It's Unanimous - APWU Endorses Obama!

The American Postal Workers Union today UNANIMOUSLY endorsed Barack Obama for President!

I'm quoting the endorsement in its entirety, because it is a press release:

APWU Endorses Sen. Barack Obama

(04/09/08) The National Executive Board of the American Postal Workers Union has voted unanimously to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.

“Sen. Obama’s message is one of hope and change,” said union President William Burrus. “His message is special, and the timing is right.”

“We are most impressed by Sen. Obama’s commitment to eradicating the undue influence of special interests in the political process,” he said. “Our current political system does not allow for the voices of average citizens to be heard over the demands of lobbyists and big-money campaign contributors.

“Sen. Obama has vowed to change that, and his campaign has flourished through the participation of new voters and small contributors,” Burrus said. “We believe he will be a president who will strongly represent the interests of working Americans.”

“His ability to bring new participants into our nation’s democratic process – to get young people involved, and to persuade ordinary citizens that they have a real stake in politics – is an inspiration.”

“We are pleased to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president of the United States, and we will commit our energy and efforts to help him win the White House.”

From their web-site:

About the American Postal Workers Union

The APWU is the world's largest postal union, representing more than 330,000 USPS employees and retirees, and nearly 2,000 private-sector mail workers.

For more than three decades, APWU has fought for dignity and respect on the job for the workers we represent, as well as for decent pay and benefits and safe working conditions. As an AFL-CIO affiliate, the APWU supports the struggle for social and economic justice for all working families.

Depending on their occupation, APWU members belong to the Clerk, Maintenance, Motor Vehicle, or Support Services divisions.

Our union is a democratic organization comprised of dues-paying members who belong to approximately 1,600 state and local unions and retiree chapters in every state and territory. APWU officers are directly elected by union members.

Over 330,000 members nationwide.  That's about 6,600 per state!  Nothing to sneeze at.

•  Tip jar

  Also, Obama got the Portland Tribune!!

  by AlyoshaKaramazov on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:47:41 AM PDT

  •  who would have thought that

    "baggage from being in the White House before" would be a criteria for not supporting a candidate.

    That is how much damage Bush Clinton Bush have caused.

    time to move on to something different...anything but another Bush/Clinton.  Go Oregon.

    by john from vermont on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:53:48 AM PDT

    •  I caught that too, and

      I swore I heard Bill and Hill cringe..............

      Bill has spoken there quite a little bit, so I'm sure it's a disappointment to the Clintons.

      by AlyoshaKaramazov on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:56:52 AM PDT

•  I did not realize that the APWU

  Is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, I would've thought it would've been affiliated with the AFSCME. Either way, Obama now has an army of disgruntled postal workers at his back (both my parents are retired Postal workers, so I'm allowed to make fun of them :P)

  by NMLib on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:49:45 AM PDT

  •  disgruntled because of the Clintons? n/t

    by AlyoshaKaramazov on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:50:16 AM PDT

    •  Not according to my dad

      Who's, unfortunately, a die-hard Hillary supporter...

      On the plus side, I've gotten my mom to come around a bit :)

      by NMLib on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:51:14 AM PDT

      •  yeah, I just looked up

        Clinton and APWU, and just got that Bill's spoken there quite a lot.

        James Carville poised to call them Judases?

        by AlyoshaKaramazov on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:53:42 AM PDT

        •  Since it's a group

          They'll probably call them the Confederacy :P

          by NMLib on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:54:49 AM PDT

  •  Postal workers, longshoremen, teamsters, boilerma

    kers, casino staff and pissed-off service workers.

    I'll stack those against county clerks and teachers' unions any day of the week.

    Let's get ready to rrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmbbbbbbllllleeeee!!!!!!

    by slaney black on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 01:17:01 PM PDT

•  My question is:

  How strong is the APWU's presence in PA?

  by sharris0512 on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:50:41 AM PDT

  •  and then in IN and NC??? n/t

    by teacherken on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:55:19 AM PDT

  •  Philly has about 2,500

    The Philadelphia Area Local of the APWU represents more than
    2,500 workers at Philadelphia's main post office and stations, the Philadelphia Air Mail Center, and the Elkins Park and Bristol post offices.

    by AlyoshaKaramazov on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:55:23 AM PDT

  •  Apparently fairly strong

    I just asked a coworker about that and he said that they have a pretty strong organization in PA, and that unlike many unions, they communicate with their members year-round, instead of just around election time. So hopefully they can give him a little boost. It depends in part on what they are able to do to persuade their members. Union endorsements are mainly effective if they run program to promote their endorsed candidates among their members.

    by democrattotheend on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:56:35 AM PDT

  •  Pittsburgh's got about 3,000!!

    The Pittsburgh Metro Area Postal Workers Union was granted an AFL-CIO Charter on August 1, 1975. Since then we have come to represent 3,000 bargaining unit employees in the USPS Clerk, Maintenance, and Motor Vehicle Service Crafts, and the drivers of Rood Trucking Company. We also represent workers at the Serco MTESC in Warrendale PA.

    by AlyoshaKaramazov on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:58:15 AM PDT

  •  Well, how many post offices are there in

    PA? Because every post office has members of the APWU.

    Representing 330,000 postal employees in every state and territory in the United States, the APWU is the largest union of postal workers in the world.

    by yellowdog on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:23:31 PM PDT

•  You know what, I was just talking to my co-extern

  and I was wondering why people keep making the argument that he doesn't have enough experience, or he wouldn't be a good president when he keeps on getting all of these newspaper endorsements. It's not like the  editors go to a couple of campaign events to decide, they sit down and GRILL the candidates to see who's the best. We need to start pushing that.

  by Muzikal203 on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:52:21 AM PDT

•  My dad was postal worker, may he rest in peace

  and he'd be mighty proud today! Thanks for the great news.

  by bookwoman on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:52:24 AM PDT

•  Nice endorsement at that!

  Thanks for posting this.  This should swing a few more laborers to Obama.

  Fired Up!

  by Fight or Die on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 11:58:34 AM PDT

•  Looks like somebody beat me to it

  But it's falling down the list fast.

  Should I delete?

  by AlyoshaKaramazov on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:12:57 PM PDT

•  This is good, but don't get too excited

  Just because the union endorses someone, it doesn't mean the members will vote that way (or even vote). I'm an AFT member, and AFT's backing of Clinton didn't cause me to waver in my support in Obama for even a millisecond. (It did cause me to write a letter asking them to stop spending so much money on the primaries, however.)

  by ATL Dem on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:17:27 PM PDT

•  Cool

  by kubrick2008 on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:19:05 PM PDT

•  I lick a stamp to that endorsement!

  Woohoo!

  by The Mort Man on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 12:24:20 PM PDT