Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 29, 1993 TAG: 9306290036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
"There didn't seem to be a sufficient level of agreement with either candidate to do an endorsement," said state AFL-CIO spokesman Scott Reynolds.
The alliance of labor unions, representing 200,000 state workers, did find enough common ground to endorse Democrats Donald Beyer for lieutenant governor and William Dolan for attorney general.
"We pledge an unprecedented effort on behalf of their candidacies to educate our members regarding their pro-worker issue positions," state AFL-CIO President Daniel G. LeBlanc said.
Democrats traditionally fare better with unions, but in Virginia, where a law protecting the right to work without union representation is fiercely guarded, candidates sometimes steer clear of the AFL-CIO.
The organization withheld endorsements when Charles Robb was elected governor in 1981 and when Gerald Baliles won in 1985. When Gov. Douglas Wilder, then a candidate, got an AFL-CIO endorsement in 1989, Republican opponent Marshall Coleman used it to suggest that Wilder was a threat to business.
When Terry was attorney general, she defended the right-to-work law and invited the General Assembly to weigh in on a controversial Wilder policy allowing state workers to check a box on pay stubs to withhold union dues automatically.
"Of course we'd like the support of all Virginians," said Terry press secretary Jay Marlin, "but we recognize that Mary Sue Terry differs with the union on the issues of right-to-work in Virginia and dues check-off. Despite these differences, Mary Sue looks forward as governor to working with all working people and small-business owners."
The Allen campaign said Terry's failure to get an AFL-CIO endorsement is not a sign that she is conservative on labor issues, but that she is fuzzy on labor issues.
"She has just such an inconsistent record when it comes to labor in Virginia," said Allen press secretary Ken Stroupe.
Keywords:
POLITICS
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.