Edwards Campaign Press Release - Edwards Receives Support Of Carpenters Union

Union endorses Edwards as the strongest candidate to win the election and help working Americans

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, representing more than 520,000 members from all political affiliations, today endorsed Senator John Edwards for president. After carefully considering all the candidates from both parties, the Carpenters Union chose Edwards as the candidate with the best chance of winning the White House and the person who will best represent hard-working families. Following a meeting with the union's executive board and 35 key leaders from throughout the United States last week in Las Vegas, they voted overwhelmingly to endorse Edwards. The formal endorsement will be made at a rally of union members on September 8th in New Hampshire. Edwards' endorsement is the union's first endorsement in the primaries in several presidential cycles.

"I am honored to receive the support of the Carpenters Union," said Edwards. "For more than a century, they have been fighting for working Americans and standing up for the values that have made our country great - hard work, responsibility, and fairness. America was built by men and women who worked with their hands, and it's labor that made our country great. I look forward to joining with the Carpenters to build One America, where every person has the chance to work hard and get ahead."

"Our endorsement is based on the Senator's outspoken support for all of organized labor and his focus on America's working families," said Carpenters President Douglas J. McCarron. "In addition to his support for labor, our leadership was particularly impressed with the Senator's strong stand on trade."

"We also believe that Senator Edwards will have a great appeal in a general election," McCarron continued. "He has the ability to reach out to moderate voters, including the members of our union, and to address their very real concerns about jobs, health care and the economy."

Senator Edwards believes that in order to strengthen the middle class and build One America, we need to strengthen the union movement in our country. He has traveled across the country to walk picket lines and has helped organize thousands of workers into unions. Edwards is a strong supporter of workers' rights and has laid out a comprehensive agenda to help working families, which includes raising the minimum wage, guaranteeing universal health care, enacting smart and safe trade policies and protecting a worker's right to organize.

"More than ever, America needs a president who will stand up for working families and the middle class," Edwards said. "I have walked picket lines and helped organize thousands of workers, and I've seen firsthand what unions go through every single day trying to protect the right to organize, trying to bargain collectively, and trying to get a decent wage and health care. If we're going to grow the middle class and ensure fairness, we need to strengthen workers' rights. I have always stood on the side of working Americans and I always will."