AFL-CIO supports Obama

(CNN) - The AFL-CIO announced its expected endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday, saying it is kicking one of the broadest grass-roots mobilizations in recent history into "high gear."

"In so many ways - on jobs, health care, gas prices and the war in Iraq - our country is headed in the wrong direction," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a written statement announcing the endorsement. "Barack Obama has proven - from his days as an organizer to his time in the Senate and his historic run for the presidency - that he's leading the fight to turn around America."

The endorsement is expected to help rally support around the presumptive Democratic nominee in the critical swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, where union voters make up between 25 and 35 percent of the total vote.
–From CNN's Emily Sherman