BANGOR – A local labor group’s request for City Council hopefuls to sign a pledge of support has come under fire from one candidate in the waning days of the campaign.

In declining to sign the Greater Bangor Area Central Labor Council’s “statement of principles for public officials,” David Nealley, one of eight candidates for three open seats, said he didn’t think it proper for those seeking office to sign what he believed amounts to a contract with a special interest group.

“The way you allow yourself to have choice is to not be bound by any organization,” said Nealley, who called himself a “strong supporter” of union workers regardless of his decision not to sign the pledge. “Even my mother could do something I can’t publicly support. It depends on the situation.”

Labor council president Jack McKay said Monday that the statement – similar to one being used nationwide – was not meant as a binding contract or a blanket endorsement of a union’s position during negotiations, only an assurance that a candidate shares the same core values as the group and its members.

“It’s something to hold candidates accountable for what they say they support at the union hall during the campaign,” labor council president Jack McKay said Monday. “It’s a promise that they’ll publicly support a union’s right to exist … when it matters.”

Presented to candidates before last week’s forum at the labor council’s Brewer headquarters, the statement, in part, asks candidates to publicly support a worker’s right to form a union by “issuing public statements, attending rallies, sponsoring public forums, and the like.”

At the forum, Nealley – as well as the five other candidates present – initially signed the agreement after Nealley changed one sentence to read “may publicly support” instead of “will publicly support” workers.

After an exchange of e-mail, Nealley, while insisting he supported the general principles in the one-page document, retracted his signature when McKay insisted on the original wording.

“There’s a big difference between saying you will support workers and you may support workers,” said McKay, noting that other candidates at the forum intended to sign the original statement.

Up for re-election, City Councilor Gerry Palmer – like other candidates reached after the forum – confirmed that he intended to sign the original agreement and had no qualms about doing so.

“I saw it as a general statement supporting the existence of unions, and I do support that,” said Palmer, who called the row between Nealley and McKay much ado about nothing. “I did not feel entrapped.”

The practice of special interests asking candidates to sign a pledge of support is not altogether uncommon – especially at the state and federal levels – according to campaign watchers. In past years, groups opposing new taxes and negative campaigning have asked politicians to sign similar statements of principle.

The labor council’s pledge – based on an AFL-CIO executive committee resolution adopted in June – marks the first time the Bangor group has asked candidates to pledge their support. In recent years, a similar statement was presented to candidates for the Portland City Council, according to an AFL-CIO official in Maine.

The Greater Bangor Area Central Labor Council, a local division of the AFL-CIO, has 2,500 members in the region.

Six of the eight council candidates took the group up on its offer to sign the statement, with a seventh candidate, Torvic Vardamis, saying Monday he wanted to review the statement with McKay before signing.