By April Duran

Organized labor is closely associated with the Democratic Party. You can see just how closely by examining the contributions of the Virginia State AFL-CIO, the ninth-largest donor to members of the General Assembly.

During the 1999 election cycle, the AFL-CIO gave $150,825 to 62 state legislators:

• $146,800 – more than 97 percent of the money – went to 57 Democratic lawmakers.
• $4,025 – less than 3 percent – went to five Republicans.

The state AFL-CIO, an umbrella organization of approximately 400 unions representing 180,000 members, is open about how it awards campaign contributions.

The group, whose members range from airline pilots to coal miners, looks for candidates who will support worker issues, said Secretary-Treasurer Jim Leaman. Issues of concern include labor laws, safety and health.

The organization watches the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. House committees of interest include Corporations, Insurance and Banking, Labor and Commerce, and Courts of Justice, according to the state AFL-CIO’s Web site.

"We use an endorsement process to decide who we support for elections through 10 central labor councils across the state," Leaman said.

Most of the decision-making process is at the local level. Candidates are sent a questionnaire before elections. Those seeking support must appear before one of 10 screening committees of local union members, Leaman said.

The committees make recommendations to central labor councils. Those recommendations are then sent to the state labor convention in August. The convention votes on endorsing candidates in all House and Senate districts. Candidates receive donations based on that final list, Leaman said.

"Campaigns now are unbelievably expensive," Leaman said. "We don't have a lot of resources, but we try to make the most of what we have."

The fight over unemployment compensation for workers laid off by Tultex in Southside, for example, affects more than 4,000 people. "The governor didn't support it," Leaman said, "but we got a compromise."

The top recipients of contributions from the AFL-CIO were all Democrats:

• House Minority Leader C. Richard Cranwell, Vinton, $26,350.
• Sen. John Edwards, Roanoke, $19,600.
• Sen. Leslie Byrne, Falls Church, $13,250.
• Delegate Donald Williams, Norfolk, $7,500.
• Delegate Kristen Amundson, Mount Vernon, $5,100.
• Sen. Linda Toddy Puller, Mount Vernon, $5,000.

The five Republicans receiving AFL-CIO donations were:

• Delegate James H. Dillard II, Fairfax, $1,500.
• Delegate Vincent F. Callahan Jr., McLean, $1,150.
• Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr., Winchester, $1,000.
• Delegate Terry G. Kilgore, Gate City, $250.
• Delegate John H. Rust, Fairfax, $125.