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Obama union support far above average in four states, including Washington

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 3:14 PM PST

By Martha Raffaele
The Associated Press

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HARRISBURG, Pa. — Barack Obama won the votes of most union members who cast ballots in last week’s election, but union members in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Washington and Michigan were especially supportive of the Democratic president-elect.

Obama received 60 percent of the union vote in 14 states where voters were asked if they were union members, according to an exit poll by The Associated Press. The survey found that Obama was favored by roughly seven in 10 union voters in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Washington and Michigan.

In all four states, union support for Obama was stronger than it was for Democrat John Kerry in 2004. Although union membership has been dwindling nationally, all four have membership rates higher than the national average of 12 percent of wage and salary workers.

Organized labor contributed nearly $312,000 to Obama in the 2008 election cycle, nearly 20 times as much as it gave to Republican nominee John McCain, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

With its 21 electoral votes, Pennsylvania was a major battleground for Obama and McCain, and it was a high campaign priority for organized labor. McCain had also actively competed against Obama for Michigan’s 17 electoral votes, but conceded that state in early October.

Of the 11,000 volunteers recruited to staff phone banks for the United Steelworkers, 1,800 came from Pennsylvania, the highest of any state, said Chuck Rocha, the union’s national political director.

Rocha said noted that the Steelworkers were especially motivated to support Obama because of his outreach to organized labor.

“John Kerry would not say the word ’union’ on the stump,” Rocha said.

The United Mine Workers of America placed Pennsylvania on its list of high-priority states for campaigning, spokesman Phil Smith said.

In all states where the union was active, “We were leafleting work sites weekly — by the end of the campaign, almost daily,” Smith said.

Hillary Clinton, who beat Obama in Pennsylvania’s April primary election, headed into that contest with a larger number of union endorsements. Union members favored Clinton by a margin of 16 percentage points, according to an AP exit poll in that race.

Yet with economic worries weighing heavily on voters’ minds, organized labor was quick to unite behind Obama once he was poised to win the Democratic nomination, said David Fillman, executive director of Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

“It was easy for us to outline the pro-working family, pro-union positions of Sen. Obama and Sen. (Joe) Biden” after Clinton, who was endorsed by AFSCME, dropped out of the race, Fillman said.

Among the unions that endorsed Obama before the Pennsylvania primary was the Service Employees International Union. His background as a community organizer enabled him to relate well to organized labor, said Kati Sipp, executive vice president for SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania.

“He speaks the language of organizing to increase power,” Sipp said.

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Louie wrote on Nov 11, 2008 5:19 PM:

" I think we need to do away with unions and come up with federal laws regarding employment that is fair to all. I have heard many, many stories of union members having issues with employers and never getting any assistance. This happens all the time...unions need to go the way of the dinosaurs. "

2fedup wrote on Nov 11, 2008 8:59 PM:

" Louie: Your arguement makes no sense. If you stand alone without a union with an employer issue you have zero assistance, none,notta. Its not just about employer problems, I've been a union member for almost 30 years and I would still be paying for my wife's 2 c-section births if I didn't have union insurance. I pay nothing for medications because my union has a pharmacy. We need to start organizing labor in China, Columbia, Mexico etc. to level the playing field and start getting jobs back to this country. "

mole wrote on Nov 11, 2008 11:29 PM:

" LOUIE: IF NOT FOR UNIONS,YOU WOULD GET WHAT YOU DESERVE NOTHING.Employers just don't give health insurance or a working wage {and not minimum wage}they don't care if you eat hot dogs or steak,with or without teeth. the union you are describing,is not the philosophy of the union I was in. ILWU LOCALS 21/40 32YEARS. "

Phred wrote on Nov 12, 2008 1:48 AM:

" Unions need to become stronger not go away. Many years of republican anti-unionism have made them weak. America was a better place for the working class to live when unions were strong. Only one parent needed to work to afford to buy a car and house and to send the kids to college. Now both parents need to work in order to buy a car and rent a house if their lucky. "

stag wrote on Nov 12, 2008 2:07 AM:

" I have been a union member now for 6 years as a merchant sailor. The union has given me so very much to my family and as for people like "Louie" What you say to me as well don't make any sence at all. What I would say to someone like him is together we stand and divied we fall. And I'm also with my union brother that we should help those in Mexico, China, etc.... to have a union and make the playing field level. I have one other thing to say about this, in the last year alone I hear on the news that Wal-Mart has goten themselves in hot water for making there workers work longer hours and not get paid for it, work during there lunch and breaks. They don't have anything to fall back on for there families if they get sick, god forbid if one of the family mambers has to go to the hospital. To me this is what a union is for. "

rtll wrote on Nov 12, 2008 7:20 AM:

" More federal laws? I think local unions are in a better position to help local workers get what they need and deserve, in harmony with local business conditions. That being said.....

I don't begrudge unions or union workers. However, organizing foreign labor to level-out the labor market isn't something they can count on in the near future so, in the short term at least, they might be advised to look hard at themselves and their demands....or run the risk of being seen by many Americans as part of the problem and not part of the solution. "

rastor wrote on Nov 12, 2008 8:50 AM:

" Haven't you noticed, the Government only pays attention to LARGE ORGANIZED groups and not the little guy or individual. Who would "push" the Government to make all these rules and rights negotiated by Unions? As far as Unions not stepping in to help their members, you must remember that even in a Union, you must be involved. You must follow the policies, you must follow the contract rules and regulations. If you get in trouble, and don't document your "fight" or you break the rules, the Union can't help you. Sure there are bad Unions, just like there are bad companies and bad workers, but if you are not INVOLVED with your Union and don't follow the rules, laws and contracted policies then you aren't entitled to help. "

TDN Bad Boy wrote on Nov 12, 2008 9:20 AM:

" Louie, Louie, Louie, come on now. You are asking people without the strength to stand on their own to give up their backbone. Not gonna happen. After all do you realize how many Liberal politicans unions own nationwide. Just yesterday look at what Reid and Pukelosi demanded. Government welfare for the auto industry. Why? The United Auto Workers were a main contributor to Liberal campaigns in many states. Just like here in Washington, Da Tax Queen is bought and paid for by the teachers union, the state government employee unions, and various others. That the game, take the money and deliver the legislation for votes in the campaign. That's why we no longer have true democracy in this country. We have paid and bought democracy and you will not change that. "

cheney119 wrote on Nov 12, 2008 9:42 AM:

" Unions saved this country, the decline of the middle class is directly related to the decline in union membership. Unions paid in blood to perform this service for all of us. Read a little history of how labor organized and you'll see just how much blood got spilled. There were actual battles in the steel and coal industries during strikes. If there weren't unions it would be as if the entire country worked for Walmart. rastor has hit the nail on the head, the government only pays attention to large groups, but in addition business wants to treat every worker as disposable, like Walmart does, unions prevent this. Even if you aren't a member of a union you benefit, 40 hour work week, L&I laws, and wage competition are ways we all benefit. For example workers at Norpac (non union) benefit because every other paper mill is union. "

mom of four wrote on Nov 12, 2008 10:27 AM:

" Louie more then likly works at walmart so therefore he doesn't know much about unions. Unions will fight for you and help you get change. All the other comments about the unions are correct as well. "

luke the drifter wrote on Nov 12, 2008 10:29 AM:

" If you want more union labor there will have to be high tariffs placed on foreign goods. Otherwise these American companies will go bankrupt. You can't compete with goods produced overseas by people making 30 cents an hour compared to American union workers making 30 dollars an hour. "

TDN Bad Boy wrote on Nov 12, 2008 11:29 AM:

" Cheney you union mantra was great in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. But I think we have advanced beyond the point where unions are the only answer as you suggest. There are a lot of innovative ways to improve the workers fare without a union. In fact, if I had to face a union, the contract would be the absolute ceiling. I would never go above it. Now since I don't have a union problem I work with each individual on their specific needs and what is most important to that worker. Some want more healthcare than others, some want more retirement benefits, some just want more money now. They decide and then we work on an individual agreement. If I lumped everybody in the same way, all areas would get less. But hey you keep fighting for your unions if you don't have the backbone to cut your own deal. And really the Liberals need unions for elections. That's the only reason they fight for them. "

Hauskapoika wrote on Nov 12, 2008 11:34 AM:

" The unions have have effectively destroyed GM, Ford, and Chrysler, and now they are after other big employers like Boeing. It is no wonder our jobs are going overseas. This is also why union membership has declined so much over the years. Given our economy, union work rules, excessive health care demands, wage demands, and
excessive benefits need to be seriously overhauled or scrapped altogether or unemployment is going to get worse. Strikes are not the answer because they are designed to hurt or destroy the employers - the people who take the risk, provide the jobs, and pay the wages. Keep up the strikes, and more jobs will be lost. Wake up before it is too late. "

abokaa wrote on Nov 12, 2008 11:57 AM:

" Unions haven't destroyed anything. Union shops succeed in business as long as they have a working business model. The cost of labor is only a small part of the cost of production. What has happened in the auto industry had nothing to do with labor, which is a fixed cost. It had to do with the price of metal going through the roof at the same time people stopped buying cars. Maybe if there were more union jobs they would have sold more cars. "

Gondolapete wrote on Nov 12, 2008 1:42 PM:

" When I was a union member, I noticed the union never once signed my paycheck...my allegiance is for my employer not the union..I am no longer a union member, thank God, and make a lot more money now... The employer is the boss, not the union...it's time people understand this... "

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