"We're on the cusp of the greatest advance in labor law reform in 70 years, but we're taking heavy fire from the corporate captains of deceit," Sweeney told about 1,000 union members at the federation's convention.
He said efforts to pass health-care legislation have been met with "a firestorm of meanness, stoked by politicians playing on fear, racism, nativism and greed."
Health care and labor laws lie at the forefront of the AFL-CIO's political agenda as it welcomes new leadership for the first time since 1995. Sweeney's longtime deputy, Richard Trumka,
is expected to be named AFL-CIO president on Wednesday.
In his keynote address, Sweeney reflected on his legacy of building the AFL-CIO into a political powerhouse for workers' rights and social change. He noted the major role union activists played in electing President Barack Obama and a Democratic-controlled Congress.
But he sidestepped any mention of the steady decline in union membership under his tenure.
Politics paralyze U.S. labor boardWhen a Model No Longer Works, It’s Time to Adapt
