Chicago Tribune: Unions put chips on Obama's bid

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-nevada_thujan10,1,5414657,print.story?ctrack=2&cset=true

Democratic hopeful gets boost in Nevada

By Michael Martinez and John McCormick, Tribune staff reporters Michael Martinez reported from Las Vegas and John McCormick from New Hampshire

January 10, 2008

Receiving a much-needed campaign boost, Sen. Barack Obama won endorsements Wednesday from several major unions, including the most-coveted one in the state where the nomination battle next plays out.

A day after a disappointing second-place showing in the New Hampshire primary, a setback in the momentum he had built after last week's win in the Iowa caucuses, the presidential candidate received the endorsement of the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union in Nevada.

Leaders of Local 226, which is dominated by casino and hotel workers, said they backed the Illinois Democrat because he has been "a champion of working Americans" and understands unions.

"He was one of us. He was an organizer," said D. Taylor, the union's secretary treasurer. "He organized workers and families in the worst neighborhoods in Chicago. He has walked our picket line at the Congress Hotel in Chicago where we're in the fifth year of the strike."

Also endorsing Obama was the international 460,000-member Unite Here, a parent union that represents industrial and textile workers and hotel and restaurant employees, including in South Carolina, where the battle for the Democratic nomination will move later this month after Nevada.

The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, which claims 340,000 members in North America, announced its support for Obama on Wednesday.


FULL story at link.

[papau]

1. Trib really wants Obama - fact is Hillary is endorsed by unions with 5 m members - O only 1 million