AFL-CIO leader says unions back Obama all the way

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Unions largely bowed out of the Democratic National Convention because party officials chose to have it in a right-to-work state, but AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka showed Wednesday night that labor is still firmly behind President Barack Obama.

“Our country needs unity. Our country needs leadership. Our country needs Barack Obama,” Mr. Trumka told a cheering crowd at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

He didn’t waste the opportunity to take a shot at the convention host’s right-to-work policy. Workers in North Carolina deserve the right to organize and to bargain collectively, he said. He spent most of his time at the podium, though, attacking Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and GOP economic policy.

“Mitt Romney told us that he and his friends built America without any help from the rest of us. Well, let me tell you something: Mr. Romney doesn’t know a thing about hard work or responsibility,” he said. “You see, we’re the ones who built America. We’re the ones who build it every single day because it is our work that connects us.”

Like other speakers in Charlotte, he characterized Republican economic policy as one that benefits the wealthy at the expense of the working class.

In a letter last month, Mr. Trumka — who also is a convention delegate — told local union leaders that the AFL-CIO wouldn’t be buying skyboxes or hosting events as it usually does at Democratic conventions.

Mr. Trumka said the decision not to support the convention financially was a practical one made necessary by a 2010 court decision that removed restrictions on corporate campaign contributions.

“We kept our money because we need to build structure with it. We’re going to be outspent 30-, 40- or 50-to-1,” Mr. Trumka said after his speech. “Our thinking is that we need to use our resources to build structure.”

He is a third-generation coal miner from Nemacolin, Pa., and a former attorney for United Mine Workers of America.