Vice President Joe Biden will be appearing at a Labor Day event Monday with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the union leader said Monday.
The announcement follows a private meeting last week between the vice president and leader of the 12-million member labor federation, indicating that Biden is making a serious pitch for labor’s support should he run in the 2016 presidential election.
“I’m going to Pittsburgh and he’s going to Pittsburgh and I’m going to walk with the vice president of the United States,” Trumka told the Boston Globe Tuesday.
At a press conference hosted by the Christian Science Monitor the same day, Trumka praised Biden as a “good friend and a great champion of working people.”
Trumka stressed, however, that he was not making an official endorsement and that the AFL-CIO would not be issuing one anytime soon, noting that its member unions had to reach a consensus first. He added that he had no insight as to whether Biden would actually run.
There is no doubt that Biden would be a serious contender for union support should he jump into the race. As a senator from Delaware, he had a lifetime rating of 85 percent according to the AFL-CIO’s congressional vote rankings and was known as advocate for them on several issues. That would be a serious problem for current front-runner Hillary Clinton, who has had a difficult relationship with organized labor.
The labor federation’s backing is crucial to any Democrat who hopes to win in the general election, and an early endorsement would be a major boost in the party primary. The federation met privately with all declared Democratic candidates and Republican contender Mike Huckabee last month. Hillary Clinton refused during her meeting to take an unequivocal stand on some key issues for the AFL-CIO, such as opposing President Obama’s international trade agenda.
The success of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ upstart campaign is partly because of his pro-union positions. He already has won the endorsement of one major union, the 185,000-member National Nurses United.
Current front-runner Hillary Clinton, who has had a difficult relationship with organized labor. in Washington Examiner’s Hangs on LockerDome
