"Obama Expresses Solidarity With Union" ...union hotel and casino workers

[in_cog_ni_to]

Obama Expresses Solidarity With Union
By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press Writer

32 minutes ago

LAS VEGAS - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama told union hotel and casino workers Friday that he was ready to walk their picket lines should current contract talks turn sour.

"I have already bought my suntan lotion," Obama said, prompting members of the Culinary Workers Union members to rise to their feet. "I'm prepared. I'm equipped. I'm ready to walk, I'm ready to walk. I'm ready."

The 60,000-member union is locked in contract negotiations with its major employers, MGM Mirage Inc. and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. The union is expected to be a key organizing force in the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses, and its endorsement is highly sought.

On Friday, the second day of a campaign swing, Obama railed against increasing executive pay and said companies were leaving U.S. workers out of their success. He also voiced his objections to the immigration bill in Congress.

He said he opposes provisions governing a temporary worker program in part because the program would create a class of workers unable to unionize. The Illinois senator also said he hoped to change provisions in the bill that create a point system for immigrants entering the country based in part on education and job skills.

"The people who came through Ellis Island _ nobody was testing them to see if, you know, they were Ph.D.s in physics," he said, arguing the system would undermine the current family reunification-based system and favor immigrants from wealthier countries.<snip>

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