Click Here for
Non-Java SiteMap

BUCHANAN EXPECTS UNION ENDORSEMENT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - http://www.ap.org/ July 22, 1999

Patrick J. Buchanan's presidential campaign is expected to pick up the endorsement of a labor union in West Virginia that has taken heart in his protective stand on trade. The Independent Steelworkers Union, a group of 4,100 Weirton Steel Corp. workers not affiliated with the AFL-CIO or the United Steelworkers of America, planned a "major announcement" Monday when the GOP candidate visits Weirton. On Thursday, neither Buchanan's spokesman nor ISU spokesman David Gossett would say specifically that an endorsement was in the offing. But Gossett said the executive committee of the union, which never before has endorsed a presidential candidate, had taken action on an endorsement and would announce its decision Monday. The steel industry has been hard hit by a surge in low-priced imports from Japan and other countries, and Buchanan has been an outspoken critic of free trade. "We've been supportive of him because of his position on that," Gossett said. Clinton administration trade policy has caused Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign some headaches as he tries to court the endorsement of labor, a close ally of the Democrats. Bill Bradley, Gore's only challenger for his party's nomination, has been courting union support. "A lot of unions have a lot of questions they want to ask Mr. Gore and Mr. Bradley as well," said Bill Klinefelter, the United Steelworkers of America's political director. "I don't think we've gotten the necessary details and commitments out of anybody."