America's Largest Union Refuses To Back Hillary Over Sanders

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/17/2016 22:43 -0500
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-17/americas-largest-union-refuses-back-hillary-over-sanders
In what could be the biggest blow yet for her campaign, the leader of the America's largest federation of unions (counting 12 million active and retired "everyday Americans") has chosen not to endorse Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

Clinton has racked up endorsements from 18 unions, according to The Hill, including the Service Employees International Union and the National Education Association, while Sanders has garnered just three union endorsements.

Many of these unions have expressed support for the labor policies touted by Sanders, but believe Clinton is more electable.

But, in a relative win for the Sanders' campaign, according to Huffington Post, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) - the largest federation of unions in the United States,  made up of fifty-six national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million active and retired workers - will not be endorsing Hillary...

Richard Trumka - the president of the AFL-CIO - told members of the executive council that the body won't be holding a vote on whether to endorse Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders at its annual winter meeting in San Diego.

"Following recent discussion at the AFL-CIO’s Executive Committee meeting and subsequent conversations with many of you, I have concluded that there is broad consensus for the AFL-CIO to remain neutral in the presidential primaries for the time being and refrain from endorsing any candidate at this moment," Trumka said.

The decision is a coup for Sanders' backers within organized labor. Clinton has managed to lock down endorsements from unions representing a majority of unionized workers in this country. But the AFL-CIO endorsement is the most potent of all, and it won't be going to Clinton -- at least, not yet.

Under AFL-CIO procedures, an endorsement by the executive council needs to be ratified by leaders of the federation's member unions. It's likely that Clinton doesn't yet have the required votes for an endorsement to be ratified.

In his email to members, Trumka said the council would "continue its ongoing discussion" about the 2016 campaign, and thus we suspect this is merely a stalling tactic as quid-pro-quo negotiations are undertaken. Although, given the trend in her numbers...


And this...

"We're extremely happy" about the decision, said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, a union that has broken away from many other labor groups and endorsed Sanders.

Anything is possible in this election season.

'Unpatriotic' Ford Agrees Union Deal To Offshore American Jobs And Hire Low-Paid Workers

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/30/2015 10:19 -0500
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-30/unpatriotic-ford-agrees-union-deal-offshore-american-jobs-and-hire-low-paid-workers
As goes Ford, so goes America?

It appears that demand, supply, and capitalism briefly won - while 'fairness', 'patriotism', and all the other non-free-market interventionism lost - in the UAW-Ford negotiations...

Ford Motor Co. said its new four-year contract with the UAW will increase its U.S. labor costs by less than 1.5 percent annually by letting the company hire more low-cost workers and move production to factories in other countries.

The agreement - ratified by 51.3% of Ford production workers allows..

The contract allows Ford to hire an unlimited number of entry-level workers, who start at a lower wage than veterans, after a previous limit of 20 percent of its workforce as new hires.

In addition, Ford said it will be able to use more temporary workers, who also are paid less.

The agreement gives the automaker “the flexibility to leverage Ford’s global manufacturing footprint to improve cost competitiveness,” according to the statement.

The Ford deal, the richest of the contracts the UAW negotiated with the Detroit 3 this fall, promises $9 billion in factory upgrades and expansions that create or keep 8,500 jobs in the U.S. The pact provides across-the-board raises and $10,000 in bonuses upon ratification.

So to translate - union workers just agreed a contract which "creates or keeps" some jobs - sounds familiar; provides some short-term bonuses... but enables Ford to offshore American production and rotate from high-paid to low-paid jobs.
Still a job is a job is a job right? Even if it pays drastically less?
Does not sound like President Obama or Hillary will be happy about this kind of non-patriotism?