by John McCormick
With the highly sought endorsement of the Culinary Workers expected to be announced soon, the campaign for Sen. Barack Obama organized a conference call this afternoon between Illinois labor leaders and Nevada reporters to try to bolster his labor credentials.
The Culinary Workers, which represents about 60,000 casino and hotel workers, is the most influential union is the state. It is expected to endorse a candidate in December, backing considered nearly essential for a win in the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses.
“He comes from us, and he understands our problems,” said Tom Balanoff, an Illinois leader of the Service Employees International Union. “We could count on Barack on all the issues important to working families.”
Other labor leaders on the call included Henry Bayer, executive director, AFSCME Council 31; Margaret Blackshere, president emeritus of the Illinois AFL-CIO; Dennis Gannon, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; and Henry Tamarin, president of UNITE HERE Local 1.