CAMPAIGN NEWS

In an attempt to take attention away from Barack Obama's inspiring acceptance speech in Denver last night, John McCain announced his running mate today in Dayton, Ohio. He's hoping to receive great fanfare and win over southern Ohioans.

Ohio's workers have a message for John McCain: We can't afford four more years of Bush administration-style, anti-worker policies.

To welcome him to Ohio, we put together a 30-second video that gives workers in Dayton and all across Ohio a chance to talk about McCain in their own words. We hope you enjoy the video. Pass it along to your friends.

McCain's announcement in Ohio today is an attempt to make us forget last night's inspirational speech by Barack Obama. Let's be clear. It won't fade from our memory that easily, but we know that inspirational speeches aren't enough. Electing Obama and turning this country around is going to take hard work--and maybe even some perspiration.

We're ready to work, and hopefully you're ready to work with us. The stakes in this election couldn't be higher. In the next 65 days, we'll be talking to union members by mail, phone, and yes, door to door, member to member. We all know John McCain's anti-worker policies will punish working families, and we simply can't afford another four years of Bush-McCain business as usual in Washington, D.C.

Check out the video and pass it along to your friends.

Stagnant wages.
Rising food and fuel costs.
Jobs being shipped overseas.
Out-of-control health are costs.
Disappearing middle class.

These are just some of the consequences of the Bush administration's policies. John McCain, whose votes have consistently supported Bush, promises four more years of the same. It is up to us to make sure that every union member understands what's at stake in this election.

Check out the video and pass it along to your friends.

The choice in this election couldn't be more clear, and we need your help to get the message out. We have a unique and wonderful opportunity to elect a truly pro-worker president and vice president in Barack Obama and Joe Biden. We must seize the moment.

In Solidarity,

Working Families

P.S. Need some more inspiration? Get this: John McCain has more than 130 lobbyists working on his campaign or raising money for it. If he’s elected, guess who he is going to owe? Check out our video today.

Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

In a surprising boost for Senator Barack Obama, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters endorsed him on Wednesday, giving him new momentum among a group where he is eager to shore up support: blue-collar men.

James P. Hoffa, the president of the Teamsters, which represents more than 1.2 million truck drivers, warehouse employees and other workers, announced the endorsement after meeting with Mr. Obama in Austin, Tex.

“Senator Obama understands the challenges working people face every day,” Mr. Hoffa said. “He is the candidate in the best position to lead our movement to restore the American dream for working people in this country.”

A spokesman said Mr. Hoffa would campaign with Mr. Obama on Friday in Ohio, where the Teamsters have considerable strength.

Teamster officials said the union’s board had voted to endorse Mr. Obama, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, after a weeklong scientific survey of the union’s rank and file found strong support for him.

With the Teamsters’ move, labor leaders said, Change to Win, a five-million-member coalition of unions that broke away from the A.F.L.-C.I.O., is expected to vote Thursday to endorse Mr. Obama.

The seven unions in that coalition — the service employees, the food and commercial workers, the Teamsters, the carpenters, the laborers, the United Farm Workers and Unite Here (which represents hotel, restaurant and apparel workers) — are scheduled to hold a conference call on Thursday morning to discuss an endorsement.

With the service employees, the food and commercial workers and Unite Here having already endorsed Mr. Obama, the Teamsters endorsement essentially gives him the two-thirds backing needed to clinch Change to Win’s endorsement.

Leaders of several unions that support Mr. Obama complained on Wednesday about the pointed attack that R. Thomas Buffenbarger, the president of the International Association of Machinists, made against Mr. Obama on Tuesday in an appearance with Mrs. Clinton in Youngstown, Ohio. Mr. Buffenbarger suggested that Mr. Obama was a posturing hypocrite, and he derided Mr. Obama’s “Prius-driving, latte-drinking” supporters.

Mr. Buffenbarger’s critics said such comments would divide organized labor and undermine the Democrats’ chances in November.

It’s 2008, another Presidential Election cycle in under way. In November of this year, we will be going to the polls and voting to determine the direction of our nation. Since this is a union newsletter, I will only be addressing issues affecting working families and the economy at large such as jobs, health care, taxes, trade agreements, outsourcing, CEO pay, wages, and our standard of living.

Yet once again, Tom Leedham carried Local 804 by over 60% of the vote (1189 for Tom and 826 for Hoffa) with a 29% turnout!

November 17, 2006. Tom Leedham’s campaign for Teamster General President did more than win 35 percent of the vote. It strengthened our union for the future.

Since the 1997 UPS strike, employers have been on the offensive against our union. We have lost 150,000 members. Overnite defeated our organizing drive, paving the way for UPS to purchase it and operate it nonunion. And hundreds of thousands of Teamsters have suffered the first big pension and benefits cuts in Teamster history.

October 18, 2006. Give UPS management credit. When they decided to back Hoffa, they didn’t go halfway.

Not only did UPS management give Hoffa unlimited access to campaign inside their largest facility, the UPS Worldport hub in Louisville: UPS management literally chauffeured Hoffa around the grounds.

Management drove Hoffa and his entourage from building to building in a company van so he could campaign throughout the facility on Oct. 13, just as ballots were arriving in Louisville.

August 30, 2006. The Hoffa Campaign was caught on August 22 with $15,720 in illegally laundered money from members' dues.

Tom Leedham, principal officer of Teamsters Local 206 in Oregon, is challenging IBT President James Hoffa on a reform slate in this year’s Teamster elections. Leedham’s Strong Contracts/Good Pensions slate — and its rank-and-file supporters — won a big victory when their campaign was accredited for the 2006 International elections.

June 26-30: Over 1800 Teamster delegates met in Las Vegas to nominate the union's General President and General Executive Board as well as vote on resolutions.

The "Old Guard" represented by overwhelmingly Union Officers nominated Hoffa once again, while the forces of reform, represented by the Rank and File, nominated Tom Leedham

Here is a brief synopsis of how Local 804 delegates (Hoffa supporters) voted at the Convention:
-on Pension Accountability...."NO!"
-on membership votes on dues hike..."NO!"
-on ending multiple salaries..."NO!"
-on nominating Tom Leedham..."NO!"
-on listening to Leedham acceptance speech...walked out!
-on raising meal allowance for Officers to $100/day..."YES!"
Priceless!