USW Statement on John McCain’s VP Choice

Contact: Wayne Ranick (412) 562-2444 or (412) 901-8442

Statement by USW International president Leo W. Gerard on John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate:

“It is important to realize that while the governor’s husband is a member of a union, this does not automatically qualify her for an on-the-job training program to become a heartbeat away from the presidency. And while her husband is one of 850,000 dues-paying members of the steelworkers union, it does nothing to absolve Sen. McCain of his long history of anti-union sentiment and anti-worker actions, including continuously pushing an anti-working family agenda that:

•    Opposes giving workers the right to bargain collectively;
•    Jeopardizes retirement security by privatizing social security;
•    Further threatens job security by signing more job-stealing trade deals without regard to human rights and environmental standards, and
•    Erodes the ability of working families to secure quality health care by taxing their employer-provided coverage for both active and retired workers.

McCain’s choice is another example of his poor judgment and his desire to play politics as usual. McCain-Palin is not a team that works for working families. The first-term governor’s record is thin and divisive. And John McCain has a life-long record of being for the rich and powerful. No union card can hide that – not any more than Ronald Regan’s union card did.”

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