Bill Bradley backs union labor

He also told the 50 union members attending a luncheon at the Hotel Regis that protections for union organizers should be strengthened.

Bradley said workers now can get only back wages if they prove they were fired for union organizing. He'd change that so they could get triple their back wages as well as punitive damages.

''If you're really interested in working families, you have to make it easier to organize,'' Bradley said to applause. ''Working families are better if we have labor unions that are vibrant and growing.''

Despite his pro-union comments, the former U.S. senator from New Jersey and professional basketball player says he doesn't expect to win many union endorsements, in part because he supports the North American Free Trade Agreement, as does his Democr atic rival, Vice President Al Gore.

Bradley said he hopes unions will stay neutral in the Democratic race.

That appears unlikely, especially since AFL-CIO President John Sweeney accompanied Gore to Detroit and Iowa over the Labor Day weekend. The AFL-CIO is expected at its October meeting to throw the weight of its 13 million members behind the vice president.

But not everyone attending yesterday's meeting was ready to give Gore the nomination. Printing company owner Roger Robinson of Grosse Pointe Paaid Bradley is making inroads by being willing to consider the unions' contention that free trade means lost jobs for U.S. workers.

''The broad array of trade issues will determine how I behave in the contest for president,'' Robinson said. ''That's the bellwether issue.''

Several union members said they are willing to listen to Bradley because he has spoken out against letting Mexican trucks cross the border unless they meet U.S. health and safety standards.

''From the Teamsters standpoint, we've appreciated a few of the stances he's taken that Mr. Gore has not taken a position on yet,'' said Mark Gaffney, legislative and community affairs director for Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43.

Gaffney, a candidate to replace outgoing Michigan AFL-CIO President Frank Garrison, said it's too early to say who will get his union's endorsement.

But he agreed with Robinson that trade issues will play a large part in the Democratic primary. ''We're hurt by trade that's more free than fair,'' Gaffney said.

Bradley yesterday won the endorsement of the political arm of the environmental group Friends of the Earth. He also came in a close second to Gore in a New Hampshire poll, a much stronger showing than the last poll there in May, thanks in part to his support among independent voters.

A WMUR-CNN poll released Monday shows Gore is favored by 46 percent of likely voters in the 2000 Democratic presidential primary, compared with 41 percent who support Bradley. That was within the poll's margin of error of 5 percentage points.

Neighborhood activist Juanita Newton, president of Concerned Citizens of the Northwest Goldberg Community in Detroit, said Bradley won her vote by calling for more grassroots involvement and less special interest money in campaigns.

''He thought the grassroots were the most important,'' the retired teacher and social worker said after listening to Bradley's speech. ''It is the community and the community concerns that he's concerned about.''

Bradley spoke out against school vouchers, unlike Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes, who on Monday endorsed a Michigan ballot drive to offer vouchers to students in failing school districts.

Bradley also said he is better suited for the White House than Gore because he has had a life outside politics. Bradley said he plans to campaign hard in Michigan, even though Gore is close to prominent Democrats such as Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer.

Michigan Democrats will choose their presidential candidate in party caucuses on March 11, 2000.

Bradley

09-15-99