Teamsters Local 406

Barack Obama’s Vision Gives Workers Hope Again

TEAMSTERS SUPPORT OBAMA

Working men and women are engaged in this year’s election like never before, as voters get ready to make history and establish the nation’s priorities, vision and agenda for the next century.

Recognizing the many challenges facing working men and women, and their desire for new leadership that values Middle Class workers, IBT General President Jim Hoffa announced the Teamsters Union’s endorsement of Illinois Senator Barack Obama for President in 2008.

“Senator Barack Obama understands the many serious challenges working people face everyday,” President Hoffa said. “Senator Obama will fight for better wages, real health care reform, stronger retirement security, fair trade and an end to the exportation of good-paying American jobs. Senator Obama understands the importance of giving workers a voice at work and will fight for strong unions to help rebuild America’s middle class.”

Hoffa said that the political stakes in 2008 are higher than at any time in the past 50 years. Workers are desperate for a new President who will reshape the nation’s political landscape on behalf of working families.

“Senator Obama will stand with Teamsters when it comes to fighting for working families,” Hoffa declared. “Our Union’s endorsement begins a partnership to change America. Together we will reinvent the political process and give a voice to those who have been ignored by the Bush administration.”

Speaking to enthusiastic supporters across the country, Senator Obama has been outlining his “Change We Can Believe In” campaign to thousands of supporters at overflowing rallies across the country. During these appearances, he makes it a point of urging people to take control of their future by seizing the moment to bring needed change to the White House.

“When I am President, we will tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over,” Obama declared. “They have not funded my campaign. They will not run my White House. And they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am President!”

Local 406 Secretary-Treasurer Ron Holzgen praised Barack Obama as the only candidate for President who can truly bring new ideas for a nation looking for bold, creative leadership. He urges members to stand united behind Obama, and when elected he will stand firmly with the Teamsters on issues we care about.

“The last eight years of George W. Bush have been disastrous beyond words,” Holzgen said. “Michigan has suffered greatly as we have seen jobs eliminated, health care cut, and pensions destroyed. Barack Obama is determined to change this and empower workers to, once again, improve their lives. Obama offers a new vision which will focus on doing what is right for working families.”

When he first announced his campaign for President, Obama outlined several themes which will guide his administration:

- Let’s set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let’s recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability.

- Let’s be the generation that ensures workers are sharing in our prosperity. Let’s protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Let’s make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. And let’s allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country’s middle class again.

- Let’s be the generation that finally tackles our health care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology to cut the bureaucracy. Let’s be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the nest president’s first term.

To find out how you can join Local 406’s statewide effort to elect Barack Obama our next President, contact the Union so we can add your name to our database.