By the numbers, Clinton wins the labor battle

Among Democratic presidential contenders, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has garnered the most support of labor union members, with another union endorsement this week pushing her total up to about 6 million members.

After winning the backing of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Clinton can now claim that she has significantly more labor support than her chief rivals, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.).

{mosads}Clinton has endorsements from 13 national unions with about 6 million members, compared to Edwards, who has endorsements from four national unions with a total of more than 3 million members.

Obama has not won the backing of any national unions, but he does have the support of several locals with membership of around 280,000.

While Clinton has the most support, Edwards’s union endorsements are probably more helpful in the early rounds. By picking up the backing of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Iowa and several other states, Edwards scored a big win.

Not to be overlooked is the one union endorsement Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) won. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is a politically savvy union that helped propel Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to wins in Iowa and New Hampshire on his way to winning the Democratic nomination in 2004.