Obama and Clinton court Pa. unions

Both candidates have heavily courted labor, speaking at the AFL-CIO's state conference last week, touring union facilities throughout the state and touting plans to create new jobs that would minimize the threat of outsourcing and provide federal health care.

Unions "are certainly one of the components to performing well in the primary," said Nello Giorgetti, a lobbyist and political consultant in Pittsburgh. "Though they may not have the membership they had 30 years ago, they still have a strong network."

Gerald McEntee, AFSCME's national president, said his members are just as enthusiastic for Clinton as other groups are for Obama. "I think it will really play a very meaningful role," he said. "It won't be a sole factor [for a Clinton victory] but one of the top factors."

Union leaders hope their endorsements will play a larger role in Pennsylvania than it has in other states. Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of SEIU, said her group came out for Obama too close to the Ohio and Texas primaries to have a huge impact, but it has had six additional weeks to focus on Pennsylvania.

"I think we had a great influence in all these states, we just didn't have time to educate," she said. "Pennsylvania gives us an opportunity to be on the ground early." Most volunteers first worked on voter registration before the March 24 deadline, and they are now engaged in voter education. Turnout comes next.

But political consultants in the state say union influence there is changing. Labor groups no longer bring large swaths of voters to an endorsed candidate.

"I think as we become a more mature and sophisticated society, members of unions have access to much more information than before," said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia political analyst and former Democratic strategist. Members "used to just get something from the unions saying vote this way. Now they see things on the Internet and look at television advertising."

Video Clinton: No trade deal with Colombia April 8: Sen. Hillary Clinton reaffirms her opposition to President Bush’s proposed free trade agreement with Colombia while speaking to a gathering of the Communications Workers of America. NBC News Web Extra

Labor groups are now more valuable for their organizing skills and armloads of volunteers. "If they organize and get their members out to vote, there's less for the campaign to organize and get out to vote," Giorgetti said. "It's like having an ancillary campaign."

And union representatives can also serve as key surrogates. Eileen Connelly -- executive director of the Pennsylvania State Council for SEIU, which is backing Obama -- made a statement to the press on Tuesday as news broke of Clinton strategist Mark Penn's departure from the campaign.

"One will have to wonder what Senator Clinton is thinking and what she believes is right with the role Mark Penn is playing in her campaign," Connelly said. She also suggested Penn had several clients at Burson-Marsteller that should raise concerns for labor, including Blackwater USA and Countrywide Financial.

Union groups speak directly to their constituencies, and with so many people paying attention in a primary campaign, Burger added, unions can help their members focus on worker's issues and contrast candidates' positions.

"I'm sure there are people who come into this with strong opinions and will keep them," Burger said. "They don't want us to just give them a name, they want us to give them information."

Christen believes a union endorsement still means something to members. "I think it sways them because people have a lot of respect for their unions and what their unions have done to protect their jobs," she said.

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