A reader used an event quoted from a post by Mark Eades as proof that "unions" are against Obama. 

" . . . The main event of the evening for Hillary Clinton was a speech in Youngstown, Ohio, in which she neither congratulated the winner nor even acknowledged her loss in Wisconsin.

Clinton's warm-up act of the evening was R. Thomas Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists. Eschewing the usual warm-up speech praising his candidate, Buffenbarger launched into an angry tirade against Barack Obama so long, bitter, and contemptuous of both Obama and his supporters that even the pro-Clinton audience began booing and jeering at him:

'The Barack show is playing to rave reviews sold out at college campus after college campus. Standing room only crowds to hear his silver-tounged orations. Hope, change, yes we can? Give me a break! I’ve got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak. This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He’s a poet, not a fighter!'The empty suit rhetoric Clinton and her surrogates continue to employ against Obama is obviously no longer working. . . '

The reader who responded to Mark Eades Post read only the part he liked.  He forgot to note the important part.

" . . .even the pro-Clinton audience began booing and jeering at him . . .  "

Hillary is losing the race because of these kinds of attacks.  It does not matter if the words don’t come out of Hillary’s mouth directly, if they are spoken by people that she is standing on the stage with, she is associated with these people and these dishonest tactics.

In addition to Buffenbargers bigoted remarks being a negative advertisement for Hillary, they are not even true since more workers are behind Obama today than Hillary.  He has the national support of the UFCW, SEIU, and the Teamsters.  Go here to see what the majority of union leaders have to say about Obama.

http://www.ufcw.org/

http://www.seiu.org/

http://www.teamster.org/08news/nr_080220_6.asp

Most of you have probably heard about the Mexican truck fiasco, and when Congress heard about DOT's pilot program to allow Mexican trucks over the border to operate here, they passed legislation prohibiting just that. Problem is, DOT and its Secretary Mary Peters have continued blithely along wih the program, as if Congress had never spoken at all.

She's a typical Bush appointee. What George wants, George gets, and to hell with Congress. MEXICAN truckers hate it, too - so much that they staged a protest.

"The Pilot Plan is of no interest to our country. It is of interest [only] to a small group of business associates in the United States that get the Mexican President all wound up. However, when they stop to think about the consequences of the damage that would be caused to our economy, perhaps they will consider doing an about-face. At present, both CONATRAM and CANACAR are opposed to the Pilot Plan, as a result of which we now hope to convince the senators that if we don't achieve [our goal] through dialogue, we will have no other option than to carry out a protest along all of the country's borders. We cannot stand by with arms crossed, waiting from the worst to happen," said Elias Dip.

EVERYBODY hates it except George, Mary, and a handful of George's friends who would make bigger profits than ever if they could have American truckers competing with people who make a third of their salary. An American trucker can't live on what a Mexican trucker makes - but Corporate America sure would love to see him try. The Teamsters have a petition you can sign to Fire Mary Peters. Help them out and sign it. It's the right thing to do.

Mary Peters has a bachelor's degree in management from Phoenix University (I get spammed by them regularly), and yet she headed up the Federal Highway Authority before taking over DOT, with of course some corporate time done at HDR Engineering, which oversees a great many projects for a great many clients. They bill themselves as 'problem solvers' for business, and I imagine Mary was quite useful in that regard. She's certainly no engineer.

This is another 'malfunction junction' perpetrated by the Bush Administration.  

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 21, 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, the son of a Teamster truck driver and the oldest child in a paycheck-to-paycheck family of seven children, brought his life's experiences and his legislative record to an AFL-CIO town hall meeting in Columbus (OH) today and told his union brothers and sisters, "This campaign is about jobs. It's about jobs. And it's about jobs."

"It's the workers of this country who are going to determine who the president is going to be," the Cleveland Congressman told the cheering crowd. And that next President, he said, must be committed to creating new jobs, making health care available to all Americans, securing pension rights, and improving education for the next generation of American workers.

Introduced as "Ohio's favorite son," Kucinich, the only card-carrying union member in the Democratic field, had the audience on its feet several times. He vowed to cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has resulted in the out-sourcing of millions of American jobs. He promised a national, not-for-profit health insurance system that would cover all Americans. He pledged that the Justice Department and the Labor Department would enforce workers' rights, especially the right to organize.

This blog borrows its title from the Seattle WTO protests, in 1999, to describe the developing alliance between environmentalists and labor unions, specifically between communities and truck drivers serving the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

This blog was first published in April 2007, and since then the field has been set for the 'war' I warned about. 'Business' has declared its intentions via the Journal of Commerce and the California Trucking Association, and drivers have responded with a mini-protest (a caravan of only 40 trucks). Sources inside the industry predict a full-on melt-down of the dray/trucking system this summer, whether the POLA/LB approve a 'taxi token' oligopoly or not.

If you are interested in cleaning the air in Southern California, labor rights, transporation, international trade, or why there's a big rig blocking the I-5, this blog is for you:

U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken today received the endorsement of Teamsters Joint Council 32, which represents over 50,000 active and retired Teamsters in Minnesota, as well as Teamsters Local 120, which is the largest in the state.

Joint Council 32 President Dan Fortier made the announcement in a release, saying:

“Al Franken is Minnesota’s candidate for working families. Norm Coleman has repeatedly abandoned Minnesota working families. We need a Senator who will fight for better jobs – and Al Franken is the man for the job.”

Brad Slawson Jr., Chairman of Teamsters Local 120 PAC, added:

“We intend to turn out the vote for Al Franken. We will put the boots on the ground and fight to elect Al Franken. His election will allow us to use politics to bargain better contracts, protect American jobs, and organize new workers.”

Quote from Al Franken:

"I’m honored to receive the Teamsters’ support. Working families deserve access to quality health care, an affordable college education for their children, decent jobs at decent wages, and a secure retirement. Every one of these things is increasingly at risk today, and labor is the most effective line of defense for our middle class. Norm Coleman hasn’t stood up for Minnesota’s working families in the Senate. I will.”

The Teamsters endorsement marks the second significant labor endorsement of the Senate race and the second for Al’s campaign in as many months. The United Steelworkers District 11 endorsed Al in May.

WASHINGTON, D.C. â?" Speaking today on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) strongly criticized recent actions by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT announced last Friday its plans to launch a cross-border pilot program for Mexican trucks, in spite of repeated Congressional action to block the program.

Below is the text of Boydaâ??s remarks as prepared for delivery.

â??Madam Speaker, I rise today dismayed by the Department of Transportation's decision to rush dangerous Mexican trucks onto American roads."

â??In the last month, this House has voted twice to impose severe restraints on any cross-border trucking program. Three weeks ago, we passed my Safe American Roads Act by an overwhelming, bipartisan, 411-3 margin. The supplemental appropriations bill included similar language; it passed both houses and was signed into law by the president.

But although we have twice loudly and unambiguously rebuked the Department of Transportation, they're simply ignoring the American people. On Friday they announced plans to launch a cross-border pilot program anyway, in clear violation of the will of the American people."

â??Even with clear and enforceable guidelines in place, opening Americaâ??s roadways to cross-border vehicle traffic is a risky and unpopular proposal. It appears, under the current program, that commercial interests are being pushed ahead of the safety and security interests of the American people. Unless demonstrated otherwise, this is unacceptable."