The Communications Workers of America, the largest union to back Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary, announced Monday that it was now officially backing presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.
In its announcement, CWA said the prospect of Republican candidate Donald Trump winning the White House prompted it to switch.
“We know that elections are about choices. The contrast between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, couldn’t be greater. … Hillary Clinton is thoughtful and experienced. Donald Trump is reckless, unthinking and much more likely to cut a deal with his billionaire colleagues than look out for working families,” the announcement said.
CWA was one of the most outspoken unions calling for a more radical candidate, and announced in December it was backing Sanders. “He’s the candidate who can do it, and we are going to help him. When CWA endorses a candidate it is just the beginning. Our 700,000 members are fired up, and we are going to work overtime to elect Bernie Sanders as the next President of the United States,” the group said then.
Clinton said she was honored to have the endorsement. “As president, I will always stand with the CWA to protect workers’ fundamental rights to organize, to bargain collectively, to be safe on the job, and to retire with dignity and security after years of hard work. I was proud to join the CWA on the picket line this year as they stood up to Verizon and fought for a fair deal,” she said.
Clinton also reiterated her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade deal that the Obama administration negotiated. As Obama’s secretary of state, Clinton had been involved in the agreement, but she opposed it last year after unions cited it as one of their top issues for the 2016 election.
“Any trade deal must meet three tests to earn my support: It must create good American jobs, raise wages, and advance our national security. I do not believe that the Trans-Pacific Partnership meets this high standard. That’s why I oppose the TPP — and that means before and after the election,” she said.
Clinton has long had a rocky relationship with the union movement. She is a former board member of Walmart, which organized labor despises for its opposition to collective bargaining. Her husband Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, which many unions blame for job losses.
When Clinton and Sanders met last year with the executive board of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, the board declined to endorse either candidate. The AFL-CIO did eventually endorse Clinton in June, well after it was clear she would be the Democratic nominee.
