UAW: Obama-Biden team 'the right choice for America'

DENVER -- The campaign team of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden "is the right choice for America," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said today.

"We have a chance to elect two proven leaders who have a track record of support for working families, and fighting for the good-paying jobs that keep our country strong," Gettelfinger said.

"Both Senator Obama and Senator Biden are from auto-producing states -- and they both understand the critical importance of manufacturing to our nation's economy."

Obama and Biden, Gettelfinger said, "have been leaders in the U.S. Senate in developing plans to build the next generation of fuel-efficient vehicles in the United States so we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create good-paying jobs here at home.

"Joe Biden," said Gettelfinger, "is a veteran and effective legislator who wrote the bill to put 100,000 police officers on the streets, helped pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, and has been a critical and thoughtful voice on foreign and military policy. He will be a dynamic partner in Senator Obama's campaign to change America for the better.

"Senator Obama has opened up the political process this year in new and innovative ways, raising tens of millions of dollars from small donors and inspiring millions of new voters," said Gettelfinger. "He reminds many people in our union of a young maverick we supported in 1972, when nobody thought he had a chance to win: Joe Biden, during his successful underdog campaign for the U.S. Senate from Delaware."

The Obama-Biden team's support for manufacturing jobs, said Gettelfinger, "offers a very sharp contrast to Senator McCain's dismal record on this issue." While McCain has belatedly joined a bipartisan effort to support federal loans to finance re-tooling of the auto industry, said Gettelfinger, "he has supported every one of the terrible trade deals negotiated by President Bush, which will send more of our jobs overseas -- and he still supports tax breaks for companies that outsource.

"McCain's plan to tax our health benefits will impose a huge new tax increase on working families," said Gettelfinger, "but it offers no solution at all to the rising health care costs that are crippling the U.S. manufacturing sector.

"Instead of the failed policies of the past, Obama and Biden are offering a bold new approach," said Gettelfinger. "They'll take tough action on trade to protect American jobs; end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, expand access to health care, and provide real tax relief for the middle class.

"That's the kind of change America needs -- and that's why our union is proud to support Barack Obama and Joe Biden."

The UAW, one of the nation's largest and most diverse trade unions, has more than one million active and retired members, with active members working in manufacturing, public service, higher education, health care, casinos, and other industries.