Bernie's labor support snowballs
Politico
While many national unions have stayed neutral, more progressive-minded local unions and labor groups are coming out in force for the Vermont senator.
By HOLLY OTTERBEIN
01/24/2020 05:07 AM EST
Most national unions havent picked a favorite yet in the Democratic presidential primary.
Its been a boon for Bernie Sanders.
Rather than harming Sanders, a longtime labor ally who has promised to work to double union membership as president, the reluctance to offer endorsements at the national level has enabled more progressive-minded local unions and labor groups to come out in force for the Vermont senator.
Sanders has already racked up 11 labor endorsements, more than any of his Democratic rivals, most of which are from local, regional and statewide unions. And some are among the most powerful labor organizations in early-voting and Super Tuesday states.
Hes picking up more labor endorsements because the national unions, almost without exception, have not made endorsements, which implicitly or explicitly sets the local and regional unions free, said David Kusnet, a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton who co-authored a book with an ex-AFL-CIO president. He has a lot of friends and fans and supporters in the union movement, and some of them are succeeding in pushing their local labor unions to endorse him.
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