AFL-CIO Endorses Barack
Calling Sen. Barack Obama a champion for working families, the top leaders of AFL-CIO unions today voted without opposition to endorse him for president of the United States, thrusting the labor federation’s largest ever grassroots mobilization effort into high gear.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said...In so many ways--on jobs, health care, gas prices and the war in Iraq--our country is headed in the wrong direction. Barack Obama has proven from his days as an organizer, to his time in the Senate and his historic run for the presidency, that he’s leading the fight to turn around America. He’s a champion for working families who knows what it’s going to take to create an economy that works for everyone, not just Big Oil, Big Pharma, the insurance companies, the giant mortgage lenders, speculators and the very wealthy. We’re proud to stand with Sen. Obama to help our nation chart a course that will improve life for generations of working people and our children.
In its endorsement statement, the AFL-CIO General Board cited Obama’s strong support of working families on issues such as health care reform, fair trade that will lift up workers here and around the world, retirement security and the freedom to form unions and bargain for middle-class living standards. Obama has a 98 percent voting record on working families’ issues, compared to just 16 percent for Sen. John McCain.Senator Barack Obama has secured the nomination of his party in a campaign that has energized millions of Americans and spoken to the hopes and dreams of people from every corner of our nation. His leadership can re-engage disenfranchised Americans and bring our country together. Senator Obama has advocated a change of direction for our nation that mirrors the priorities of the labor movement.
The endorsement marks the beginning of a huge, united political mobilization among working class voters. The AFL-CIO will focus on mobilizing more than 13 million union voters--including union members, families of members, retirees and members of the AFL-CIO community affiliate Working America--in 24 priority states, working to elect U.S. senators and representatives, as well as state and local candidates. AFSCME President and AFL-CIO Political Committee Chair Gerald McEntee said...We’ll work our hearts out for Barack Obama. Our program is going to be worker to worker and neighbor to neighbor. We’re ready to mobilize. We’re ready to rock and roll. This country and our people are ready for change.
This endorsement is a huge benefit to the campaign: hundreds of thousands of volunteers making hundreds of thousands of phone calls, distributing millions of fliers, and engaging in countless shop floor and office suite discussions about why Barack Obama is the best choice for working families. As part of its endorsement, the AFL-CIO has also launched a new web site to help union members learn about Barack's positions on issue and to give them a place to sign up to help the campaign for change, using tested organizing tactics and new technologies all being harnessed to elect Barack Obama.
If you're part of the a labor organization, visit our Labor page to join this community. And learn more about where Barack stands on worker rights, jobs and trade, health care, retirement security, and education.
Barack Obama's opening remarks before the Economic Competitiveness Summit today at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
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