--- title: Hillary Clinton Endorsed by AFL-CIO Union Group description: The largest federation of labor unions announced it is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president canonical: https://time.com/4371682/hillary-clinton-afl-cio-unions/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-16T16:09:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:39:34.211Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton Wins Support From Big Labor Group og:description: AFL-CIO calls her "a proven leader who shares our values” og:url: https://time.com/4371682/hillary-clinton-afl-cio-unions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cf3024b2f3d136f/6988982a0b72e30ee36e9d6f/gettyimages-540436034.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton Holds National Security Discussion In Hampton, Virginia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton Wins Support From Big Labor Group twitter:description: AFL-CIO calls her "a proven leader who shares our values” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cf3024b2f3d136f/6988982a0b72e30ee36e9d6f/gettyimages-540436034.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Wins Support From Big Labor Group by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 16, 2016 4:09 PM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton poses for photographs with supporters after participating in a round table conversation on national security at the Virginia Air and Space Center June 15, 2016 in Hampton, Virginia. Following the nation's final presidential primary in the District of Columbia on Tuesday, it is clear that Clinton has won enough votes to be her party's standard bearer in this fall's election. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton poses for photographs with supporters after participating in a round table conversation on national security at the Virginia Air and Space Center June 15, 2016 in Hampton, Virginia. Following the nation's final presidential primary in the District of Columbia on Tuesday, it is clear that Clinton has won enough votes to be her party's standard bearer in this fall's election.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 16, 2016 4:09 PM UTC The largest federation of labor unions announced on Thursday it is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, signaling the end of a long primary campaign against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The vote by the board of the AFL-CIO, which represents 12.5 million workers, comes two days after the final Democratic primary and nine days after Clinton was declared the presumptive nominee of the party. “Hillary Clinton is a proven leader who shares our values,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement. “Throughout the campaign, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to the issues that matter to working people, and our members have taken notice.” Clinton thanked the AFL-CIO for itsendorsement, saying that “\[m\]embers of the AFL-CIO know, as I do, that we are stronger together.” She reiterated a campaign promise to invest in infrastructure spending, raise the minimum wage and guarantee paid family leave. There was some internal dissent last year within many of the major unions over which candidate to support. Much of the rank-and-file of the AFL-CIO unions [supported Sanders](http://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/?iid=sr-link10), while [union leaders often leaned toward Clinton](http://time.com/3961869/hillary-clintons-labor-unions/?iid=sr-link1). There was vocal anger among some members of the [American Federation of Teachers](http://time.com/3954717/hillary-clinton-endorsement-american-federation-teachers/?iid=sr-link2) when the union endorsed Clinton in July, with many arguing the endorsement came to early. But the political landscape has changed in the last year and many more unions have moved to back Clinton. She has opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which has earned her support from unions. “Workers will always have a seat at the table and a champion in the White House,” Clinton said in her statement thanking the AFL-CIO. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4371682/hillary-clinton-afl-cio-unions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4371682/hillary-clinton-afl-cio-unions/"},"headline":"Hillary Clinton Wins Support From Big Labor Group","datePublished":"2016-06-16T16:09:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:39:34.211Z","description":"AFL-CIO calls her \"a proven leader who shares our values”","url":"https://time.com/4371682/hillary-clinton-afl-cio-unions/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cf3024b2f3d136f/6988982a0b72e30ee36e9d6f/gettyimages-540436034.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cf3024b2f3d136f/6988982a0b72e30ee36e9d6f/gettyimages-540436034.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton Holds National Security Discussion In Hampton, Virginia","caption":"Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton Holds National Security Discussion In Hampton, Virginia","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4371682/hillary-clinton-afl-cio-unions/","name":"Hillary Clinton Wins Support From Big Labor Group"}}]}] ```