Pennsylvania health care union backs Obama

Unions give Obama a big welcome


A day after U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton received a strong welcome from Pennsylvania union leaders, the same kind of enthusiasm seen elsewhere for Barack Obama seems to have taken hold among leaders and guests at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO convention in Philadelphia.

Obama just arrived shortly before 9 a.m. to resounding and long applause from the crowd of at least 1,000 union leaders at the Sheraton Center City Philadelphia.

The applause and chanting was longer and stronger than Clinton received Tuesday when she likened herself to "Rocky" as she vowed to fight for workers.

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Introducing Obama, Henry Nicholas, president of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees and Local 1199, just announced that the health care union will back Obama.

"By doing this, there is a message, the entire organized health care organization in Pennsylvania...is now united behind Barack Obama," he said as he endorsed Obama.

The announcement reflects a split within the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which has endorsed Clinton.