John Edwards Meets with Union Family Members in Seattle

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/05/01/john-edwards-meets-with-union-family-members-in-seattle/

John Edwards Meets with Union Family Members in Seattle

David Groves, communications director for the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), sends us this report from Seattle, where John Edwards met with nearly 1,000 union members in the second AFL-CIO town hall forum with 2008 presidential candidates.

“If we want to build the middle class in this country… it is absolutely crucial that we make it easier, not harder, to organize unions in the workplace.”

That was the message presidential candidate John Edwards delivered to union members who gathered Tuesday at the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 751 Hall in Seattle.

The event was the second of the AFL-CIO’s Working Families Vote 2008 national town hall forums. Dozens of AFL-CIO unions were represented in the packed house, many members proudly wearing union T-shirts and creating a patchwork of colors in the audience.



Dave Freiboth, head of the host Martin Luther King County Labor Council, welcomed union members to the event, and Rick Bender, WSLC president, introduced Edwards as a man who “brought a positive message of change” to the 2004 campaign as Sen. John Kerry’s running mate.

Before taking questions, Edwards noted that today marked a sad anniversary.

Four years ago today, George Bush flew onto an aircraft carrier and declared: “Mission accomplished.” Not quite. The Congress was given a mission this past November, and that mission has not yet been finished, either. And that mission is to end this war in Iraq.

FULL story at link.