ILWU endorses Sen. Bernie Sanders for president

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union endorsement comes a month after the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States, chose not to endorse a candidate.    The International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s international executive board voted Thursday to endorse U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., for President.
   “Bernie Sanders is the best candidate for America’s working families,” said ILWU International President Robert McEllrath. “Bernie is best on the issues that matter most to American workers: better trade agreements, support for unions, fair wages, tuition for students and public colleges, Medicare for all, fighting a corrupt campaign finance system and confronting the power of Wall Street that’s making life harder for most Americans.”
   The ILWU represents approximately 50,000 women and men who work in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii – in addition to ILWU Divisions representing workers in Canada and Panama.
   In February, Richard Tumka, the president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest federation of unions in the United States, said its executive council would discuss the 2016 election cycle during its winter meeting, but no presidential endorsement would be made.
   “Republican candidates have used some of the ugliest, most racist and destructive language,” said Tumka, adding that Donald Trump “loves right-to-work” and “most disturbingly…says our wages are already too high.”