Updated The A.F.L.-C.I.O. announced on Wednesday that it has set up a new union council for military veterans that will run broadcast ads in six states praising Senator John McCain’s military record, while criticizing his Senate record, especially on economic issues.þIn a telephone news conference, John J. Sweeney, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s president, said that 2 million union members are veterans, and he urged them to back Senator Barack Obama for president over Mr. McCain.þ“On military issues, everyone respects Senator McCain’s record,” Mr. Sweeney said. “I want people to know that his agenda is wrong on pocketbook issues.”þThe labor federation, which represents 10 million union members, is planning to run broadcast ads for the next three weeks in six swing stages; Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.þMr. Sweeney said the council was being formed to bring together union members who are veterans so they can speak their minds on matters that affect not just veterans, but also middle-class and working-class voters.þThe new labor group will be called the A.F.L.-C.I.O. Union Veterans Council, and its president will be Mark Ayers, a Navy veteran who is president of the labor federation’s Building and Construction Trades Department.þMr. Ayers noted that that union veterans respect Sen. John McCain’s service to his country, but said that Mr. McCain’s Senate record was out of step with where the country needs to go to serve veterans. þ“Not only has McCain voted the wrong way on veterans’ issues - - such as opposing increased funding for veterans’ health care the last four years in a row — but he also doesn’t support middle class people’s issues,” Mr. Ayers said. “He wants to tax people’s health care benefits, and supports unfair trade deals, including NAFTA.” þFederation officials said this new effort was designed in large part to persuade veterans — union and nonunion — to think about not just Mr. McCain’s military record, but about his broader economic record when they vote.þAmong the cities where the ads will be run are Flint, Michigan; Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio; and Erie, Johnstown and Wilkes-Barre, Pa.,þ“The profile of the markets is they are left-behind towns,” said Denise Mitchell, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s communications director. “We’re running ads in towns where good jobs are disappearing, where the economic slowdown that everybody is experiencing is particularly acute.”þShe declined to say how much the A.F.L.-C.I.O. was spending on the ads, except to say that it was “a significant buy.”þThe labor federation also announced on Wednesday that state union veterans councils had been formed in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio and West Virginia. It said such councils would soon be set up in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan and other states.þThis is part of what the labor federation says is its biggest political mobilization ever.þ“Veterans will be front and center in our effort to put our country back on track,” Mr. Sweeney said.þThe new group has launched a Web site, www.unionveterans.org.þIts new ad can be viewed here. þUpdate: Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said, “When it comes to important trade agreements, Obama simply follows big labor and votes no. That might be good politics, but it’s bad for the country. It’s no surprise the A.F.L.-C.I.O. is now coming to Obama’s assistance and attacking McCain. John McCain has spent his life putting country before politics.” þ
Source: NY Times
