Hillary Clinton: South Carolina United Transportation Union Comes Out for Clinton

8/31/2007 -- The South Carolina United Transportation Union today announced plans to support Senator Hillary Clinton in the upcoming Palmetto State Primary. The UTU endorsement includes roughly 650 active members in South Carolina and approximately 2,000 retirees statewide in the railroad, bus and public transit sectors.

"We have a history of picking winners early and Hillary is the best choice for a president that South Carolina’s working families can depend on in the White House. She has a track record of standing up for working families and now we get the chance to stand up for her," Jack Ramsey, state director for UTU, said. "We’re endorsing her 100 percent, so we’re going to be helping spread the message around the state that Hillary has the right experience to lead from day one in office."

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In South Carolina, UTU has active locals in Abbeville,Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville and Spartanburg.

"Clinton’s detailed plan to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and her strong performance at the AFL-CIO Presidential forum in Chicago are powerful rallying points for South Carolina members of the UTU," Ramsey said.

In early August, Hillary proposed a comprehensive plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure including a $10 billion emergency repair fund and other initiatives that could aid in addressing South Carolina’s $2.9 billion bridge-repair backlog. According to the South Carolina Department of Transportation, 1,809 of South Carolina’s 8,330 bridges are substandard, with more than 1,000 of them deemed “structurally deficient.” In addition, nearly 800 South Carolina bridges do not meet federal lane-width or other service standards and are designated "functionally obsolete,” while another 138 bridges are unsound enough that the use of heavy vehicles over them is restricted. Ten bridges have been closed because they’ve been deemed unsafe, according to the DOT.

"I am honored to receive the support of the United Transportation Union," Clinton said. "South Carolina’s workers have been invisible to this administration, and it’s time they had an advocate in the White House."

National UTU leadership said this week they plan to encourage the union’s 125,000 active and retired members nationwide to support Hillary and other labor-friendly candidates in 2008.

Source: Hillary Clinton campaign