Parade Marchers Display Diversity, Strength of America’s Workers

For Maria Somma, it was a dream come true. The native of Vietnam and naturalized citizen was one of the 265 union members who braved freezing temperatures today to join representatives from across the country and our armed forces to participate in the official inaugural parade for President Obama. The contingent of union members taking part in the parade included members from the AFL-CIO, Change to Win and the National Education Association.

With 15 union members riding a union-made float and 250 marchers alongside, the workers’ contingent was one of the largest groups in the parade. This is the first time in recent memory that workers have participated in the parade.

Somma, who lives in Pittsburgh and is a member of the United Steelworkers, rode the float representing the AFL-CIO constituency group Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). She says labor’s participation shows the power of the American Dream for all people.

It’s very exciting to be welcoming a person of color into the White House and to be a part of history. Even if it was minus 20, I would be glad to be here. This is an incredible achievement for this country. For Barack Obama to come from his background and rise to the top is not the typical American story. His inauguration is part of the transition of this nation to fully embrace all its citizens.

Marching with a banner, “America’s Workers: United for Change,” participants also carried flags that represented the issues most important to working families: an “Economy That Works for All,” “Great Public Schools,” “Good Jobs Green Jobs” and “Health Care for All.” The overall theme of the labor float is “Honoring America’s Workers.”

- James Parks, AFL-CIO Now blog; click here for his complete report.

Hundreds Of Union Members To March In 56th Inaugural Parade

From Change To Win In Washington, DC:

January 20th is going to be an historic day!

Oh, you think, I knew that. That’s when we’re going to be swearing in our first-ever African-American President of the United States!

That’s true, but it’s not the only reason why Tuesday will be historic.

What else is happening? For the first time in living memory, members of America’s labor movement have been asked to march in the official Inaugural Parade, that’s what.

Representing America’s workers will be 265 union members from across Change to Win, the AFL-CIO, and the National Education Association (NEA), along with a 17-by-24 foot float built entirely by union workers and driven by a Teamster. The float will feature the “faces of labor” — a tribute every hard-working man and woman who gets up every day and goes to work. (In the photo above, you can see the faces as they wait to be mounted on the float.)

January 20 will be the start of a new era for American workers, so it’s fitting that hundreds of them will be marching alongside President-Elect Barack Obama to mark the occasion!

Palin vs. Biden, go!

In case you somehow escaped the swarm of media speculation, the vice-presidential debates are just a few, short hours away.

This is our chance to see Biden and Palin match wits in a formal setting. This is our chance to hear where Palin stands on the issues, if she has a stance, or if she can tap dance around having to admit what her stance is.

It will be curious to see what she has to say since she really hasn’t articulated a clear position on most of the important issues concerning working people. That might make her a safe choice for VP, but the possibility of having a vice president that hasn’t formally said what kind of advocate she’s going to be if she makes it into the White House is downright scary.

We do know she was elected governor of Alaska in 2006 and prior to that was mayor for six years of a town with a population 10,000. And nothing against small-town America, but that doesn’t inspire confidence that she is ready to lead an entire country-- let alone the fact that by the end of her tenure as mayor, the town had racked up $20 million in debt.

So as you watch the debates, keep this in mind. If something happens to the president and either Biden or Palin has to step in, which candidate would be better equipped to lead us out of this economic mess we are in? Who would better represent the U.S. abroad? Who do you trust to show the visionary leadership we need to get us out of the Bush quagmire and restore the American dream to the people of this country?

UFCW Endorses Obama

It's official--the UFCW is endorsing Senator Barack Obama for president in 2008!

In a statement to the press, Joe Hansen, president of UFCW International, had the following to say about the endorsement:

"UFCW members are energized to seize [the opportunity this election] to change America and restore the American Dream for workers and their families....We are the largest union of young workers with more than forty percent of our members under the age of thirty. Senator Obama’s message of changing hope into reality has inspired our members, particularly our young members, across the country.

We have the utmost respect for Senator Clinton and her tireless efforts on behalf of working people. And while both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have a vision to change America, we believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to build a movement to unite our country that will deliver the type of change that is needed – for good jobs, affordable health care, retirement security and worker safety."

Click here for the full press release