LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton is the only major candidate running in Michigan's Democratic primary, but some Michigan AFL-CIO members may be reluctant to back her if she won't back changing some of the trade deals they say have cost jobs, President Mark Gaffney said Friday.

"Hillary needs to be stronger on trade," Gaffney said during the taping of public television's "Off the Record" program. "We're not opposed to trade. ... We understand selling products overseas. But we want to ship products overseas, not ship jobs overseas."

Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, pushed to approve pacts such as the North American Free Trade Agreement over the bitter objections of labor leaders, who complained the deals would put U.S. workers in competition with cheap foreign labor.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has repeatedly tried to address lingering concerns over those trade agreements. She told a United Auto Workers regional conference in Iowa last month that she would call a "time out" on such agreements if she wins the White House to see if the deals are draining jobs from the United States.

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, an economic adviser to the Clinton campaign, said Friday that the New York senator, if elected, would expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance program so that workers hurt by globalization get the help they need and protect labor and environmental standards in trade agreements.

"She has repeatedly said that NAFTA has not delivered on all of its promises, and that as president she would reassess and readjust it," he said in response to Gaffney's comments. "She has the strength and the experience to ensure that trade elevates our economic standing in the world and makes our people better off."

Gephardt was a favorite with Michigan union members before he dropped out of the 2004 presidential race and during his 1988 presidential run, so his words could carry some weight.

Gaffney prefers John Edwards in the presidential race although the Michigan AFL-CIO has not endorsed any candidate.

He said the North Carolina senator and some of the other Democratic candidates are more in line with his members on trade issues. But if Clinton is the Democratic nominee and changes her stance, he expects union members will back her next fall.

During a recent chat, "I made her understand union members in Michigan don't like NAFTA, want it to be renegotiated — some would like to see it thrown out — and we've got to get her to that position," he said. "I don't think she's there yet, but I think she's headed there."

It's unclear how union members' concerns over Clinton's trade stance will affect the results of Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary.

Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden took their names off the ballot to satisfy Iowa and New Hampshire, which were unhappy Michigan was challenging their leadoff status on the primary calendar. That left Clinton facing only Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. Voters also can choose "Uncommitted."

Gaffney said he could see some Democratic union members crossing over to vote in the GOP primary for Mike Huckabee or "a couple of other Republicans who are saying the right things on trade. But I don't think you're going to see a great big crossover."