Can Democrats Hold the Loyalty
Of Union Voters in 2010 Elections?

The AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions spent tons of money on the 2008 elections, and they thought they had gotten their money’s worth when the Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress and the White House.

After eight years of President George Bush, the unions rejoiced at the prospect of a partnership with a pro-worker Obama administration. They were assured that their top priority, the Employee Free Choice Act, would become law as soon as the health-care reform bill was approved.

But after months of delay, congressional Democrats agreed to eliminate “card check,” a key provision of EFCA that would make recruiting new union members a lot easier. And President Obama and the Democrats quietly dropped the bill from their legislative agenda. The President didn’t even mention EFCA in his “State of the Union” address.

Labor leaders did not publicly protest the snub, which many privately considered a betrayal. They didn’t want to lose their newly-gained acceptance by the White House. Besides, Obama had made several pro-labor appointments to various government agencies and his executive orders had eliminated several severe restrictions imposed on unions during the Bush years.

But labor’s ties with the White House began to fray. Obama allowed U.S. corporations to continue transferring hundreds of thousands of good-paying American jobs to countries with low-wage standards. He angered millions of his labor supporters by his swift and overgenerous bailout of major banks and Wall Street financial institutions.

Unions considered his $787 billion package insufficient to deal with the plight of 14.5 million jobless workers, with millions more on involuntarily part time. Nor did Obama try to persuade the corporate community to stop their massive layoffs at a time when they were recovering their profitability.

Obama has dismayed many of his anti-war supporters by sending 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, with no convincing strategy for ending the war or destroying an elusive, global terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda.

Nevertheless, Obama is still the most admired politicians in America, even though his performance rating has fallen in recent months to between 45-50 percent. But will his strong personal appeal be enough to carry the Democratic Party to victory in the 2010 mid-term elections?

It’s Uncertain How Union Members Will Vote in 2010

Since 1936, the Democrats have always considered working people and their unions as their loyal political base, without whose support they cannot win national elections. This was amply proven in the 2008 elections, where the votes of union households made the difference.

But a growing number of union members have become frustrated at the gridlock in Congress that has stalled passage of legislation they consider important, especially health-care reform and Employee Free Choice. They also strongly oppose the 40 percent tax on benefits of “Cadillac” insurance policies, which they feel will end up as a tax on wage-earners.

When the Republican candidate for the Massachusetts’ Senate seat long held by the late Senator Ted Kennedy was won by a Republican, Scott Brown. it sent shock waves throughout the Democratic Party. It was evident that large numbers of union members and independents had shown their frustration and anger with the Democrats by voting for a relatively unknown Republican, despite personal appearances by Obama in the closing days of the campaign.

What was also clear was that the Republican Party had become energized by the Tea Party rallies and was hoping to maintain the political momentum for the remainder of the election campaign.

At the present moment, labor leaders and their members are divided on what course to pursue. A lot will depend on what happens in the remaining months preceding the election, The policy debate should not be limited to the AFL-CIO’s General Board, but should include rank-and-file opinions to be posted on the Federation’s web site.

State Federations and Central labor Councils should consider running some of their own members as candidates for public office. No funding should be given to candidates who do not speak out in favor of pro-worker legislation.

The election offers us an opportunity to proclaim labor’s agenda. It may be the best time to reach unorganized workers with the union message.—Harry Kelber

LaborTalk (41) will be posted here on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 and on our two web sites: www.laboreducator.org and www.laborsvoiceforchange.org