With four months to go until the midterm elections, the nation's largest labor group has begun its grassroots push for Democrats who back its jobs program and who support policies that help working families.
AFL-CIO organizers hit the ground Monday in 23 states as part of a widespread effort to inform voters about the labor records of congressional gubernatorial candidates, The Washington Post reported.
"If politicians are fighting for working families, then we will work our hearts out for them," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement. "If they aren't delivering and think they can take our support for granted, then they may be awfully lonely come November."
The AFL-CIO, which represents about 11 million workers, will hold two weeks of "one-on-one conversations" with voters in battleground states such as Nevada and California, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Barbara Boxer are struggling in their re-election bids.
The labor group is changing its focus to the general election after putting much effort and money into recent primaries and special elections, the Post said.
But not all Democrats can expect AFL-CIO support. Trumka (pictured) said his organization will not back members of Congress who voted against health-care reform or the economic-recovery and jobs bills.
"If politicians want the support of working families in November, they need to create good jobs here in America now," Trumka said
(The preceding report by Christopher Weber appeared on the Web site www.politicsdaily.com on July 12, 2010.)
