Letter: Bernie Sanders best choice for union members

I am confused about the SEIU union leadership endorsement of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for President.

Sanders strongly supports the $15 an hour minimum wage that the SEIU seeks. Sanders has always been for working people and the poor, and a supporter of the middle class and unions. Sanders voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement that passed during President Bill Clinton's administration. Free trade agreements notoriously benefit corporations more than workers by shipping jobs overseas for starvation wages. Sanders also voted against the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Unions have opposed these free trade agreements.

Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, called the TPP "the gold standard in trade agreements." Sanders says of the TPP; “It is part of a global race to the bottom to boost the profits of large corporations and Wall Street by outsourcing jobs; undercutting worker rights; dismantling labor, environmental, health, food safety and financial laws; and allowing corporations to challenge our laws in international tribunals rather than our own court system.”

Clinton may have the support of the SEIU leadership, but Sanders' voting record backs up his support for U.S. workers. I hope the union that I belong to, the IBEW, associated with the AFL-CIO, looks closely at what our workers need and endorses the candidate that wants to protect our jobs and raise our standard of living the most. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate out there that has proven where he stands and can be trusted to do what he says.


http://www.sj-r.com/article/20151121/OPINION/151129937#loadComment