July 28, 2015
Compiled By Steve Wishnia And Neal Tepel
The AFL-CIO’s political committee has recommended holding off on endorsing a candidate in the 2016 presidential race.
The decision is expected to be approved by the federation’s executive council later this week, after it interviews Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley and Republican Mike Huckabee about their positions on labor issues, particularly the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. “There will not be an endorsement now,” a source who was at the political committee meeting July 21 told Reuters. “There will be a lot of healthy discussion about how we approach the election." Clinton has not taken a position for or against the TPP, while Sanders has strongly opposed it. The main question is whether the AFL-CIO will endorse a candidate in the Democratic primaries, as the federation is likely to back the party’s nominee. “At the end of the day there’s not going to be a split,” International Association of Machinists President Thomas Buffenbarger said earlier this month. “I don’t see any union running to any Republican candidate.” Read more here.
