Unite Here union endorses Clinton

Labor union Unite Here announced Tuesday that it is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president in the lead-up to the Democratic National Convention next week. 

{mosads}The union, which represents 270,000 workers in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation and airport industries, said it’s backing Clinton because she opposes an excise tax on high-end healthcare plans under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the “Cadillac tax.” 

The excise tax, which is set to go into effect after President Obama leaves office, would charge some companies that provide high-dollar healthcare benefits an additional tax on such plans. 

“Most impressively, we did not have to ask Hillary Clinton to take this position,” the union said in a release. “Indeed, it is just a reflection of her decades-long commitment to affordable health care for working families.”

The union also lauded Clinton’s support for comprehensive immigration reform and her support for President Obama’s executive actions on immigration that have been blocked by the courts. 

In a statement, Clinton said she’s honored to have earned the endorsement.

“UNITE HERE knows, as I do, that America is stronger together. Workers’ rights to organize, to bargain collectively, to be safe on the job, and to retire with dignity and security after years of hard work are fundamental to our country and to our economy,” she said. “In too many statehouses across the country — and even in the halls of Congress — these rights are under concerted attack by Republicans and big corporations who have forgotten that a strong economy requires a strong workforce.”  

If elected president, Clinton promised to protect and build upon President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and introduce legislation to secure comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship within her first 100 days.

“I’ll always have workers’ backs — because when workers are strong, America is strong,” she said.