All aboard the Kerry bandwagon.

With a candidacy given up for dead just two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has swept nearly all the states which have held primaries or caucuses – including Michigan – and is now labor’s candidate for the Oval Office.

Most individual building trades unions, including the AFL-CIO Building Trades Department, have kept their political action money in the bank while the primaries have played out. Now, said Building Trades Department President Edward Sullivan, the time has come to start supporting Kerry.

The 15 Building Trades Governing Board of Presidents met Feb. 10 and voted with “no objections” to officially support the candidacy of the Massachusetts Democrat.

“There were several solid candidates whom we respect and admire for their support of union issues,” said Sullivan. “But we believe it is clear that one candidate, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, has emerged as the strongest and best-equipped to secure both the Democratic nomination and the presidency of the United States.

“Considering that the outcome of this election year is truly critical for the labor movement and for our nation, we believe it is time for the building trades to take unified action now and to work hard to make a significant difference to the November results.”

Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), who had the most union backing in the race before he dropped out after his disastrous loss in the Iowa caucuses, endorsed Kerry on Feb. 6 in Warren, the day before Michigan’s caucus.

Numerous other unions have already endorsed Kerry. Some, including AFSCME, switched their allegiance to the Massachusetts Democrat after endorsing Howard Dean.

The Sheet Metal Workers have endorsed Kerry to restore “prosperity and peace,” President Michael Sullivan said.

President Bush, he said, “failed us in generating the jobs we depend on, the affordable health care we require and in providing a secure future. It is time for this president, and his party of irresponsibility, to surrender the White House.”