For the Nov. 7 general election, building trades unions and the rest of organized labor are endorsing Al Gore for U.S. President, Debbie Stabenow for U.S. Senator, and a whole host of other candidates who have a record or have pledged to stand up for working men and women.

The endorsements aren't made without due consideration, nor are they being offered to our readers as a mandate or as any other type of directive that demands your vote one way or another.

Of course, when you send in your absentee ballot or mark your ballot at your polling place, you have the free will to do exactly what you want to do, and that's the wonderful thing about the American electoral process.

You may make your vote based on a candidate's position on gun control, abortion, or simply because one candidate or another has whiny voice or comes off as being too aggressive. But from your union's viewpoint, candidates are endorsed and recommended to our members based on what they've done while in office, or based on what they pledge they will do if they get into office.

Unions endorse candidates based on their positions on issues that directly affect construction workers' health, welfare and safety. The questions union leaders ask are, do the candidates support fair wages, especially prevailing wage? Do they support strong health and safety laws? Do they support Social Security, Medicare and health programs that are fair to working class people?

In making endorsements based on this criteria, unions are fulfilling the role that defined them when unions were first formed. Unions fought for, and won, the eight-hour work day, safety laws, health insurance and pension benefits. It has been the historic role of unions to fight for the basic needs of workers.

Today, especially in Michigan, those basic needs are threatened. The influence of large corporations in the political process is threatening the rights of working people and the very existence of unions. Virtually all of the endorsees that you will find on Page 7 of this issue are Democrats, and there's a good reason for that. Under the Republican dominated state government over the past few years, MIOSHA has been under-funded, Workers' Compensation laws have been adopted that favor insurance companies, Unemployment Insurance benefits have been slashed, and the state prevailing wage law seems to be hanging by a thread.

Republicans have been trying to get away with similar anti-labor legislation in Washington D.C.

Those are the health, welfare and wage issues that organized labor is fighting for, and Republicans are fighting against. Democrats are with us on those issues, and if Dems can win the U.S. presidency, win back control of the state House and U.S. House, get the endorsed candidates on the Michigan Supreme Court into office, some balance can be restored to our political world.

You can make a difference by casting your ballot for union-endorsed candidates.