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 Leaders with the AFL-CIO, an umbrella group for 56 member unions
representing more than 12.5 million workers, will press her on
issues such as trade, infrastructure and the types of officials she
would name to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.
During its gathering in Silver Spring, Maryland, on July 29-30, the
AFL-CIO's executive council will also have separate meetings with
Clinton rivals former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and U.S.
Senator Bernie Sanders, whose presidential candidacy has been
gaining steam among labor union activists.
Aides to O'Malley and Sanders confirmed they would attend the
meeting. Clinton's campaign declined to comment on her attendance
but other sources said she is expected.
Trade will likely be the No. 1 issue at the two-day gathering of the
federation, which represents workers in a wide range of professions,
from brick layers to machinists to nurses.
Labor sources said the council will press Clinton to oppose the
Pacific Rim trade deal the Obama administration is finalizing. The
issue is a difficult one for Clinton, who was secretary of state in
President Barack Obama's first term and an influential player in the
administration's effort to build stronger ties with Asia. Obama
administration officials view the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a
crucial part of its "pivot" to Asia.
 While Sanders strongly opposes the TPP, Clinton has stopped short of
repudiating it. She has called for strong worker protections in any
deal but said she would not take a position until she sees the final
details.
"I was incredibly disappointed that we couldn't get leadership from
that campaign against fast track," outgoing Communications Workers
of America President Larry Cohen said of a preliminary step in
completing the trade deal.
Cohen now volunteers for the Sanders campaign, acting as an
unofficial labor surrogate.
Clinton plans to deliver a speech on the economy on Monday in New
York. Sanders, a democratic socialist, has attracted growing support
from progressives with his criticism of large corporations and calls
to break up Wall Street banks.
While Clinton remains the Democratic front-runner, Sanders has
narrowed his gap with her in polls and is drawing big crowds in the
early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as in others
such as Maine and Wisconsin. Labor leaders say they will watch
Clinton's speech closely.
The AFL-CIO has not said whether or when it will endorse a
Democratic primary candidate in the 2016 race. The executive council
meeting will be a key step in its deliberations.
Organized labor is a crucial base of support for the Democratic
Party. The AFL-CIO's endorsement would provide a huge advantage to a
presidential candidate, given the large role that labor plays
raising money and mobilizing voters for candidates.
The federation could choose to hold off on endorsing any candidate
until the primary contests are over. In 2008, the federation's
unions were split between Clinton and Obama. It ultimately endorsed
Obama in June of that year when it was clear he was going to be the
Democratic nominee.
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The AFL-CIO meeting adds to pressure on Clinton to provide specifics
in Monday's speech. She has so far spoken mostly in broad brush
strokes addressing economic inequality and ensuring that workers
have access to paid family leave.
Michael Podhorzer, AFL-CIO political director, said it will be
"absolutely essential" for candidates to provide specifics on their
policies ahead of the meeting.
"The council members will expect that," Podhorzer said.
Highlighting efforts by the Clinton campaign to court organized
labor, John Podesta, her campaign chairman, will host leaders of
various unions for an informal gathering at his home in Washington
on Tuesday.
Hillary for America spokesman Jesse Ferguson said Clinton has a
"life-long record" defending labor priorities such as organizing and
collective bargaining.
"This campaign is working hard to earn the support of everyone
involved in the labor movement," Ferguson said.
While the AFL-CIO executive council has not endorsed a candidate
yet, some local unions have made public gestures supporting Sanders,
prompting the federation's president, Richard Trumka, to urge them
to stay neutral for now.
The AFL-CIO's endorsement process is an unwieldy one. The unions
under its umbrella all have their own priorities. Machinists and
communications workers are particularly concerned about trade issues
but other unions, such as those representing teachers, are focused
on issues such as public-employee collective bargaining.
Steve Abbott, a leader for a local union in Iowa that represents
communications workers, is one of some 3,500 individuals from within
the labor movement who have joined the all-volunteer grassroots
group Labor for Bernie. He emphasized that he was supporting Sanders
as an individual, not as a leader of the local union, and said the
trade deal prompted him to back Sanders.
“He absolutely came out against it. She waffled,” Abbott said.
(Reporting by Amanda Becker and Luciana Lopez in Washington; Editing
by Caren Bohan and Lisa Shumaker)
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