Dean will be awarded the AFL-CIO's First Annual Paul Wellstone Award

By B -
On Friday, Dean will be awarded the AFL-CIO's First Annual Paul Wellstone Award, for his support of nurses on strike in VT. Here are some excerpts from the AP filing:



MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- Presidential hopeful Gov. Howard Dean will be honored Friday by the national AFL-CIO with an award bound to boost his image among labor as competition for the labor vote among Democratic contenders intensifies.

Dean will receive the inaugural AFL-CIO Senator Paul Wellstone Award for his support of a successful effort by nurses to unionize Vermont's largest hospital.

Stewart Acuff, the union's organizing director, said the award did not signal labor's endorsement of Dean.

``There is no message connected with the presidential campaign,'' he said. ``The labor movement appreciates greatly political leaders who go out of their way to help workers.''

But political ramifications remain.

``The symbolic nature of this is very important,'' said Roy Vestrich, president of the state affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, which includes Vermont's nurses and health professionals. ``There is not an endorsement here, but there is a signal here for those running for president that labor and labor issues are important.''

Nurses at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington voted in October to unionize. A month earlier, Dean, a physician who practiced at the hospital before becoming governor, strongly endorsed the union effort.

Rep. Dick Gephardt filed papers Monday to create an exploratory campaign for the White House. Labor strongly backed Gephardt when he ran for president in 1988, but it is not yet clear which candidate labor will back in the crowded 2004 race.


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