AFL-CIO President John Sweeney gave a high-profile and impassioned speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, focusing on a top issue in the election: turning around our struggling economy.
Sweeney said 28 million active and retired union members and their families will mobilize this fall to elect Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden and help bring about the change America needs. Sweeney put the key issues of the campaign in the spotlight by highlighting the experiences of real people, members of working families whose lives are affected every day by the policies set in Washington.
Three workers appeared with Sweeney: Annette Lewis, a single mother whose son, Marcus, is starting 6th grade this fall; Steve Skvara, a retired steelworker, who lost his health care and saw his pension cut when his former company went bankrupt; and Dan Luevano, an electrical worker, who was fired for trying to form a union and bargain. They've all run up against the callous, corporate-friendly policies that George W. Bush and John McCain have imposed on the country.
The best opportunity America's working people have to get ahead economically is by uniting to bargain with their employers for better wages and benefits. Some 60 million U.S. workers would join a union if they could—but can't because current labor laws are broken. That's why we're urging passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
We're the 2.1 million union members who are veterans of military service. We respect John McCain's service—and urge him to respect ours. But McCain has opposed increased funding for veterans health care and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Find out about McCain's record on veterans issues here.
