The results are in from yesterday's Democratic primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, and it's hard to see how they could be read as anything but a resounding victory for the American Dream Candidate -- Senator Barack Obama.

In North Carolina, Obama outperformed all expectations to rack up a fourteen-point victory, winning the state by more than 200,000 votes. And in Indiana, where we've been told for weeks that the demographics favor Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama came within a hair's breadth -- 2% of the vote -- of winning as well.

Last night's results strengthened Senator Obama's claim to the nomination from just about every angle:

• Pledged delegates: The victory in North Carolina will add to Obama's already-strong lead in pledged delegates, and since Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally rather than winner-take-all, the close decision in Indiana will mean that both candidates will win roughly the same number of delegates from that state -- and that means that Obama will maintain his lead of a little more than 150 pledged delegates. There are not enough delegates still undecided for Senator Clinton to overcome this lead.
• Popular vote: While Obama has been leading in the overall popular vote for most of this race, his loss in Pennsylvania narrowed the margin somewhat. Yesterday, though, his big margin in North Carolina allowed him to regain a commanding lead in popular votes.
• States won: Obama has been leading in this metric for some time now, and since last night gave one state to each candidate, that hasn't changed. By my count, Obama has won 27 states -- 28 if you count Texas (in which he won the most overall delegates, thanks to a strong performance in the caucus segment of their election) -- compared to 15 for Clinton.
• "He only wins caucuses": Fifteen of the states Obama has won to date are primary states. That's actually one more than the same as Clinton, who has had fourteen fifteen victories in primaries to date. (Whoops, forgot to include Clinton's win in the Texas primary in my original count. Sorry about that.)

Keith Olbermann had probably the best summary of events while helming MSNBC's election coverage last night; quoting Sir Winston Churchill, he said that "this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

UPDATE (10:54AM): Official statement on yesterday's results from Greg Tarpinian, Executive Director of Change to Win:

“Sen. Barack Obama’s surprisingly large victory in North Carolina and strong showing in Indiana have brought the Democratic Party one step closer to selecting Sen. Obama as our nominee for president. With only six contests remaining, it has become clear that Sen. Obama is the choice of more voters, in more states, and continues to hold a commanding lead among pledged delegates.

“The aggressive education and mobilization efforts of the Change to Win unions made a critical difference in narrowing the margin of Clinton victory in the Hoosier State and produced a solid block of delegates in Indiana and North Carolina. Change to Win will continue to support Sen. Obama in the remaining primary elections to help make him the next president of the United States of America.”

And speaking of those aggressive education and mobilization efforts, here's some details on the hard work that CtW members did for Obama on the ground in Indiana:

Change to Win members are waging an aggressive effort to help Barack Obama make a strong showing in the Hoosier State. With nearly 30,000 members in Indiana, Change to Win unions have put in place an extensive campaign to turn out members and working family voters for Obama and to help restore the American Dream for America’s workers.

In Indiana:

• More than 1,500 Change to Win members and volunteers working to contact voters door-to-door or over the phone
• More than 60,000 doors knocked and hundreds of thousands of direct mail pieces sent to Democratic households throughout the state
• Hundreds of Change to Win members and volunteers conducting aggressive labor-to-labor canvass programs in Northwest Indiana, South Bend and Indianapolis
• Recruiting hundreds of volunteers and helping manage key get-out-the-vote staging locations, including Northwest Indiana and Indianapolis
• UFCW, UNITE HERE, SEIU and Teamsters members conducting member-to-member education and mobilization efforts at worksites throughout the state
• Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa campaigned in Gary, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis speaking to members about jobs, the economy, the nation’s failed trade policies, and to turn out the vote for Obama

We’ve written extensively in this space on the problem of combustible dust explosions.  There’s been some activity on this front in the last few days, so an update is probably in order.

First, the good news — on Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, with 247 Members voting yea and 165 voting nay. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office explains why passing the bill was a priority:

Workers cannot be asked to wait any longer for these basic protections.  In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. The tragedy at Imperial Sugar shows that the threat of dust explosions is very real at industrial worksites across America and needs to be addressed immediately.

OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act.  The Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, but OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules. The agency has the authority to issue such rules without Congress passing new legislation, but it has failed to act. The CSB concluded that voluntary dust standards issued by the National Fire Protection Association were effective if employers complied with them.

And now, the bad news — also this week, the White House announced that President Bush would likely veto the bill if it reaches his desk:

The Administration has serious concerns with the expedited and one-size-fits-all regulatory approach required by the bill, which will impact as many as 200,000 workplaces in a variety of industries throughout the United States. If H.R. 5522 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.

What’s the Administration’s beef with the bill? Basically, it boils down to this: the bill would require corporations to move speedily to check if their facilities are contaminated with combustible dust, and clean them up if they are.  And the Administration doesn’t think there’s any particular hurry on this issue.

I imagine that all the workers who have experienced combustible dust explosions in their workplace so far this year would disagree, of course.  But it’s probably not surprising to anyone at this point that this Administration would prefer not to let a little thing like widespread risk of injury or death to workers get in the way of maintaining the bottom line.

Pathetic.

Anyway, before the bill can get to the President it has to pass the Senate first.  You can help make that happen by signing our petition urging Congress to pass combustible dust legislation:

Unless you've been living in a cave somewhere, you're probably familiar with the subprime mortgage crisis and the shock waves it's sending through the economy. The fallout so far has been severe: millions of working people are facing foreclosure, and more than 350,000 construction workers have lost their jobs.

In response to the crisis, Congress has been considering a bill entitled the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008. Preventing foreclosures is certainly a good goal -- but this bill contained a provision that would amount to a $25 billion government bailout for corporate homebuilders. The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) has released a report (PDF) that explains how the actions of these same corporate homebuilders helped bring on the subprime crisis -- which makes it pretty unseemly for Congress to be rushing to bail them out.

LIUNA General President Terry O'Sullivan explains:

Under the Act's "carry-back" provision, corporate homebuilders and Wall Street investors would get $25 billion in tax breaks through 2010 compared to the $9 billion designated to actually help homeowners. The carry-back would allow homebuilders to apply losses from 2008 and 2009 as far back as four years against taxes paid on profits - a two-year extension of the current carry-back allowance - even though much of the builders' profit came from their own subprime lending and speculative over-heating of the market.

The Senate's bill will use taxpayer money to pay for corporate homebuilders' reckless and unethical behavior.

Today, LIUNA took this message directly to the homebuilders in a way that they couldn't ignore. The National Association of Home Builders -- the trade group that represents corporate homebuilders -- brought their members to Washington today to participate in a "Lobby Day", where they would go to the offices of their Members of Congress and ask them to support the $25 billion bailout. When those members came out to board their buses to Capitol Hill, though, they met a vocal contingent of workers whose message was simple: the mortgage crisis shouldn't become an excuse for corporations to belly up to the trough.

I was fortunate enough to be there this morning with my camera, so here's a slideshow of some of the memorable moments that ensued...

Yesterday, the American Dream Candidate, Senator Barack Obama, stopped by the annual convention of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) in his hometown of Chicago to share his thoughts on the role of unions in rebuilding the American Dream, and how he intends to stand up for working people as President: 

What he said, I think, is important — not just for UFCW members, but for working families across America.  It may be his most clear and compelling articulation to date of how he envisions an Obama Administration reversing the trends that have punished working men and women for decades and restoring the American Dream for everybody.

For that reason, I’m reprinting his remarks in full here. (If you don’t see them, just click the “continue reading” link below.) I encourage you to watch the video, read the text, and share your thoughts in the comments. His message is critically important for all of us. If you think America is on the wrong track, and you’re wondering how we can turn things around, give this speech a listen.

Continue reading ""Take It Back"" »

Today is Earth Day, which makes this announcement from SEIU all the more timely:

Just in time for Earth Day 2008, the 1.9 million member SEIU will launch its “Negotiate Green” initiative, a program that will utilize the union’s strong bargaining power to reduce the environmental footprint of our workplaces.

The unprecedented initiative establishes a series of “green contract provisions” that will empower members to bring environmental degradation and related environmental health concerns to the bargaining table. Gathered from SEIU members and leaders from across the country, the provisions include:

• Public transportation benefits to decrease automobile use
• Replacement of toxic cleaning supplies to protect workers, land and water
• Encouragement of daytime cleaning to reduce nighttime energy use in buildings
• Establishment of labor-management environmental committees for ongoing monitoring of environmental issues in the workplace

Many people have an outdated understanding of the relationship between labor and environmentalism. They think that what's good for workers is bad for the environment, and vice versa. Today, though, we can see an alternate path: a path where building a green economy creates lots of good new jobs that help people achieve the American Dream.

More information on green contract provisions can be found on the SEIU Web site.