ProgressOhio

Yesterday at noon, union veterans gathered at Memorial Hall in downtown Dayton. This event was one of a number around the country that marked the kickoff of the AFL-CIO's new Veterans' Council.

In addition to mobilizing leaders at the top to develop a national strategy to make sure veterans' voices are heard this year, and mobilizing grassroots union veterans to get involved to protect veterans' interests, the Council marks its kickoff with the debut of a tv ad featuring IBEW member and Vietnam Navy combat veteran Jim Wasser.

John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, spoke at the veterans' event in Dayton today, as did Mark Ayers, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, Vietnam veteran, and chair of the Veterans Council. Other speakers included Joe Rugola, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO, and Wes Wells, Executive Secretary of the Dayton-Miami Valley Labor Council, whose son is currently serving in Iraq.

Why isn't the Veterans' Council supporting John McCain, who served in Vietnam, instead of Obama, who was never in the military? Material from the Veterans' Council says:

We support the candidate who has the strongest record in standing up for working people’s and veterans issues. Obama supports seriously reforming our nation’s broken health care system. McCain does not. Obama supports ending tax breaks for companies who send jobs overseas. McCain does not. Obama supports full funding for the GI bill and increased funding for veterans health care. McCain does not.

We've got a great one-minute video of John Sweeney speaking at the event, as well as two union vets talking about John McCain available from the Ohio Labor 2008 YouTube site.