‘SOBs United’: Tea Party Members Protest Hoffa Union Worker Rally

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Madeleine Morgenstern

Teamsters President James Hoffa led a rally of union members in Puyallup, Wash. Friday, but was also met with some local Tea Party opposition protesting his “son of a bitches” Labor Day remark.

According to the Sky Valley Chronicle, Hoffa was in town to support grocery warehouse workers fighting for a new contract. The Teamsters want the Fred Meyer distribution center to subsidize their health care premiums.

Workers chanted “Teamster power!” and waved signs that read, “Quality health care now!” A Fred Meyer spokeswoman said the Teamsters‘ health plan doesn’t meet new standards.

“No incentives for being healthy, for being involved in your healthcare, for taking care of yourself,” the spokeswoman said.

When Hoffa spoke, he condemned Fred Meyer for its “organized effort against organized labor,” and repeated part of his anti-Tea Party refrain, declaring its members are waging a “war on workers” and trying to “crush unions.”

Hoffa, who repeatedly defended his comments this week, told local media outlets he is still “very proud of what [he] said” on Labor Day.

“Anytime someone tries to take away the rights of Americans for collective bargaining, anyone trying to take away Social Security, I’ll call them names anytime I want,” Hoffa told KOMO News.

Meanwhile, Leon Donahue was one of those on hand nearby from the Washington Tea Party Movement to protest Hoffa.

Tea Party members waved American flags and held signs proclaiming their collective “SOB” title.

“I’m opposed to a man who is supposed to be dignified and so powerful calling us sons of bitches,” Donahue said.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/sobs-united-tea-party-members-protest-hoffa-union-worker-rally/