Labor Unions Warm to Clinton-Gore By Kevin Galvin Associated Press Writer Thursday, Oct. 7, 1999; 12:38 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON With Vice President Al Gore appearing likely to win the AFL-CIO endorsement he long has coveted, his boss planned to reach out to Teamster leader Jim Hoffa, a vocal critic who has argued against early support for Gore.
President Clinton tonight was attending the 24th annual Labor Research Associates dinner, which was honoring Hoffa in New York. A separate meeting with Hoffa also was planned.
Presidents have steered clear of the Teamsters in recent years due to the union's legacy of corruption and Teamsters officials cast the visit as recognition of Hoffa's reform efforts.
But administration and Teamsters officials said the thrust of Clinton's meeting with Hoffa would be union opposition to opening the border to Mexican truck drivers under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Clinton noted that he has already discussed the endorsement with the AFL-CIO executive council and indicated that wouldn't be a major focus of his chat with Hoffa. "That is not the purpose of my going there," Clinton said.
Hoffa's campaign for the union presidency publicly accused Clinton administration officials of meddling in union politics in 1996 to support incumbent Ron Carey, but Clinton dismissed any characterization of the meeting as a fence-mending mission. Hoffa finally took office earlier this year.
"I'm not mending any fences," Clinton said. "I have actually enjoyed a fairly constructive relationship with the Teamsters for the last 6= years."
White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said the meeting had been in the planning for months, and the fact that Clinton was attending a fund-raiser a few blocks away from the dinner made it convenient for Clinton to stop by.
Clinton's dinner invitation came from Dennis Rivera, head of the health care workers union 1199 and a powerful player in New York politics. Rivera is a strong supporter of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's senatorial aspirations and a key player in the state's presidential sweepstakes.
But while Lockhart said "politics may come up," other administration officials would not say whether Clinton would raise Hoffa's opposition to an early AFL-CIO endorsement of Gore. "I'll let you know if he does," Lockhart said.
Many labor leaders, particularly those from the large industrial unions most affected by the NAFTA, have complained at times that Clinton has shown little gratitude for labor's support.
But they also recognize he signed the Family and Medical Leave Act and opposed Republican attempts to turn back labor laws governing wages and cut funding for safety programs. The administration also has worked with labor to push education funding and health care issues to the center of the political debate.
"While we may have some differences on trade, there's not a single other issue of importance to union members and working families that Al Gore and Bill Clinton haven't been there with us," said Communications Workers of America President Morton Bahr, whose union endorsed Gore in February.
The American Federation of Teachers endorsed Gore on Tuesday, a nice prelude to next week's AFL-CIO convention in Los Angeles where more than a dozen labor and political officials said they expect Gore to win the federation's endorsement.
Gore and his Democratic presidential challenger, Bill Bradley, have fought hard to influence that vote. Bradley's campaign has been surging and preventing Gore from winning the support of a major Democratic constituency would be a victory.
The painters union has been vocal in its support of Bradley, and staff-level operatives in other unions have warmed to his appeals.
But Gore has enough votes to win the support of the federation's executive council, and the real question in union leaders' minds is whether they could be endorsing too early. The Teamsters have indicated they will wait out the primary season.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney won't settle for a technical endorsement that could reflect divisions within the federation. But several union presidents who were officially on the fence have told Sweeney they would support him if he sought a Gore endorsement.
) Copyright 1999 The Associated Press