Labor leaders talk politics at convention

WEST VALLEY CITY — The annual Utah AFL-CIO convention took on an overtly political tone early in the day Friday, with speakers denouncing school vouchers and supporting Democratic candidates for president.

"Working families made a showing at the polls in 2006, and they're going to finish it off in 2008," said Utah AFL-CIO president Ed Mayne, who is also a state senator from West Valley City.

"Things have got to change. The labor movement has got to make sure of it."

Keynote speaker Terry Bonds of the United Steelworkers of America agreed.

"We've got a job to do," said Bonds, director of USWA district 12, which includes Utah. "We started that job in 2006, we must finish that job in 2008. We must."

Of particular importance to labor leaders is access to health care, Bonds said, noting that it should be a crime to have nearly 50 million uninsured people in a country as prosperous as the United States.

Health care is the biggest issue in every contract negotiation the USWA is involved in, he said. However, the bargaining table is not the appropriate place for the discussion to take place.

"We're only going to solve this issue in the halls of government," Bonds said.

The USWA has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards largely because of his health-care plan, he said. If Edwards does not receive the nomination, Bonds said the steelworkers union will work tirelessly to elect a Democrat to the White House "because we need a change."

Before Bonds took the stage Friday morning, Mayne received a standing ovation as he made his way to the microphone to open the daylong conference at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center.

The 30-year union president was diagnosed with lung cancer in April. On Friday, Mayne looked thinner but was as fiery as ever, saying he was "not afraid to die" but did not want to because "I've got things to do."

"We've got things to do in this state and this nation," Mayne said. "And the labor movement's got to be the group that makes it happen."

Mayne has undergone chemotherapy and radiation since being the cancer was found in his right lung. Recent tests have revealed the treatment has destroyed 50 percent of the cancer, and Mayne said he is gearing up for the second phase of treatment.

Still, Mayne said he plans to stay on as president of the Utah AFL-CIO through November 2008 before passing the torch to his successor.

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