Just Work: Barack Obama is the Fundamental Change Working America Needs

Today, when my union--the Service Employees International Union--endorsed Barack Obama for President--I felt that same surge of excitement that has been sweeping the nation: the time to reclaim the American Dream for workers is now, and Barack Obama is our ticket.

I work for the Cleveland Municipal School District, and just like millions of other working class Americans, I know what's at stake in this election. Everywhere I look I can see the consequences of a country out of balance and badly off course. While those at the top enjoy substantial pay raises and tax cuts, I find myself digging further into debt just so that I can put food on the table, afford rent, and get a basic medical check up. The cost of health insurance, gas, food, housing, and education continue to go up, and the profits are enjoyed by an ever richer and ever smaller minority of elites.

While workers suffer here at home, we continue to throw away billions of tax-payer dollars on a war with no end. Just here in Cleveland, Ohio we've lost hundreds of young men in Iraq and Afghanistan, and thousands more men and women have returned to their communities hurt, unable to work or support their families, and forgotten by the government that promised to take care of them.

The costs of the Bush administration's failed vision for America are staggering. The past seven years have left too many of us broke, living hand to mouth, and feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders.

Today, it's time to leave that despair behind.

For people like me, the prospect for real change in America is not just a trendy news story. It's about building a real future for our families, and guaranteeing economic security for those of us who work hard and play by the rules. It's about creating a government that works for us and understands that we are only strong when every voice is heard. Change is about reclaiming our sense of patriotism and clearing the good name of a country once regarded as the richest and strongest in the world.

Electing Barack Obama as President of the United States will break more than one glass ceiling--it will challenge the entire economic and political system that has kept so many of us working-class Americans fighting over the crumbs here at the bottom.

America needs a fundamental cure, not just a band-aid. We need creative solutions, not just the same old partisan gridlock. We need leaders who represent every person in America, not just those with the most political clout or the deepest pocketbooks. We need reforms that challenge the status quo, not just slight alterations that barely scratch the surface.

Barack Obama has proven through a life of community organizing and political leadership that he is committed to giving a voice to the voiceless. He's reached across generations, ethnic groups and communities of diverse economic backgrounds to remind us all about our most sacred shared ideals: equality, freedom, and justice for all Americans.

Barack Obama will restore the promise of America because he is the promise of America.

Today, I join with 1.9 million SEIU healthcare workers, janitors, security officers, public sector employees, and other service workers to pledge our commitment to work side-by-side with Barack Obama to bring the fundamental change to Washington that America needs so desperately. We will go door-to-door, join rallies nationwide, and share with our friends and neighbors the message: YES WE CAN. We can create a new American Dream.

Lynn Radcliffe is a public sector worker with the Cleveland Municipal School District and a member of SEIU Local 1199WOK. A single mother of two, Lynn is a dedicated union members and a long-time political activist who has seen how politics can change lives. In the coming weeks, she looks forward to speaking with family, friends, colleagues, and strangers about supporting Barack Obama, bringing real change to Washington, and restoring the American Dream for all workers.

Just Work is a series presented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to give a voice to working people to discuss their daily struggles to balance work, afford life and participate in a more just society. SEIU welcomes submissions to Just Work! Please send your story (600 words or less) to [e-mail].

About SEIU: The 1.9 million-member SEIU is the fastest-growing union in North America. SEIU members are winning better wages, health care, and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, benefit from today's global economy.

Comments

[melann830]

Dear Ms. Radcliffe,

I respect your seeking to find a viable candidate who you best believe would represent your needs in this coming election, but as memory serves me and it ususally serves me well, Barack Obama's campaign advisors with great help from partners like MSNBC and CNN felt it so compelling to let us all know that Hillary was getting mainly the votes of the uneducated and poor to lower middle class workers, which If this be true, she humbly but proudly embraces. Why would so many of your colleagues in the SEIU seek to support a candidate who sought to belittle those of you who fall under the middle to lower tax bracket in our nation's economy? I am a former member of the UFT and AFT and I believe it is my duty to remind you and your union members of this important and undeniable fact. No one group should have been shamed with respect to their vote. We all vote our conscience and no one should be made to feel like their vote is a waste or not worthy because of economics or position. I humbly and respectfully ask you to please re-evaluate your union's justifications for voting for Sen. Obama and given the information which I have conveyed to you, please consider why someone like myself would find it offensive to endorse any candidate who minimizes the power of even the poorest and meekest among us. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Peace.

[ariadne1]

he is what we need but are we going to be able to win the election with this sort of s***!

from the nytimes:

Unofficial Tallies in City Understated Obama Vote

www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/nyregion/16vote.html?hp

here we go again; rove tactics... clinton style!

[foreffectivegovernment]

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) Missouri, elected for the first time to the United States Senate in November 2006, explained why she was supporting Senator Barack Obama to be President of the United States. She is the only one of the 16 female Senators who now is.

These are her words. "It was a little nudging from my 18 year old Daughter." "It was Maddie in my face."
"She said, "How can you look yourself in the mirror, you"re a slug, you"re playing it politically safe, I believe in this guy, I"ll never speak to you again if you don"t stand up and have some courage." "

"It was pretty intense, she was right, it was like a cold bucket of water on my head, she was absolutely right."

This is one of the new breed of Democrats we sent to Congress in 2006 to end the Iraq War. The war has not ended and this is what we got instead. Are your kids holding their breath unless you vote for Barack Obama? Are we making the right choice now?

[shano]

Obama has the majority of polls saying he can beat McCain while Hillary cannot.

I happen to think a Democratic president would be good for this country.

[MrChuckles]

These negative slurs sound a lot like fear. Very sad.

[fvscvte]

Lynn Radcliffe,, drinking the kool-aid, much to the delight of the Republicans , who are licking their chops.
Larry Sinclair and Rezko thank you!

[Roshi98]

As usual, the leadership of SEIU endorses the candidate that their membership DON'T want and doesn't represent their interests. Remember Nevada and California, people? Mr. Radcliffe, Obama's community work was a LONG time ago. He's changed, and not for the better. He's in the pocket of the real estate, energy, health care lobbies (or, to be precise, power players from these interest groups). His economic stimulus plan will do NOTHING to help lower income Americans. Tax credits? That's just a Ponzi scheme which ultimately benefits the rich.

What a disappointment, but not really a surprise.

[hinnis]

Absolutely correct. My wife is a member of one of the major unions that just endorsed Obama, and we don't know anyone who would vote for him. Her union did not consult with its membership at all before making this important decision. I guess it's all politics as usual.

[Liberal2]

The SEIU wants *MORE* illegal immigration, so kiss your job goodbye (unless you'll accept $5/hr. and no benefits). Clinton has learned to not, at least publically and before November, show support for illegals.

[newyorknewyork]

Obama needs all of us to win. We are his greatest strength. Do your part to help him win the nomination and change the way we do business in Washington.

Make some calls!

my.barackobama.com/call

[lldem]

Excellent post. I have often wondered how Hillary, who is from a privileged family and who has a net worth in the millions of dollars, could speak for the middle class. Has she ever had to decide between paying bills or buying food? I suspect not. Has she ever lived paycheck to paycheck, with almost no hope of every being able get even let alone get ahead? I suspect not. Has she ever had to scrimp and save on every little purchase just to be able to buy her child a single Christmas gift or birthday present? I suspect not. Has she ever had to forego needed dental work or a doctor visit because she had to put shoes on her child"s feet? I suspect not. Anyone who can write a five million dollar check is so far removed from the middle class they can"t even see us. It takes a lot of gall for a rich lady to stand up in front of the people and tell us how she cares about us when we aren"t even allowed into her gated community unless it"s to clean her house or mow her lawn. Barack knows. Barack has been there. And Barack does really care about us.

[atlantaboy]

So another kool-aid drinker has crawled out from under the wood work. What fantasy! So am I to assume the newly 'divine' BO knows us all and cares, like Santa Claus? More cult of personality bullshit here. And where are the specifics of his grand plans? You BO supporters need to find your Jamestown quickly and down that kool-aid so the rest of the informed electorate can decide this thing. Also would you happen to be part of the 80 to 90 percent of one demographic voting for BO? Try reading up on things before voting for someone simply based on feel good speaches and race!

[shano]

The Obama supporters are very well read. Thats why we support him for the Presidency in '08 over any of the other candidates.

atlantaboy showing his true Confederate colors.
Hey boy, your time has been over for a long, long time. Get over it and join the 21st century.

[ProgressiveNotLiberal]

Thank you SEIU and welcome aboard Lynn and your 1.899999 million co-members. Obama can use your help in the days and primaries to come.

[Liberal2]

A large percentage of that 1.899999 million are not US citizens, nor legal residents, and, therefore, can not legally have anything to do with political activity.

As Mexico has sent us 12-20 million of their poor, about 10% of the total population of Mexico, do you not think it fair to welcome 10% of China's and India's poor. That would only be 200,000,000 more people (not counting family members to be brought over later).

[shano]

And a majority of the Mexicans here are here to excape the disastrous NAFTA policies of Clinton 1.

Try working slave labour jobs for $6.00 a day in unsafe work environments at a maquilladora on the border. Then tell me you would not break the law, cross the border illegally, to get out of that hell hole and find a safer job a few miles away.

Yea, NAFTA. One of the main reasons I support Obama over Hillary.

[gba]

But is SEIU and its members not just "special interest" - or was that just in Iowa when supporting John Edwards