Local AFSCME withholds official endorsement

As the American Federation of State, Country and Municipal
Employees retracted its support for Democratic presidential
candidate Howard Dean last week, the University of
California’s chapter has decided to shift its focus from
making endorsements to a more general strategy of putting a
Democrat into the White House.

AFSCME is among the most active labor unions in the country,
with representative offices all over the nation.

Local chapters can choose whether to endorse candidates
independently from the national organization. Officials have said
it is unlikely the UC’s chapter will make an endorsement.

“This year we have not officially endorsed a candidate. A
few of us personally like Dean but we made no official
endorsement,” said Lakesha Harrison, president of the AFSCME
chapter overseeing employees at all nine active UC campuses.

Dean was considered by the chapter to be the most labor-friendly
of the active Democratic presidential nominees, Harrison said.

Harrison added that her organization will urge its members to
vote against Bush in the upcoming presidential election.

Last Monday, the national AFSCME issued a statement withdrawing
its support for Dean.

“We agree that the most important priority for
America’s working families is to defeat George W.
Bush,” the statement read. “We will continue to work
together to unify the Democratic Party to do just that.”

Also last week, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the primary
frontrunner who has won 14 of the 16 caucuses or primaries,
received the support of another noted labor union, the Amalgamated
Transit Union, the largest labor organization representing U.S.
transit workers.

Several major labor unions are mobilizing against Bush, citing
that some of the president’s policies are not
labor-friendly.

Though he lost AFSCME’s endorsement, Dean said he will
continue to fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, and
he has put a great deal of effort into winning today’s
primary in Wisconsin.

“With the backing of hundreds of thousands of Americans,
SEIU and IUPAT, we plan to win Wisconsin next Tuesday, regain the
momentum our campaign needs, and win the nomination at the
Democratic National Convention in Boston,” Dean said in a
statement, referring to the Service Employees International Union
and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, both
unions that endorse Dean.

Mike Spahn, a spokesman for Dean’s Wisconsin office, said
even with no official endorsement, the former Vermont governor will
attempt to garner votes from union members.

“Wisconsin is critical to our campaign. We are going to
run a grassroots organized effort, and we are working right now to
ensure that the leadership and membership of AFSCME stay with
us,” Spahn said.