The Press-Citizen reports:
Labor unions will play a key part in expanding the American middle class, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said Saturday.
“If we want to strengthen and grow the middle class, … the organized labor component is critical for that,” said Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina.
The comments, part of a 15-minute address before about 75 state union leaders, came at the Iowa Change to Win conference Saturday at Northwest Junior High. The conference was a meeting for a consortium of seven labor unions.
Edwards, who later spoke at a town hall meeting at the Johnson County Fairgrounds and appeared without wife Elizabeth Edwards, said labor unions provided workers a voice in the workplace. He advocated for the banning of the hiring of permanent replacements for striking workers and said workers should be able to unionize without opposition from businesses.
“If anybody can join the Republican Party by signing a card, I think anybody should be able to join a labor union in the same way,” he said to applause.
He also pushed for his universal health care plan, which he said would be paid for by revoking tax cuts President Bush pushed through in 2002. He said health care coverage was needed for workers to get the pay and benefits they seek in negotiations. More from the Press-Citizen
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