(White House)
The United Steelworkers, a union claiming 1.2 million active and retired members and representing a much wider range of industries and occupations than the name suggests,
endorsed Barack Obama Tuesday:
"This is the right time to do the right thing for a man who has proved he is right for the job," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. "The President has turned around an economy he inherited that was nose-diving towards a depression by focusing on jobs, manufacturing and enforcing U.S. trade laws.
"All of his accomplishments come despite obstructionist right-wingers in Congress beholden to the one percent at the expense of everybody else."
Ben Smith expresses one of the big narratives about union endorsements this cycle:
Steelworkers just endorsed Obama. For all the talk of labor grumbling .. .they're all on board, and early.
— @BuzzFeedBen via TweetDeck
The thing is, union endorsements for Obama were always a foregone conclusion. Who are they going to endorse? Mitt Romney? Rick Santorum? Smith highlights that endorsements have been early, which is relevant. But the real question is how much effort unions put into Obama versus Sherrod Brown or a state legislative candidate you've never heard of who could tip the balance in favor of collective bargaining. The Steelworkers union's plan is to "support the President’s re-election efforts on the ground by mobilizing its members." Unions are very good at mobilizing their members, with whom they have developed relationships and built trust, so that effort could be important in key swing states with large Steelworkers membership.