Well, so much for the "can't get the lunch-bucket crowd vote" meme.

United Mine Workers Union Backs Obama

Falling in behind the man who looks increasingly like the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the United Mine Workers of America endorsed Barack Obama for president today. The endorsement followed a unanimous vote to throw support his way by the union's National Council of the Coal Miners' Political Action Committee.

Coming the day after the Kentucky primary, which Hillary Clinton won overwhelmingly, and a week after the primary in West Virginia, a coal state also won decisively by Clinton, the endorsement signals a continued consolidation of Democratic-leaning independent group support behind Obama but will have little impact on the small number of remaining voting states or the course of the primary.

[...]

The UMWA had previously endorsed John Edwards for president last Labor Day, the same day the United Steelworkers cast their lot with Edwards. After Edwards's endorsement of Obama, the Steelworkers endorsed him, too, citing Edwards's influence.

Just a quick diary, but today it was announced that the United Mine Workers have endorsed Senator Obama.  More after the jump.

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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What do they all have in common? Well it’s not a fairy tale or a fantasy or a hope or a dream.  It’s not about sitting around a cozy fire at the city club and sparring over the economic theories of Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes.  It’s not about dissing opponents at a dinner party in Georgetown.   What all these folks have in common is that the whole Americas has been screwed over since the Europeans first arrived and then again when Milton Friedman arrived in the 1950's  with his flim flam feudalism.  That bunch of baloney passed off as theory continued through every presidency and is rock and rolling today.

Naomi Klein maps the way Friedman, his Chicago School economists, and the C.I.A. brought free market fundamentalist capitalism to the Americas in the 1970’s thru shock and awe and are still trying to wield their wickedness there today. (Although they did manage to detour through Poland, South Africa, Russia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Baghdad and New Orleans).

So it is no surprise that this story hit this weekend.

Mexican Authorities Move to Crush Copper Strike by David Bacon Mexican Authorities Move to Crush Copper Strike

John Edwards will need a virtuoso performance at tonight's debate to achieve the dramatic come-from-behind win he needs to stay alive. He's facing an opponent in Barack Obama who proved with his amazing Iowa victory that he is an extraordinary organizer, possibly a strategic genius, and above all an inspiring presence who captured Iowans' hunger for change. And he's got momentum. And let's not forget Hillary Clinton, who can count on lots of money, a ruthless campaign operation, and real affection for her and Bill Clinton in the state.

But Edwards can definitely win - with a slight retooling of his message.

- Give us a little hope
The first thing Edwards has to do is combine his anti-corporate message with an inspiring vision of a hopeful future. Anti-corporate attacks, though they strike a chord with many Democratic voters, can only go so far.

John Edwards has been working very hard to court those he hopes to help the most;the disappearing middle class and those slipping into poverty.   This includes teachers, blue collar workers, service people and others who serve their communities everyday but they can't quite get ahead.

Leo W. Gerard, international president, United Steelworkers and Cecil E. Roberts, international president, United Mine Workers of America have in a way re-endorsed Edwards by penning a wonderful piece at the Huffington Post.

John Edwards' decision last week to participate in public campaign financing set off a qualm-storm in the media about his ranking among the Democratic candidates but, for us, it strongly reaffirmed our confidence in him.

   Three weeks ago, I took a look at where unions might end up in the Democratic presidential primary race. There has been a fair amount of movement so it’s a good time to check back and see where we are—with some general analysis. Here, and down the line, I’m generally going to focus on national unions, with some exceptions where it makes sense.

First off, HAPPY LABOR DAY!

1. The United Steelworkers and United Mine Workers of America endorse John Edwards.

2. John Edwards criticized Bush's plan for outsourcing American Highways.

3. John Edwards on Good Morning America.

4. Diary Roundup.

John Edwards just formally accepted the endorsement of two big industrial unions, the United Steelworkers (USW) and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) at a labor day rally in Pittsburgh PA.  The USW is a BIG one with 1.2 million members and is the largest private industrial union, and the UMWA is a good size one too, with over 100,000 members.

Edwards statement and my analysis over the break.

today two major labor unions backed john edwards over barack (i refuse to go into details about my plans) obama and hillary (the hand that gives is the one that takes) clinton

HAPPY LABOR DAY to all!

Today, in Pittsburgh, John Edwards will receive the endorsement of two major labor unions: the United Steelworkers (USW) and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The Steelworkers and the Mine Workers join the Carpenters, Joiners Union in standing with Edwards, combining for over 1.8 million union members to say, in the words of John Gerard of the Steelworkers,

It’s time we had a president who will fight for working people – and that’s what John Edwards will do."

Some 45 coal miners have been killed in the United States in 2006, the deadliest year for miners since 1995.

Coal mine workers at Peabody, the world's largest coal mine, are seeking to join the Mine Workers and get a voice on the job that includes ensuring improved safety.

Next week, coal miners and others seeking to form unions will share their strategies at the AFL-CIO Organizing Summit in Washington, D.C. The Organizing Summit will launch the union movement's renewed effort to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which will enable miners and all workers to form unions without the employer harassement they now endure. Many new members of Congress are making passage of the Employee Free Choice Act a priority for the 110th, and I'll be writing more about it in coming posts.

Meantime, I wanted to share with you the struggle by Peabody miners to form a union that James Parks posted at AFL-CIO Now.

It's a long word.  The sort of word that would eliminate most contestants in a spelling bee.  It was the word that my Italian born grandmother could barely understand when the doctor uttered it to her:

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

You know it as black lung disease.

It comes from breathing a mixture of coal and silica dust.  The coal dust turns the inside of the lungs black and produces a black spittle.  The silica scratches the lung tissue, causing fibroids to form.  Both elements labor the breathing.  As the lungs become less efficient, the heart enlarges and strains and eventually, fails.

It was three years after the diagnosis when my grandfather died.  I was four years old and barely remember him.

In 1967, the State of Pennsylvania, where he lived, passed a law that compensated all black lung victims for medical expenses and damages.  My grandmother lived on that monthly check until she died in 1996.

The days of being able to freely appoint industry hacks to important government positions may be drawing to a close for the Bush administration.

Facing certain defeat in a vote to close off debate, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist cancelled a scheduled vote this afternoon on the nomination of Richard Stickler to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) opposed Frist's motion to cancel the vote and demanded that the vote take place unless he was assured that the Bush Administration would not recess appoint Stickler. After consulting with the White House, Frist agreed that if Bush were to move to recess appoint Stickler, that a Senate vote would occur first. (The President is allowed to "recess appoint" nominees when the Senate is out of session. Bush has used this tactic numerious times to appoint controversial nominees who can't get Senate approval.)

I couldn't help but watch the news reports of the mine disaster and feel like something was very very wrong.

Partly, it came from the coverage of the incident.  Partly, it came from what the news media seemed to want the public to hear without telling the real story behind the accident.

While most of the coverage is focused on the human suffering of the families and of the miners trapped below the mine, I can't help but wonder why.  Why did this happen in this day and age.  It's 2006.  Not 1916. when mine accidents were a common occurance. Update: MSHA Report on the Sago Mine with its weak and inadequate penalties.