Bernie Sanders

n2doc

(47,953 posts) Tue Aug 18, 2015, 10:29 AM Aug 2015

Machinists Union Members Outraged Over Hillary Clinton Endorsement, Say They Want Bernie Sanders

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) announced Friday that it would endorse Hillary Clinton as its preferred Democratic presidential candidate. The machinists are now the third AFL-CIO union to endorse a candidate, following National Nurses United’s endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders four days ago and the American Federation of Teachers’ Clinton endorsement on July 11.

“The IAM will not sit on the sidelines while this fight is so clearly underway,” said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger in a press release. “Hillary Clinton has been a strong supporter of this union for years and she is now the target of unprecedented attacks, financed on a scale never seen before. The time to help is when help is needed most, and we intend to do just that.”

The IAM’s justification of their endorsement this early in the presidential race mirrors the remarks made by AFT president Randi Weingarten shortly after her union’s endorsement. “If you want to shape something, you get in before the primaries,” she said. Like the AFT, the IAM endorsement was based largely on the results of an internal survey of members—a method that some members of the union have questioned.

“I cannot describe how disappointed I am with the IAM endorsing Hillary,” says Al Wagner, a journeyman auto technician and member of IAM Automotive Mechanics Local 701 in Chicago. “The IAM is a great union and I am very proud to be a member. But the leaders went about this endorsement the wrong way.”

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http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18321/bernie_sanders_machinists1

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Machinists Union Members Outraged Over Hillary Clinton Endorsement, Say They Want Bernie Sanders (Original Post) n2doc Aug 2015 OP

Wow is that a stupid argument. jeff47 Aug 2015 #1

yeah i got the impression from that union's members retrowire Aug 2015 #2

IAM split their endorsement in 2008 .............. get this Ichingcarpenter Aug 2015 #3

You can't go rogue on your membership than whine when the numbers dwindle. nt Snotcicles Aug 2015 #4

In my experience... LWolf Aug 2015 #5

“If you want to shape something, you get in before the primaries,” - yup. djean111 Aug 2015 #6

when AFT fucked over the membership the hillaryites said THEY ASKED THE MEMBERSHIP! No roguevalley Aug 2015 #7

jeff47

(26,549 posts)

1. Wow is that a stupid argument.

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Tue Aug 18, 2015, 10:46 AM

Aug 2015

If you want to shape something, you get in before the primaries

Because after you've given the candidate what they want, you have more leverage!! Because reasons!!

retrowire

(10,345 posts)

2. yeah i got the impression from that union's members

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Tue Aug 18, 2015, 10:49 AM

Aug 2015

that they generally hate this union for not listening to them.

Ichingcarpenter

(36,988 posts)

3. IAM split their endorsement in 2008 .............. get this

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Tue Aug 18, 2015, 10:50 AM

Aug 2015

Between Hillary ..... and .Mike Huckabee

Later they changed it to Obama.......

Snotcicles

(9,089 posts)

4. You can't go rogue on your membership than whine when the numbers dwindle. nt

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Tue Aug 18, 2015, 10:53 AM

Aug 2015

LWolf

(46,179 posts)

5. In my experience...

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Tue Aug 18, 2015, 11:26 AM

Aug 2015

I rarely vote for a candidate my union endorses in the primary.

That's because the national union leadership is more likely to endorse the perceived "front runner" in hopes of having some kind of influence after the GE, and the perceived "front runner" is usually a mainstream corporate candidate that I don't support.

It's counter-productive, imo, for unions NOT to endorse the strongest labor candidate. It means that their membership often ignore that endorsement, diminishing it's importance.

I'll bet there are a lot of machinists, and AFT members, who will not be voting Clinton in their primaries. I don't know who the NEA will endorse this time around, but if they choose HRC, I won't be backing that endorsement. As a matter of fact, I wrote my union president the day after the AFT endorsement to explain this to her.

djean111

(14,255 posts)

6. “If you want to shape something, you get in before the primaries,” - yup.

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Tue Aug 18, 2015, 12:25 PM

Aug 2015

Looks like that is what is happening. Somehow I doubt that the endorsement will translate into votes. Just bad publicity.
i am, of course, happy when Bernie gets endorsements, but I have never in my life voted for someone because of endorsements. Not about to start now.

roguevalley

(40,656 posts)

7. when AFT fucked over the membership the hillaryites said THEY ASKED THE MEMBERSHIP! No

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Tue Aug 18, 2015, 01:27 PM

Aug 2015

they did not. I wasn't asked. Hillary doesn't give a fig about unions and the membership needs to kick these bastards in the ass for this.

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