Labor backs Ciro

Down with the awol lover.

"He is our No. 1 primary target in the United States," said Chuck Rocha, national political director of the United Steelworkers of America.

The Laredo Democrat got to the top of the Pennsylvania-based union's hit list because of his vote last July for the Central America Free Trade Agreement. Cuellar was one of 15 Democrats who broke ranks in the House, ensuring the bill's passage. The pact, which organized labor feared would kill jobs and push down wages, passed by two votes.

United Steelworkers has been the loudest union seeking to bring down the first-term congressman. But it's got plenty of company among unions that assail what they consider Cuellar's Republican leanings.

Rocha said labor has put together "a comprehensive plan" to unseat Cuellar and return Ciro Rodriguez , whom Cuellar narrowly defeated two years ago, to Congress.