LABOR WANTS GORE; AFL-CIO PRESIDENT SAYS ENDORSEMENT CERTAIN IN L.A. THIS WEEK.

Byline: Steven Greenhouse The New York Times

The president of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney, said Sunday that Vice President Al Gore would receive the endorsement of the powerful labor federation at its convention this week because two-thirds of the delegates were now committed to Gore's presidential campaign.

As recently as Friday, union leaders said it was too close to say whether Gore would win the federation's support this week. But Sweeney said in an interview that the matter was clinched this weekend when several large unions swung into the Gore column, although only after Sweeney made an emotional appeal to labor leaders.

The 700 convention delegates are scheduled to vote on an endorsement on Wednesday. For months, Gore and his opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, have feverishly lobbied labor leaders.

In one-on-one meetings and at meetings of the federation's executive board, Sweeney repeatedly argued that Gore was going to win the nomination, so labor would be wise to support him sooner rather than later.

``Al Gore has a terrific track record,'' Sweeney said in an interview Sunday. ``He had an 88 percent pro-labor voting record in the Senate, and as vice president, he's been in the forefront on a lot of the social issues that matter to working families.''

Sweeney and other Gore supporters in labor say they want to avoid a lengthy, divisive primary that could deplete Gore's campaign treasury and weaken him in an eventual showdown with a Republican opponent.

Christopher Lehane, a spokesman for the Gore campaign, said the campaign had not received any official word that an endorsement was clinched.

``We're going to work very hard to earn the support of organized labor,'' he said. ``The Democratic Party is about working people and the heart and soul of that is organized labor. Clearly we would be honored to receive the support of organized labor, and we'll continue working for that this week.''

For months, Gore was expected to gain an early endorsement from the labor federation, so his failure to win labor's backing would have been a stinging setback to an already stumbling campaign.

But now it appears that Gore will not only be spared a major embarrassment, but will gain what many political experts say is the single most important endorsement a candidate can receive, because few other organizations can mobilize the way the 13 million-member federation can.

The AFL-CIO produces millions of campaign leaflets, organizes tens of thousands of volunteers, registers hundreds of thousands of voters and coordinates union efforts across the nation. The federation's endorsement is distinct from, but builds upon, the endorsements made by the federation's 68 member unions.

Reaching agreement

In recent weeks, it looked as if Gore would have a hard time nailing down a two-thirds majority because leaders of three of the federation's largest unions, all with more than 1 million members - the Teamsters, the auto workers and the food and commercial workers - said they opposed an early endorsement. In addition, another giant union, the Service Employees International Union, with nearly 1.3 million members, was sitting on the fence.

AFL-CIO officials said Sunday that the United Food and Commercial Workers and the service employees agreed to line up behind Gore at Sweeney's urging. ``If we're going to be effective, we have to have a united labor movement,'' Sweeney said Sunday.

Over the last week, several union presidents said that the most crucial factor in Gore's effort to win the labor endorsement was how hard Sweeney would push for it. Many leaders said they trust Sweeney's judgment and want to avoid divisions, adding that they would be willing to follow him if he insisted that endorsing Gore now was the wisest course for the labor movement.

John Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees, said in an interview Sunday that his 250,000-member union was trying to stay out of the political tug of war. But, referring to Sweeney, he added, ``If my leader asks me to make an endorsement, I'll follow my leader.''

In the days leading up to the Los Angeles convention, Sweeney has met with dozens of union leaders, assessing their political leanings, lobbying them for Gore and weighing whether there is enough support to clinch a Gore endorsement. At an executive board meeting late Friday, he made his biggest pitch yet for Gore, saying he wanted the endorsement to happen and that Gore has been a solid friend of labor on numerous issues, including a patients' bill of rights and a higher minimum wage.

Weekend meetings

Several unions held meetings this weekend at which their delegates decided their position on an endorsement.

``I've always been confident that Al Gore would receive our endorsement,'' Sweeney said Sunday. ``But there's a process I have to follow. I don't want to get too far out in front of the leadership.''

Those opposed to an endorsement have argued that there should be no rush to endorse Gore with his campaign faltering and recent polls showing Bradley doing better against a hypothetical Republican opponent than Gore would. Several union officials asserted that a big advantage of holding off was that it might press Gore and Bradley to move closer to labor on trade and other issues.

``We feel it's too early,'' said Michael Mathis, political director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. ``We're trying to make very clear that we're not against Gore. We're not for Bradley. It's just too early.''

`The right thing to do'

Three of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO - the Communications Workers of America, the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - have endorsed Gore and have lobbied aggressively for a quick endorsement.

``We should make an endorsement. That's the right thing to do,'' said Jay Mazur, a Gore supporter who is president of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. ``There won't be another opportunity to bring all the delegates together. We can't talk about having influence in the Democratic Party and then stand on the sidelines.''

Many union leaders noted that the federation had never endorsed a presidential candidate so long before the November election. But other officials said it was important to act earlier than in previous years because the primary schedule had been moved up so much.

Steve Rosenthal, the AFL-CIO's political director, said he would move quickly after the Wednesday endorsement to get labor's political troops working for Gore.