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Kerry gains labor endorsement

The AFL-CIO, the labor organization comprised of 64 unions, gave Democratic presidential-primary frontrunner Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) the endorsement of the 13 million-member federation of labor.

“Today we are unified in our support of a presidential candidate, one who not only can take on President Bush, defeat him and turn our nation around, but who is all of the best things America has to offer,” read the AFL-CIO General Board’s statement to endorse Kerry.

Many believe backing by the large federation gives Kerry some momentum over Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) as the Democratic primary contest heats up into a two-man race between the two senators.

John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, pledged the organization would work on a more massive political scale during the 2004 election than in years past. According to the organization, one in four voters in 2000 were from union households.

The AFL-CIO General Board’s unanimous decision to give Kerry the endorsement came after meeting with the senator Thursday morning. Kerry spoke to a crowd of union workers and labor leaders afterward.

“Today we stand united in a common cause: to defeat George W. Bush and change the direction of our nation,” Kerry said in his speech. “We’re going to put America back on track — the road of prosperity, the road of fairness, the road of jobs.”

Although the Edwards campaign claims Kerry is weak on labor issues, Kerry supporters believe the endorsement proves there is little difference between the two on free trade and workers’ rights.

“One of the distinctions Edwards is trying to show is on labor and NAFTA,” Don Eggert, chair of Students for Kerry, said. “I think what the AFL-CIO endorsement shows is there is not as great a difference as he would like to make.”

Eggert claims the labor organization, which has withheld its support for any Democratic candidate until now, is uniting behind the candidate most able to beat President Bush in the fall.

“They both are going to be good on labor issues, but Kerry is more electable,” he said.

Edwards, however, has said fundamental differences exist between himself and Kerry on the issue of free trade.

“Sen. Kerry is entitled … to support free trade, as [he] always has. The problem is what we see happening — and it’s NAFTA, which I opposed, plus a whole series of other trade agreements, (that) have been devastating here in Wisconsin,” Edwards said during the televised debate in Milwaukee Sunday.

Edwards has begun to more aggressively emphasize distinctions between the two candidates left standing in the primary race, as the two struggle to secure voter support in the days leading up to Super Tuesday. Kerry just barely edged Edwards out of a win in Wisconsin Tuesday, lending some uncertainty to the Massachusetts senator’s ability to easily wrap up the nomination.