Culinary Workers Endorse Obama

UNITE HERE, the national union affiliate of Nevada’s largest labor union, the Culinary Workers Local 226, announced its endorsement of Ill. Sen. Barack Obama for president of the United States today. The announcement ends weeks of speculation about which Democratic contender the Culinary Union would back and could represent the boost Obama needs to pull out a win in the Democrats’ third nominating contest Jan. 19.

"Barack Obama began his career organizing working families who were trying to pick up their lives as their industries were leaving them behind. As he entered politics, we knew that he would understand our members and we supported him from the start," said UNITE HERE’s General President Bruce Raynor. "Our organization and our members will do everything in our power to see that he reaches the White House this fall, because we know he will bring working Americans with him."

UNITE HERE has more than 450,000 members in the United States and Canada. The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 is one of two affiliates of UNITE HERE in Nevada. The CWU has over 60,000 members in the state.

"Barack Obama has shown us that he understands our members' struggles and dreams," said D. Taylor, the CWU’s Secretary-Treasurer. “He stood with our Union in every step of our recent contract negotiations and showed us that he too understands that organizing and bringing people together is how we move forward. We want to make the American dream we have established in Las Vegas a reality for the entire country and we think that Senator Obama will take us there."

"What we have to make real,” said Obama on the union’s endorsement, “is the idea that in this country, we value the labor of every American. We must respect that labor and reward it with a few basic guarantees - wages that can raise a family, health care if we get sick, a retirement that's dignified, working conditions that are safe. That vision is what I've been fighting for two decades, as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, state senator and U.S. Senator, and it's what I'll fight for as President. I'm honored to receive UNITE HERE's endorsement, and to carry on this fight in the White House."

All of the Democratic presidential candidates have made concerted efforts to appeal to Nevada’s organized labor. The CWU is just the latest big name endorsement that Obama has received recently. Shortly after New Hampshire’s Democratic primary was called for N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton Tuesday night, the Obama campaign announced that the Service Employees International Union Nevada was throwing its support their way. The SEIU represents over 17,500 workers in the state.

According to UNLV political science professor David Damore, Obama’s CWU endorsement is particularly interesting because it represents a “break with the establishment Democratic organizations in the state who have all been lockstep with Hillary Clinton.”

Before yesterday, Clinton had led her fellow Democratic rivals both in labor endorsements and endorsements by elected official in Nevada.

“She’s really going to have to fight for Nevada if [the CWU] can turn out their numbers for Obama,” said Damore.

Damore also believes that this endorsement spells the end of former N.C. Sen. John Edwards hopes to win the state.

“It looks to me like he’s trying to hold on ‘til Feb. 5 and hope for some sort of breakthrough there,” said Damore referring to “Super Duper Tuesday,” when twenty-two states will hold Democratic nominating contests. “All of the top-tier candidates are going to be hanging on until Feb. 5,” said Damore, which may diminish Nevada’s much-touted impact on the race. That impact will largely be determined by “how much the national media actually covers [the Nevada caucus].”

“We’ll see how it fits into the ever-changing narrative.”