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eridani

(51,907 posts)
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 06:00 AM Aug 2015

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

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

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.”

IAM boasts a membership roll of nearly 600,000, including retirees, but says that an internal survey of 1,700 active members conducted in early August, in which 71% of participants voted for Clinton, proves that the Clinton endorsement is indicative of the rank and file’s desire for the 2016 presidential race. But on the IAM Facebook page, with mentions of Clinton’s associations with Wall Street and the fiercely unpopular free trade agreements abound, Bernie Sanders has been overwhelmingly touted as the only truly pro-worker candidate by hundreds of members on the union’s endorsement posts.

"Awful choice! I'm with Bernie," wrote one person claiming to be a member on the union's Facebook page. "What a sham! Not in the least bit democratic ... -- only 1700 out of 500,000 members is not a majority. ... At monthly meetings, members talk about the real voice of labor (Bernie Sanders) who BTW is beating her in the CNN [poll] after every meeting. You guys need to wake up and listen to your members," wrote another.
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Machinists Union Members Outraged Over Hillary Clinton Endorsement, Say They Want Bernie Sanders (Original Post) eridani Aug 2015 OP
In 2007 they endorsed both Huckabee and Clinton Ichingcarpenter Aug 2015 #1
Huckabee? Enthusiast Aug 2015 #2
At least the rank and file understand that Bernie is their best choice. Enthusiast Aug 2015 #3
Union members cast more votes than union leadership. merrily Aug 2015 #4
Populism in action. marble falls Aug 2015 #7
More Clinton Dirty Tricks billhicks76 Aug 2015 #5
Yep. It's an anti-democratic right wing tactic to buy off the gatekeepers rather than appeal GoneFishin Aug 2015 #6
This is the heart of the matter n/t FlatBaroque Aug 2015 #18
+1. Correct you are. And..... Smarmie Doofus Aug 2015 #9
I don't know about that BUT angry union members are likelier to make it to the polls than merrily Aug 2015 #11
Hillary does so well in the polls! Betty Karlson Aug 2015 #8
She's been spending enough on polls! merrily Aug 2015 #12
Right! I forgot that one... n/t Betty Karlson Aug 2015 #21
Sounds like someone is being bought again SmittynMo Aug 2015 #10
I've noticed Robbins Aug 2015 #13
Too clever by half Demeter Aug 2015 #14
The leadership knows that their members haven't had the opportunity to learn about Sanders Babel_17 Aug 2015 #15
As a fly on the wall... SoapBox Aug 2015 #16
You start by asking 5,000 members. Then you "select" the most "representative" 1700 responses. GoneFishin Aug 2015 #17
Fair and Balanced! SoapBox Aug 2015 #20
Any union endorsements are dangerous territory for Clinton fbc Aug 2015 #19
 

billhicks76

(5,082 posts)
5. More Clinton Dirty Tricks
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 07:25 AM
Aug 2015

Buying off leadership. This is what's wrong with this country and we all know it. That's why Bernie resonates...and even Trump God forbid. Chickens are coming home to roost. You can't be a phony,corporate sell out and make it now. That ship had sailed. People have caught on.

GoneFishin

(5,217 posts)
6. Yep. It's an anti-democratic right wing tactic to buy off the gatekeepers rather than appeal
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 08:10 AM
Aug 2015

to the broad base.

Why bust your ass to come up with policies that actually improve the lives of thousands of rank and file members when you can get what you want with wads of cash or a special favors to a couple of gatekeepers?

 

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)
9. +1. Correct you are. And.....
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 08:27 AM
Aug 2015

.... 'from your lips' to...etc:

>>You can't be a phony,corporate sell out and make it now. That ship had sailed. People have caught on.>>.

On can only hope. It appears to have caught on w. a large segment of the DEM base, and even..... incredibly and encouragingly... among the segment of the other party we used to call Tea Partiers. One of the good things about Trump is that he's so free-wheeling that he says things out loud that the GOP ( as well as the institutional DEM Party) knows to be true but wishes to obscure .... for obvious reasons ( i.e. They benefit financially from status quo politics.).


That's still a long way from everybody. Or even a majority, I suspect. But things are looking up in the "when are people going to wake the fuck up?" department.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
11. I don't know about that BUT angry union members are likelier to make it to the polls than
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 08:33 AM
Aug 2015

sanguine or apathetic union members; and union members have more votes than union leadership. It's all good.



 

Betty Karlson

(7,231 posts)
8. Hillary does so well in the polls!
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 08:26 AM
Aug 2015

She really resonates with carefully selected and meticulously guided focus groups!

SmittynMo

(3,544 posts)
10. Sounds like someone is being bought again
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 08:31 AM
Aug 2015

ANYONE with a CPAC is suspicious. As Bernie has said in the past, "The system is corrupt". Is this more proof?

Robbins

(5,066 posts)
13. I've noticed
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 09:22 AM
Aug 2015

when hillary gets a major union's endorsement there is backlash from union members.seems like union leadership is helping unions live the clique of being corupted.

I think unions supporting corporate dems like hillary is stupid especilly when there is true friend of labor like Bernie.Corporative dems will use unions to get elected but won't have unions backs.instead will support free trade bills which hurt unions.

Babel_17

(5,400 posts)
15. The leadership knows that their members haven't had the opportunity to learn about Sanders
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 10:22 AM
Aug 2015

It's called "informed consent". This is a hotly contested primary, to not let the membership hear even one debate .... oh wait, DWS and the DNC arranging the debate schedule as they have now gains more context.

SoapBox

(18,791 posts)
16. As a fly on the wall...
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 11:55 AM
Aug 2015

I'd like to see that actual survey and see who participated (plus how they were selected).

These questions now pop into my brain when such things happen.

 

fbc

(1,668 posts)
19. Any union endorsements are dangerous territory for Clinton
Sat Aug 22, 2015, 11:44 PM
Aug 2015

They only draw more attention to her extreme unpopularity.

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