VP Joe Biden pledges to back workers in Pa. stop - article with pics

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VP Joe Biden pledges to back workers in Pa. stop

By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer Dan Nephin, Associated Press Writer – 17 mins ago

PITTSBURGH – Vice President Joe Biden told a rally at Pittsburgh's Labor Day parade that organized labor was the backbone of the country and that he and Sen. Arlen Specter would continue fighting for workers.

"You built the middle class. The middle class cannot be rebuilt without a growth in labor," Biden told a crowd of about 300 Monday morning outside Mellon Arena.

Biden touted the federal stimulus package, saying it was providing millions of Americans with unemployment insurance and healthcare or Medicaid benefits.

In Pennsylvania, Biden said, the state would have had to lay off more than 10,000 people without the stimulus package. The money also enabled 135,000 public school teachers and more than 5,000 police officers to be hired in the state, he said.

Biden credited Specter, a Republican turned Democrat, with supporting both the stimulus and the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize. The measure is currently before Congress.

"This is one of the few guys that I have know in 36 years that when it came down to a matter of principle and what would help his state, or his future, he chose the principle," Biden said.

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Vice President Joe Biden, accompanied by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., addresses the crowd before the start of the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh, Monday, Sept. 7, 2009.
(AP Photo/Don Wright)


Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with union supporters after a speaking before the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh, Monday, Sept. 7, 2009.
(AP Photo/Don Wright)


Vice President Joe Biden talks with union supporters before the start of the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh, Monday, Sept. 7, 2009.
(AP Photo/Don Wright)