Obama demonstrated his progressive spirit by supporting the U.E., the Ultimate progressive Union:

founded as an amalgamated union, by radicals and communists; fiercely democratic; always activist;

the UE is an example of what progressivism is all about

kudos to their strike!

a short blurb on the UE, from wiki:

"Of the 11 "left" unions that were expelled or resigned from the CIO in 1949-50, only UE and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union remain in existence today. All of the others were broken by the relentless attacks of employers, the government and other unions through the period of McCarthyism.

In the case of UE, the CIO went a step further, chartering a rival union, the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (IUE), that would attempt to destroy and replace UE. James Carey, the ex-president of UE, was appointed president of the IUE. The IUE wrested away many of the locals in the radio assembly and light manufacturing industries; the UE held on to much of its base in machine building. In the heavy electrical equipment plants, on the other hand, the two factions each had substantial strength. The resulting battles were fierce: in Local 601, which represented Westinghouse workers in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and whose members had a tradition of radical politics dating back to Eugene V. Debs' candidacy for President in 1912, the two factions were led by brothers Mike and Tom Fitzgerald, who attacked each other personally as vigorously as the factions did on political issues. The IUE won a close election, with the semi-skilled workers supporting the IUE while more skilled workers favored the UE.

Employers, the federal government, the news media and other establishment forces played major roles in the efforts to eliminate UE. UE was subjected to an endless barrage of inquisitions by Congressional committees, such as the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Sen. Joseph McCarthy's Subcommittee on Investigations, and a similar committee chaired by Sen. John Marshall Butler. In several instances, these committees used subpoena power to set up UE members to be fired by their employers, unless the subpoenaed worker cooperated by "naming names," and thereby subjected other workers to the inquisition.

GE fired John Nelson, president of UE's large Local 506 in Erie, Pennsylvania, on just such grounds. The stress resulting from his own firing and the unrelenting persecution of his union destroyed Nelson's health; he died in 1959 at the age of 42....."


<snip>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Electrical,_Radio_and_Machine_Workers_of_America>

Didn't know this.