Vice President Al Gore picked up the endorsement of one of Iowa’s largestunions today. AFSCME’s Iowa President, Jan Corderman, made the announcementin Des MoinesGore noted that the AFSCME Union provided crucial backing to Tom Vilsack’ssuccessful campaign for Governor. Gore says the American labor movement has become a powerhouse in politics.University of Iowa political science professor Peverill Squire says AFSCMEunion members are a crucial block of voters for any democrat candidate.Iowa State University political science professor Steffen Schmidt says AFSCMEis one of two strong unions in the state.Schmidt says Iowa’s strongest unions are “white collar” — the Iowa StateEducation Association for teachers and AFSCME for government workers. Schmidt says the two democrats in the presidential race aren’t necessarilythe favorites of industrial unions because both Gore and Bill Bradleysupport the North American Free Trade Agreement.Gore addressed AFSCME’s annual meeting this afternoon. AFSCME has morethan 10-thousand Iowa members.
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