Obama to Wear Union-Made Suit for Speech Tonight
Tonight, when he delivers his speech at INVESCO Field in Denver, Barack Obama will be wearing a suit made by UNITE HERE members from the Hart Schaffner Marx plant in Des Plaines, Illinois. Five hundred workers, including cutters, sewers, and distribution workers, work at the plant in suburban Chicago. Since 1910, workers at the plant have been members of UNITE HERE and its predecessor unions. "Barack Obama was determined to have a union-made suit on his back when he addresses the country tonight," said UNITE HERE General President Bruce Raynor. "Our members and working people all across the country will put him on our backs and carry him to the White House." UNITE HERE was the first international union to endorse Barack Obama. The union campaigned across the country during the primaries and will be campaigning in more than a dozen states in the lead-up to Election Day. "We've been with Barack Obama since he ran for the U.S. Senate and we know he will fight for good wages, affordable healthcare, and a secure retirement for workers," said Raynor. "His decision to wear a union-made suit reflects his commitment to support American manufacturing jobs." Workers from the Hart Schaffner Marx plant in Des Plaines will be watching the speech together tonight at the UNITE HERE union hall at 333 South Ashland Avenue in Chicago. In May, Obama met with UNITE HERE members who work at a Hart Schaffner Marx plant in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and spoke about the importance of quality jobs that can support a family. UNITE HERE is a labor union representing 465,000 members in the apparel, textile, hotel, food service, gaming, and laundry industries.