Edwards gets fresh union backing for White House bid

WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) US Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards won trade union backing today from steelworkers and mineworkers, putting him ahead of rivals in declared union support, his campaign said.

The former senator from North Carolina, endorsed by the carpenters' union on Thursday, now has the support of unions representing more than 1.8 million members and retirees, more than any other candidate in the November 2008 White House race, Edwards' campaign said.

Edwards picked up the backing of the United Steelworkers, which calls itself the largest US private-sector industrial union with 1.2 million members and retirees, and the United Mine Workers of America, which represents 105,000 active and retired coal miners.

The endorsements were to be announced formally at a Labour Day rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for Edwards, Democrat John Kerry's vice presidential running mate in 2004.

''These are the workers who built the middle class in America, and they are the backbone of the American labor movement,'' Edwards said in a statement. ''They understand how important it is to fight back when jobs, safety, standards and our values are at risk.'' The American Federation of Labour-Congress of Industrial Organizations, or AFL-CIO, the biggest federation of US unions, last month freed its 55 member unions to make their own recommendations in the presidential race.

Last week, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, with about 720,000 active and retired members, made its first-ever dual endorsement. It backed both Democrat Hillary Clinton, her party's front-runner, and Republican Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor.

Sen Chris Dodd of Connecticut, another Democratic hopeful, won the endorsement last week of the 280,000-member International Association of Fire Fighters.

Clinton has won the backing of the United Transportation Union, with 125,000 active and retired members, which on Aug. 28 became the first AFL-CIO union to name its choice for the 2008 vote.

REUTERS PY KN2048