Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders waves to the crowd of supporters after speaking at a campaign kickoff rally in Burlington, Vermont May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder –
Via DailyKos.com
The first national endorsement of the 2016 presidential campaign went to Hillary Clinton, from the AmericanFederation of Teachers, but that hasn’t yet opened the floodgates. Last week, the AFL-CIO’s executive council met with Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb, and, weirdly, Mike Huckabee, but the federation isn’t expected to endorse early. Its affiliate unions, though, are free to endorse when they wish—the question is what they’ll do. Josh Eidelson takes a look at labor’s debate:
[Amalgamated Transit Union President Larry] Hanley attended a July 13th meeting with Sanders at the headquarters of the American Postal Workers Union; organizers say 47 leaders from 22 unions were present. The ATU head told Bloomberg he’d gladly back Clinton again if she’d start sounding more like Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. “When we go out and say, ‘look, we need a $15 minimum wage nationally,’ but then support a candidate who says, ‘I’m against that,’” he says, “we have a problem.” […]While Clinton holds a commanding lead, there are sharp disagreements over what strategy will produce the most pro-labor president. Endorse Clinton early to get to work battling the GOP? Hold off to extract more concrete commitments? Take a chance on Sanders as a vehicle to build a mass movement? Gregory Junemann, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, warns against a premature endorsement. “It’s like tipping the cab driver before you get in the car—the person then has your commitment without making any promises themselves,” he says. In contrast, IAM head Buffenbarger says there’s little advantage in holding out for election season promises, because candidates don’t stick to them anyway. “When they find their way to the front door of the White House, they seem to forget about it as soon as they cross the threshold,” he says. […]
Sanders received 65 percent support in a poll of delegates at the Utility Workers Union of America’s July convention. At IFPTE’s conference last week, says President Junemann, delegates delivered effusive speeches in favor of endorsing Sanders; the proposal was deferred to the union’s executive council, in part because some members are still holding out hope for Joe Biden. Clinton backers note she’s got grassroots support too: Weingarten cites over 3-to-1 support she received in a poll of AFT members who vote Democratic and wanted to endorse someone, and a rapturous reception at the AFT conference when the endorsement was announced.
President Obama’s strong push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal strongly opposed by unions, is a key context for hesitation to support Clinton, who has resisted taking a firm position on the issue. But it remains an open question whether Sanders can lock down endorsements from national unions.
