Obama gets major labor endorsement

By Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The head of the politically powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor said Tuesday that she is endorsing Barack Obama for president.

The endorsement by Maria Elena Durazo is a coup for Obama that could help the Illinois senator in his uphill struggle against Hillary Rodham Clinton to win substantial support among Latino voters in Southern California. Obama has won the backing of other Los Angeles-area Latino leaders, but this is probably his biggest such endorsement yet, given the broad reach of the county labor federation.

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Obama Wins Endorsement Of SEIU Nevada

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY Associated Press Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has won the endorsement of the Nevada chapter of the Service Employees International Union, union officials said. The influential union claims to represent 17,500 health care and county workers in Nevada. Its executive board approved the decision in a conference call Tuesday night, shortly after the Illinois senator finished a close second behind Hillary Rodham Clinton in the New Hampshire primary. SEIU President Vicky Hedderman said she believes Obama is a candidate "who could take the campaign all the way through November." Nevada's Jan. 19 caucus is the next major Democratic nomination contest. Under union rules, the endorsement allows SEIU locals in other states to lend resources and volunteers to its Nevada counterpart on behalf Obama. Obama has won the support of SEIU locals and state councils in five states, including his home state.

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Unionists Slam "Hypocritical" Leaders for Anti-Obama Mailer

Marc Cooper, The Huffington Post

Union members in Illinois and Iowa are denouncing their national leaders as hypocrites for sending out a deceptive campaign mailer aimed this week at Barack Obama. They are livid that the political arm of their 1.4 million member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) financed a mailer to Iowa voters slamming Obama for opposing individual health care mandates - the same sort of mandates long opposed by the union.

"This is definitely hypocritical, absolutely," said Carter Woodruff, an activist with Iowa AFSCME and a former official of the union state council. "It's a desperate attempt to attack [Obama] for unfounded reasons. It's a shame they stooped so low."

The union's direct mail flyer was written in a disguised manner that suggested it came from the John Edwards campaign and not from AFSCME and it slapped Obama for taking what it called "the timid way out, offering yet another band-aid solution."

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