Senator Barack Obama won the support today of the 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), his second endorsement in as many days from large labor organizations and a fresh sign of momentum in the Democratic presidential race with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. "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. Stern said that in the months since union leaders met with several Democratic candidates last fall, "the excitement has been building and building for Obama."
The politically active union represents workers in health care, building services and other industries. SEIU backing is one of the most important labor endorsements available. The organization has donated more than $25 million, mostly to Democratic candidates, since 1989. In addition, the union has a powerful get-out-the-vote structure and has been courted by all the Democratic candidates since the beginning of the race. Sarah Swisher, a superdelegate and member of the SEIU from Iowa City, had committed to Edwards. After he quit the race, she switched to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, but she changed her mind again after her union endorsed Senator Obama. "That will be kind of cool," Swisher said. "I will have supported all three.". Stern said the Obama endorsement came after careful consideration, and polling of the membership. "Our members and leaders really feel that American needs profound change and something that engages the next generation," Stern said, adding that Obama fits the bill.
On Thursday, Senator Obama collected the support of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a politically active union with significant membership in the upcoming Democratic battlegrounds. The 1.3-million member UFCW has 69,000 members in Ohio and another 26,000 in Texas. The food workers also have 19,000 members in Wisconsin, which holds a primary Tuesday. The union is made up of supermarket workers and meatpackers, with 40 percent of the membership under 30 years old. Obama has been doing especially well among young voters.
Senator Obama would only need to pick up one more union endorsement to be eligible to collect the Change to Win labor federation's support. There are seven unions in the federation, and it would take endorsements from at least four of them to make the federation consider a joint endorsement. Obama was endorsed in January by UNITE HERE, which along with SEIU and the UFCW, give him three of the seven member unions. The Teamsters, the Laborers' International Union of North America, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America have yet to endorse a candidate. The seventh union, the United Farm Workers, endorsed Clinton in January. Obama also was endorsed earlier this month by the Transport Workers Union and the National Weather Service Employees Organization.
There are now rumors that the Democratic National Committee is trying to figure out how to ask Senator Clinton to bow out of the race so that the whole party can get behind the one leading candidate and the candidate with the best chance of winning in November.
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