DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — A rally celebrating creation of AFL-CIO veterans councils around the country took a strong political slant from the very start at Memorial Hall Thursday, July 10.

Minutes before the rally, signs declaring "AFL-CIO for Obama" began appearing.

"Are we political? Absolutely, as a matter of survival," said Wes Wells, executive director of the Dayton Miami Valley AFL-CIO Regional Labor Council.

The rally featured John Sweeney, AFL-CIO president, and Mark Ayers, president of AFL-CIO Building & Construction Trades. The councils' formation was announced in Dayton first, Sweeney said.

"We think that Dayton is really a good example of some of the problems workers face around the country, especially on the economic issues," Sweeney said.

Sweeney and others distinguished between the military service of Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his political record. While speakers said they honored McCain's service as a U.S. Navy pilot, the Arizona senator was blasted for opposing the 21st century GI Bill, supporting the war in Iraq and backing international trade agreements.

"I think it's important to realize that there are heroes and people who sacrificed on both sides of the political aisle," said Roger Tackett, a Vietnam veteran, Clark County commissioner and Democratic Ohio Senate candidate.

Wells blamed NAFTA for the loss of more than 30,000 jobs locally, saying, "Let him (McCain) come to Dayton to tell us how good NAFTA is, my brothers."

An AFL-CIO spokesman, Mike Gillis, said it was too soon to say who would serve on the local veterans council.

An Ohio-based spokesman for McCain referred questions to the Republican National Committee, which responded with a statement: "Big Labor bosses have answered the call for liberal Democrats for decades, but they're mistaken if they think they can use hardworking workers' money to malign a war hero who has dedicated his life to serving his country."

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