In a telephone press conference Wednesday, Teamsters President James Hoffa said the deciding factors that led his board to choose Obama over Sen. Hillary Clinton were Obama’s electability and the controversial U.S.-Mexico-Canada "free trade" treaty.
The treaty -- a sore point with the union -- cost thousands of U.S. jobs and was jammed through the then-Democratic lame-duck Congress by then-President Bill Clinton, Sen. Clinton’s husband.
Obama has promised that if elected, he would call the president of Mexico and the Canadian prime minister and tell them he wants to renegotiate the pact "because we\'ve lost 3 million jobs" since its enactment, Hoffa explained. Labor, predicting the job losses, fought hard against NAFTA, and against Bill Clinton\'s push for it.
Obama’s stances on NAFTA, health care and other issues "resonate with our members," Hoffa said. As for the treaty, Hoffa said Obama "is the first candidate since Ralph Nader" in 2000 “to say it’s not fair” to U.S. workers.
The Teamsters’ decision, which came within the last week and a half, was also prompted by the poll of its members, Hoffa said. The union has 1.4 million members, but he declined to say how many the survey contacted or what the breakdown was.
But this poll, the first matching Obama and Clinton alone, not only gave Obama a majority but also showed Teamsters felt that in a match-up with presumed GOP nominee Sen. John McCain, Obama "would do better" than Clinton would, Hoffa said. Prior polls had a three-way race, with Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, who drew substantial support.
The Teamsters’ decision makes it more likely that Change to Win, the smaller of the nation\'s two labor federations, will endorse Obama. CTW\'s three largest unions--the Service Employees (1.9 million), the Teamsters (1.4 million) and the United Food and Commercial Workers (1.1 million)--endorsed Obama within the last week. Another CTW union, UNITE HERE, endorsed him earlier, while the Laborers have yet to decide. The Carpenters endorsed Edwards, who has since dropped out, and the Farm Workers--CTW\'s smallest union--endorsed Clinton.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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In a telephone press conference Wednesday, Teamsters President James Hoffa said the deciding factors that led his board to choose Obama over Sen. Hillary Clinton were Obama’s electability and the controversial U.S.-Mexico-Canada "free trade" treaty.
The treaty — a sore point with the union — cost thousands of U.S. jobs and was jammed through the then-Democratic lame-duck Congress by then-President Bill Clinton, Sen. Clinton’s husband.
Obama has promised that if elected, he would call the president of Mexico and the Canadian prime minister and tell them he wants to renegotiate the pact "because we\’ve lost 3 million jobs" since its enactment, Hoffa explained. Labor, predicting the job losses, fought hard against NAFTA, and against Bill Clinton\’s push for it.
Obama’s stances on NAFTA, health care and other issues "resonate with our members," Hoffa said. As for the treaty, Hoffa said Obama "is the first candidate since Ralph Nader" in 2000 “to say it’s not fair” to U.S. workers.
The Teamsters’ decision, which came within the last week and a half, was also prompted by the poll of its members, Hoffa said. The union has 1.4 million members, but he declined to say how many the survey contacted or what the breakdown was.
But this poll, the first matching Obama and Clinton alone, not only gave Obama a majority but also showed Teamsters felt that in a match-up with presumed GOP nominee Sen. John McCain, Obama "would do better" than Clinton would, Hoffa said. Prior polls had a three-way race, with Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, who drew substantial support.
The Teamsters’ decision makes it more likely that Change to Win, the smaller of the nation\’s two labor federations, will endorse Obama. CTW\’s three largest unions–the Service Employees (1.9 million), the Teamsters (1.4 million) and the United Food and Commercial Workers (1.1 million)–endorsed Obama within the last week. Another CTW union, UNITE HERE, endorsed him earlier, while the Laborers have yet to decide. The Carpenters endorsed Edwards, who has since dropped out, and the Farm Workers–CTW\’s smallest union–endorsed Clinton.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.