Gephardt Adds to Growing Union Support

CHICAGO (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt added to his growing union support Tuesday, nabbing an endorsement from the United Steelworkers of America.

Union President Leo Gerard extended the endorsement to the Missouri congressman, saying he was ``not just labor's guy,'' but the ``heart and soul and conscience'' of America's workers.

An emotional Gephardt, who has staked his primary hopes on the support of organized labor, accepted the endorsement before more than a 100 rank-and-file members.

``It's not about me - it's about us,'' he said of his campaign, his second run for the nomination after an unsuccessful bid in 1988. ``I'm just one person who needs allies and people out there in the United States leading a crusade.''

The steelworkers represent 1.2 million active and retired workers in the United States and Canada, with about 650,000 dues-paying members.

The union endorsement is Gephardt's 11th, following a coveted seal of approval from the Teamsters in a leadership vote last week. The top prize, though, an endorsement from the AFL-CIO, may prove elusive.

Union officials are meeting this week in part to determine whether Gephardt, who has staked his campaign on the support of organized labor, can snag enough endorsements from individual unions to win the AFL-CIO prize.

The nine presidential candidates gathered in Chicago for an AFL-CIO forum as the union's executive council held its meeting.

The AFL-CIO has endorsed only twice before: Al Gore in the last election and Walter Mondale in 1984. It's a difficult benchmark, requiring support from two thirds of the AFL-CIO's 13 million rank-and-file members.

Labor leaders say Gephardt is the only current candidate with a chance to join that list, even as they caution that there is a real possibility the labor group will make no endorsement.

The AFL-CIO may call for another meeting later this fall, giving them more time to gauge support.

``I think it's going be hard because there are a bunch of big unions, particularly some of the service and public sector unions, that aren't ready to endorse him,'' said Steve Rosenthal, the former AFL-CIO political director credited with building labor's successful political program.

Questions plague the Missouri congressman's campaign, particularly about whether he can win. Gephardt, a longtime ally of labor, also sought the nomination in 1988.

The steelworkers' endorsement comes as unions' share of the work force has declined every year for the past 20 years, yet the power of organized labor at the polling place continues to grow.

For while the proportion of union members in the work force has fallen from 20 percent in 1983 to 13.2 percent now, labor's relative strength at the ballot box continues to grow in the face of overall declines in voter turnout.

The share of union household voters has grown from 19 percent in 1992 to 23 percent in 1996 to 26 percent in 2000.

For the United Food and Commercial Workers, which had its convention last week, members are widely divided about who to support.

``What's become clear from our convention is there is no consensus in our union for any one candidate,'' said union spokesman Greg Denier. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Gephardt ``both got tremendously good responses,'' he said, ``but there was not some clear favorite, that this is the person.''

Another critical issue facing organized labor this week is money. With most unions struggling in the poor economy and membership down in some of them, labor officials are trying to figure out how to finance the largest political effort ever.

``After seeing George Bush raise $200 million, I think we know that to be able to talk to our members and in some cases nonunion voters, we're going to need a lot of resources to be heard,'' said Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, the largest in the AFL-CIO.

The executive council will consider transferring about $5 million from the AFL-CIO's general fund or organizing budget, and levying another surcharge on its affiliates of 4 cents per member per month to boost its political funds.

The same surcharge was approved for the 2002 election cycle - after much grumbling from some unions - and was to pay for the political program through 2005.

The AFL-CIO spent $42 million in the last presidential cycle and Stern said the council is considering an increase of about 25 percent.

Oh, I'm sure that the union members are going to LOVE having more money taken out of their paychecks. Actually, the only reason they an afford it is because Bush gave them back some of their tax money. Now the union members will have to pay to elect someone who will take even MORE from their checks.

I belonged to the united steelworkers union back in the VN war time 60's. I still get the ague just remembering how rotten & phony the leadership was at the time. I will lay odds nothing has changed, except maybe for the worse.

4 posted on 08/05/2003 11:41:54 PM PDT by Ursus arctos horribilis ("It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!" Emiliano Zapata 1879-1919)

Maybe it's well worth it to have someone in the White House who will fight outsourcing and offshoring, which Bush is not.

This is money well spent.

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