A top labor leader urged Democrats Tuesday evening to back presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), warning a presidency by Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain would continue the Bush administration’s failed policies.

“People who work hard and believe in their country and the future can’t afford four more years like the last eight years,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in Denver. “They deserve a better America, where every worker can count on a good job, free workers have a free choice to join a union to lift up their families and their economy and build a better life for their children.”

Sweeney called for “change in America” to help rebuild the country after the Bush administration — noting the power of the 28 million voters in union households across the country.