October 29, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Neal Tepel
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents more than 1.6 million working and retired public employees, announced Oct. 23 that it would support Hillary Clinton for President in 2016. The union said internal polling found that almost two-thirds of members said they would vote for her in the Democratic primary.
“What we also heard was AFSCME members want the candidate who will be the most effective champion for working families and who will be able to deliver a victory in this critically important election,” union President Lee Saunders said in a statement. Earlier in the week, two unions in New Hampshire—where the first presidential primary will be held Feb. 9—announced they would back Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders: Service Employees International Union Local 560 in Hanover, whose more than 500 members are mostly Dartmouth College support staff, and Local 490 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Concord. Local 490 business manager Denis Beaudoin said members overwhelmingly support Sanders because they feel he “has always and will always fight for what they believe in: good wages, strong benefits like sound retirement and health care coverage for workers, and the creation and protection of good jobs that can provide these benefits.” Read more
