Senator Obama understands the needs of working people. As a community organizer, he understands that America must restore the balance between working America and corporate America. He will fight to level the playing field on behalf of workers across our country. He will fight to regain the rights and protections workers have lost after too many years of the Bush Administration.” Sen. Obama picks up some key labor endorsements. First up, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which is 1.3 million members strong and “has a powerful presence and a strong organization in key primary states such as Wisconsin, Hawaii, Texas and Ohio.” And, though it hasn’t been announced for sure yet, Politico‘s Ben Smith says an SEIU endorsement is imminent. “‘It’s done,’ said one person close to the union.” Let’s hope so — we’ll know tomorrow.
Also, we should probably expect Bill Clinton to dust off the union-busting rhetoric.
Update: SEIU endorses. “‘There has never been a fight in Illinois or a fight in the nation where our members have not asked Barack Obama for assistance and he has not done everything he could to help us,’ Andy Stern, the union’s president, told reporters in announcing the decision.“