Unions are busy locally but not all for 1 candidate

This is in St Louis

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/politics/story/36BC6D7241947CBB862573DF000F57DD?OpenDocument

WASHINGTON — As the Feb. 5 primaries approach, labor unions are focusing on states where they feel their foot soldiers and dollars can make a difference, mostly for Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John Edwards.

Missouri is a prime target, largely because of St. Louis, home to 175,000 union members, a half-million residents who live in union households and a union density twice the national average.

snip

While most unions that have endorsed someone have ignored the Republican candidates, two — the International Association of Machinists and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades — have issued dual endorsements. Each has endorsed Clinton among the Democrats and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee among Republicans.

"He was the only Republican candidate who would come and speak to IAM representatives about economic issues, and we appreciated it," said Frank Larkin, spokesman for the 400,000-member Machinists union. "He understood that the loss of pensions and the loss of jobs was a critical issue for us. Also, it was important for us to reach out to our own members. Thirty to 40 percent are Republicans, and it was important to get them involved in the process."

And it's equally ridiculous for a union to endorse one. Edwards is clearly the best union candidate now that Kooch is out.

in the same suburbs as the bosses. Unions also don't do a good job of educating workers about labor history. Lord knows there is no labor history taught in school!

I think, also, that many of the IAM in St Louis are employed by Boeing, and they love their defense contracts.