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ELECTIONS
Obama to seek AFL-CIO, labor backing in meetings
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama is moving quickly this week in hopes of uniting the labor movement behind his candidacy.
The presumed presidential nominee is scheduled to meet with AFL-CIO leaders on Wednesday, followed by a meeting with leaders of the AFL-CIO and other unions on Thursday at a closed-door economic forum.
The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor organization, has yet to endorse Obama, although its eventual support is all but certain. The AFL-CIO already has started its campaign against Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and its biggest rival, the Change to Win labor organization, has endorsed the Democratic senator from Illinois.
Change to Win leaders will meet privately with Obama on Thursday evening.
Obama still needs to make amends with many in the labor movement; at least a dozen AFL-CIO unions, including the powerful American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, backed his Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The AFL-CIO allowed its unions to make their own endorsements during the primaries.
Both of Obama's meetings are private. The meeting Wednesday evening the AFL-CIO's Washington headquarters is for the labor group's union presidents and leadership only. The meeting Thursday morning at a Capitol Hill hotel, arranged by Obama's campaign, is exclusively for AFL-CIO and nonaffiliated union presidents, with no staff allowed.
No endorsements are expected from either meeting.
A decision on an Obama endorsement will come from the AFL-CIO's general board, which is expected to meet soon, spokesman Steve Smith said. "You've seen a number of unions supporting Senator Obama in recent days, in recent weeks," Smith said. "It seems like the labor movement is getting on the same page."
Thursday's meeting was described as an "open forum on economic issues," where union presidents will be able to discuss their positions and issues with Obama.
A strong AFL-CIO endorsement is likely to help Obama with blue-collar workers and union members in industrial states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. The AFL-CIO expects to spend an estimated $200 million on the presidential and congressional elections, much of which will be spent on Democrats.
Clinton dropped out of the race earlier this month and endorsed Obama.
The machinists union will not attend Wednesday's meeting but "we look forward to a productive conversation with Senator Obama about the policies that can resonate with our members," spokesman Rick Sloan said.
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On the Net:
AFL-CIO: http://www.aflcio.org
