The powerful Teamsters union gave a surprise endorsement to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, giving him the two-thirds majority needed to gain a key endorsement from the Change To Win coalition, a large group of unions that had broken away from the AFL-CIO. Having already gained the endorsements of Change To Win members SEIU, UFCW, and UNITE HERE, Obama has essentially clinched the endorsement of the larger coalition, which counts 5 million members. The Change To Win coalition is expected to vote to finalize its endorsement of Obama Thursday.
See "Teamsters Endorse Obama, Offering a Blue-Collar Lift", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, February 20, 2008