The United Farm Workers announced yesterday that they have endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for President. The UFW, which was founded by Cesar Chavez and Delores Huerta in 1962, has long fought for the rights of law wage earning families and immigrants. The endorsement should help Senator Clinton gain even more support from the Latino community which will be crucial for her in the upcoming California primary.
“I am very grateful for the UFW’s support,†said Clinton. “You work in some of the most difficult conditions imaginable, and you do it with courage, optimism and determination. I am humbled to have your support — and you will have mine.â€Â
As a financial supporter of the UFW I am pleased with this endorsement and it thus seals my support and my vote for Senator Clinton after initially leaning towards John Edwards. There are some within the blogosphere that have tried to paint Hillary as “no friend” to the Latino/immigrant community, saying that eating tacos at King Taco is the extent of her support for Latino’s. I am quite sure Arturo Rodriguez, the President of the UFW, and the others in the UFW would not be supporting her if this was the case.
Sean-
This really I’d fantastic news, and this shows how deep of a relationship Hillary has with both the labor movement AND the Latino community. If Hill’s good enough for los obreros, then’s she’s definitely good enough for me.
¡SÃÂ, se puede! ¡Viva Hillary! 🙂
Andrew,
I agree 100%.
The farm workers are the salt of the earth and are the hardest working folks I know. We all owe them a debt of gratitude and if they ask that we vote for Hillary, we should do so.
Predictably, I don’t agree. They’re picking the winner and the candidate that appears to have the most support with their rank-n-file–judging from the Nevada returns. But that hardly makes Clinton a friend to labor. Her work as a corporate lawyer in the Rose Law Firm for Wal-Mart, one of the most notorious labor scoundrels in our contemporary economy… her work for that company certainly raises questions. But her support of NAFTA should give any genuine labor supporter pause. NAFTA has expanded sweatshop production in Mexico and driven down the price of corn there, driving many people off their farms, some of them coming here to work in the fields, sometimes represented by the UFW.
Want more: Ari Berman, “Hillary vs. Labor” The Nation, June 5, 2007 –
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=202377
Hillary Clinton is no friend of labor. She’s a Democrat. Almost all the major unions habitually endorse Democrats… lotta good it has done.
james
I think that Hillary has done a lot of good for the working class….Look at her record in the Senate for good ole New York…..and your going back how many years to bring up Walmart….and what exactly did she do for them…..wasn’t that pretty much at the beginning of her career??? Look up her record and her job hx with Walmart……and go back 20-30 years on any of us….and you’ll find something…!!! I’m for Hillary all the way
James—I know you don’t like Clinton but I think labor unions can make judgments about who their friends are. And labor considers Clinton, Obama and Edwards friends. Is there agreement on every issue? Hardly. But the AFL-CIO has given Clinton a 93% rating and SEIU has given her between 90-100% depending on the year. And the progressive punch progressive voting record has Clinton and Obama at the same 91%.Some may like Edwards or Obama more then Clinton but virtually every union considers them all friends.
And the unions, thank you, are in a better position then you to determine whether their money and time endorsing Democrats is well spent.They know all too well what Republican hegemony in D.C. meant for labor, with anti-labor judicial and regulatory appointments, constant legislative attempts to wipe labor out. And they’d do their union busting at the state level if they had the votes. Democrats, for the most part, have stood with labor and without Democrats, labor would be in far worse shape.