VP Joe Biden pledges to back workers in Pa. stop

PITTSBURGH — Vice President Joe Biden told a rally at Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade that organized labor was the backbone of the country and that he and Sen. Arlen Specter would continue fighting for workers.

“You built the middle class. The middle class cannot be rebuilt without a growth in labor,” Biden told a crowd of about 300 Monday morning outside Mellon Arena.

Biden touted the federal stimulus package, saying it was providing millions of Americans with unemployment insurance and healthcare or Medicaid benefits.

In Pennsylvania, Biden said, the state would have had to lay off more than 10,000 people without the stimulus package. The money also enabled 135,000 public school teachers and more than 5,000 police officers to be hired in the state, he said.

Biden credited Specter, a Republican turned Democrat, with supporting both the stimulus and the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize. The measure is currently before Congress.

“This is one of the few guys that I have know in 36 years that when it came down to a matter of principle and what would help his state, or his future, he chose the principle,” Biden said.

Specter joked that Biden called him up so much that “I reverted to my roots and became a Democrat” and voted for the stimulus package. Specter switched parties in April.

Specter told the crowd how he had been attending town hall meetings in support of the administration’s health care plan. He has faced angry crowds at those forums.

“Single payer is on the table and we need a robust public option and we’re going to get it,” Specter said.

Last year, Biden was supposed to be in Pittsburgh for the parade, but he canceled because of Hurricane Gustav.

Later Monday, Biden and Specter visited with firefighters at the Chester Fire Station in suburban Philadelphia, an event that was closed to the public.

They joined about 50 firefighters and community members for a barbecue and posed for pictures with the firefighters and their children. Biden thanked the firefighters for their work and said he and Specter were there to give recognition to the jobs they do.

Associated Press Writer JoAnn Loviglio in Chester, Pa., contributed to this report.