Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and John Burton, president pro tempore of the California State Senate, are the first recipients of the AFL-CIO's new Wellstone Award.

AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney said the federation named the award to honor the late Senator Paul D. Wellstone (D-Minn.), who was a "tireless advocate for workers' rights and true friend of America's working families." The award honors elected leaders who take a strong stand for workers' freedom to come together in unions and who fight for social and economic justice.

Wellstone, the Democratic senator from Minnesota, died in a plane crash in his home state on Oct. 25, along with his wife Sheila Ison, daughter Marcia, three campaign aides, and the plane's two pilots. Wellstone was campaigning for his third Senate term.

Dean, who is a physician, supported the organizing drive by nurses at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt., the state's largest hospital system.

Burton was honored for his long and strong advocacy for the rights of farm workers in California.