Labor sources: Steelworkers to endorse Gephardt
Union would be 10th major labor group to back his candidacy
From John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
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Rep. Dick Gephardt spoke to members of the New York business community Monday.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Missouri Democratic Rep. Dick Gephardt will receive his 10th major endorsement from organized labor Tuesday when the United Steelworkers of America announces its support for his presidential campaign, several labor sources said Monday.
USWA President Leo Gerard will hold a news conference at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, to announce the results of a national survey among union members and an early decision by the union's executive board to endorse Gephardt, sources said.
The USWA is an industrial union representing 1.2 million active and retired workers in the United States and Canada employed in the steel, aluminum, rubber, mining, chemicals, glass, utilities and health care industries.
The endorsement will come as the nine Democratic presidential candidates meet in Chicago for the AFL-CIO's candidate forum, scheduled for Tuesday evening.
Last week, Gephardt won the backing of the 1.4 million-member Teamsters union, though John Kerry scored a small coup Monday when that union's local in Chicago, the second-largest Teamsters local, opted to back him over Gephardt.
None of the other eight Democratic presidential candidates has received a national labor endorsement, though several large unions have yet to back a candidate, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Association of Federal, State, Council and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Gephardt said Monday that he is proud to have labor's support.
"My dad was a Teamster," Gephardt said. "I think there are a lot of working families out there that want a candidate for president and want a president that will remember the struggle that people go through every day to make a living, to raise their kids, to educate their kids, to have health care for their family."
Gephardt was speaking Monday at a meeting of the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce about "Economic Security Through a Stronger Middle Class." He said President Bush's policies caused budget surpluses, jobs and "middle class hope" to disappear.
"To me, the W in George W. Bush stands for 'wrong way,' " he said.
Gephardt also promised that his first act as president would be to submit legislation to Congress to repeal the tax cuts and replace them with health care for all Americans "that can never be taken away."
He also vowed to press the World Trade Organization for an international minimum wage.
