DAYTON — John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, is scheduled to be in Dayton Thursday, July 10, for the launch of the union's National Veterans Council.

Sweeney, along with Mark Ayers, president of AFL-CIO Building & Construction Trades, are set to attend a kickoff rally for the new council at Memorial Hall at noon that day, according to the Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO Regional Labor Council.

Many of the soldiers and Marines serving today in Iraq and Afghanistan are union members, said Wesley Wells, the regional labor council's executive director. The veterans council will help the union "deal directly" with veterans' issues, Wells said.

He referred detailed questions about the new council to the national union.

The issue hits home for Wells. His son, John Wesley, is a master sergeant in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne unit who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

"You know how many troops that were lost in Iraq and Afghanistan," Wells said. "We know how many we've had injured."

Asked why the new council was being launched in Dayton, Wells said, "We're sort of on the cutting edge of a lot of things that the national AFL-CIO is doing."

The local labor council is asking all local union offices to close for Thursday's noon rally. Memorial Hall is at 125 E. First St.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.