Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell won the minds of organized labor during the spring primary -- it took a little longer to win their hearts.

The former Philadelphia mayor irritated unions throughout the state when he privatized part of the city's unionized workforce. During the primary Rendell and fellow Democrat candidate Robert P. Casey Jr. fiercely vied for labor's endorsement. As the state's sitting auditor general and the son of the late former Gov. Bob Casey, the younger Casey was seen as having the inside track on the endorsement.

At first Rendell showed a Clintonesque free-trade style approach to labor. But after a series of meetings with the state's top labor leaders he shifted ground.

"He moved from a free-trader to a fair trader,'' said William "Bill'' George, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. That helped Rendell snatch labor's endorsement.

Aliquippa native George was on a campaign swing through the area to support Rendell and Stevan Drobac Jr., the Democratic candidate whose running against Republican incumbent Melissa Hart for the 4th congressional District. Farrell, West Middlesex, Shenango Township and sliver of Hermitage are in the district.

Rendell's past history with labor still crops up but George defends the candidate.

"He didn't eliminate the jobs, he privatized them,'' said "The employees went to a private company but it was a union company.''

But George said Rendell has shown strong support to grow the state's manufacturing sector.

Once a bastion of unions, the state has seen manufacturing jobs fall from 30 percent of the workforce in 1980 to the current 14 percent. Next week Rendell will announce his plans for boosting manufacturing jobs in the state, George said.

"We need to start taking advantage of our resources like water,'' George said. "People are leaving the South because they lack water.''

A stock market that's been diving to new lows during the past year should spark interest in creating new manufacturing jobs, he added.

"One reason why people didn't invest in manufacturing is the return on investment is slow. In the stock market you could have gotten a 10 percent return a couple of years ago. Now people want out of the market,'' George said.

While Rendell is ahead in the most recent polls by 15 percent against his Republican challenger Mike Fisher, George wasn't ready to talk about a new Democratic administration. The elder Casey was the last AFL-CIO backed Democratic candidate to hold the governor's job in the 80s and early 90s.

There are stark differences between Casey and Rendell. Casey was pro-life and anti-gambling while Rendell is pro-choice and favors slot machines.

"Casey had a conservative streak to him when it came to state budgets,'' George said. "Rendell is a lot more progressive. He's not scared to get into ventures where you have to use the state's bond power. Pennsylvania has always had a high bond rating and has never fully used the bond market like New York or New Jersey.''

Drobac, also an Aliquippa native, followed George to the stump. The retired police detective said he was campaigning on creating a national health-care program and reducing the state's real estate taxes.

"You have situations where older people who have retired from steel companies that filed for bankruptcy, lose their health insurance and the government lets them get away with it without helping those steelworkers,'' Drobac said.

Continuing to live in the Aliquippa area, which has been blighted from past steel mill closings, Drobac said reducing property taxes would make Pennsylvania more competitive in attracting new businesses.

"Farrell, Wheatland and West Middlesex once had an economy like Aliquippa,'' Drobac said. "It was very productive with lots of employment opportunities. We don't have those opportunities now.''