PACE International Union Endorses Senator John Kerry for President

The following statement is from PACE International Union:

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 12 -- The Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers (PACE) International Union today endorsed Senator John Kerry for president.

Kerry represents the Democrats' best chance to defeat George W. Bush in this year's election. Nearly 2.6 million manufacturing jobs have been lost during the Bush presidency. Last year, PACE lost 7,040 members due to plant closings.

"John Kerry is concerned about this devastating job loss, and has an action plan to reverse the flow of jobs out of the country," said PACE President Boyd Young.

  The union cites the following reasons for the Kerry endorsement:
   * He believes in fair trade and not free trade. Any trade agreements must
     have enforceable labor and environmental standards.
   * He would roll back the tax cuts Bush gave the wealthy, but maintain the
     tax cuts for the middle class.
   * He would change the tax code to reward companies that hire new workers
     and increase salaries, and end the tax credit for firms that export
     U.S. jobs.
   * He supports reining in medical costs and expanding health care coverage
     to those without it. Currently, health care is the #1 topic of
     bargaining in PACE contracts. Kerry's health care plan would help U.S.
     manufacturing be more competitive against overseas firms that do not
     have health care costs to contend with.
   * He supports workers' right to form a union, free of coercion and
     intimidation from employers.

"John Kerry will help all working people," said Young. "We are encouraging our members to support and vote for him in the upcoming primaries and general election."

Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., PACE International Union represents about 300,000 active employees in the paper, oil, chemical, atomic, pharmaceutical, corn milling, kaolin and auto parts industries. Website: www.paceunion.org .