Labor Should Stop Wasting Money On Democrats Says Union Leader

[Itsthetruth]

Labor's Lost Love
Unions should stop wasting workers' hard-earned money on candidates

By Jonathan Tasini, Jonathan Tasini, president emeritus of the National Writers Union, is president of the Economic Future Group.


Over the last 20 years, the labor movement has poured billions of our members' hard-earned dollars into electoral politics — and we've gotten very little to show for it except a weaker labor movement, too many election day whuppings and too many politicians who, when they do win, promptly turn their backs on working men and women. It's time we turned off the spigot and put the money to better use.

Don't get me wrong. I admire the fire and dedication of the labor people who pour their souls into campaigns. But we've been acting on the belief that the political arena could make up for our declining numbers and weakness in the workplace. Our money and troops have squeezed out a few victories for Democrats. But we've remained passengers, not drivers of the political vehicle. Politicians ignore us because we can't turn out enough voters to end their careers. We couldn't even muster a meaningful spanking for those NAFTA-backing Democrats.

So my proposal is simple: During the coming two-year election cycle, labor should not write a single check to a federal candidate or a political party. Let's take the money — and, more important, our focus and energy — and pour it into organizing new workers, kicking the stuffing out of the Wal-Mart family, pushing a national campaign for healthcare for all and advancing the labor-environment-sponsored Apollo Alliance, a brilliant idea to pour billions of dollars into good-paying jobs through new sustainable-energy projects. Faced with the specter of a rapacious global economy, people are ready for someone who'll champion broader, enforceable rights at work.

I can hear the chorus now: We have to support our political "friends" and defeat the Republicans. Get real. Given that virtually every incumbent is reelected in Congress, there is no chance the Democrats will be in a position to retake either the House or Senate in the next cycle — nor will Democratic incumbents lose. And, if by some miracle the Democrats recapture Congress, the chances are less than zero that they would attain a filibuster-proof margin in the Senate. Serious labor law reform is a pipe dream for a long time to come — even if we could get full Democratic Party support, which is doubtful.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-labor20feb20,0,622364.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary

[progressivebydesign]

1. Yeah.. give it to the Republicans.. GOOD strategy for the masochistic. n/t

[louis-t]

Masochist, hell...

Suicidal.

[Itsthetruth]

5. That's Not What He Wrote!

Read his entire article. He is not proposing that organized labor give a single penny to any Republican, no matter how pro-labor or "liberal" they may pretend to be.

[SheepBootHero]

76. Please show where they suggest giving money to republicans

Are you reading the same report as this link? Where did you come up with that idea?

[Zinfandel]

82. FUCKING clowns, you don't know shit!!!

Like any of these asshole ever belonged to a UNION or know jack shit about them!

The Democrat's have done very little if anything to help workers/Unions, the republicans obviously have contempt and hate for workers. We are ALL workers and seen as expendable pawns, who cost the corporations money in wages & benefits.

But these idiots never heard of the Green Party, or of forming a Labor Party.

These pontificating clowns think only in terms of democrat and republican. They sit around, scratch their heads and wonder why the democrats keep getting their asses kicked!

The republicans are the corporate party owned by the corporations and these same corporations now have firm control over the democratic party, just look at the DLC.

Do you think the corporations are friends of the workers and want Unions, to help workers unite and fight for better wages, health care,
better sick, vacation & retirement, job security, safety on the job and rights for whistle-blowers not to lose their jobs, etc...

Do the corporations see more profit in helping the worker form Unions or fucking them over?

[Sandpiper]

2. Until Democrats get back to supporting the working class

You can expect to hear a lot more calls like this from organized labor.


Our last Democratic President signed some of the most anti-labor legislation ever passed.

[K-W]

6. When organized labor can beat the right in elections again.

The party will follow them.

Unions dont control the US working class votes anymore.

[aneerkoinos]

16. right

"Unions dont control the US working class votes anymore."

Thanks to both parties, US working class is now controlled by Corporations and reduced to de facto slavery.

Time for unions to be reborn and organized labor to join forces with the international socialist movement, not them phony cheating DLC liberals. :)

[K-W]

25. That is just completely wrong.

The democratic party, like the republican party, is a structure. That is why the parties are always changing. They change with every election.

The reason the DLC controls the democratic party is because the DLC has managed to win elections as liberal issues have become more and more marginalized by the conservatives.

There is nothing wrong with moderates, and while centrists are wrong, they arent doing it to hurt you, thats just how they see the world.

They are not the problem. The problem is that they are winning elections and liberals arent.

The answer is not to write off the party that was once ours because we lost it. It is to take it back.

There is no reason to abandon the democratic party except for petty emotions. It is ripe to be taken over again by liberals. The centrists dont have a stranglehold by any means.

[aneerkoinos]

37. libruls schmibruls

I'm not talking about damn imperialistic capitalists of the liberal ilk, I'm talking about international socialism in the time and age of international corporate fascism and fundamentalist economics(aka "globalization").

Also, I'm talking about real democracy with proportional representation and lot more, not the hopelesly outdated oligarchic plutocracy of the US "democratic" model.

I'm talking about what is necessary for survival, not about foolish hopes.

[K-W]

38. You are the one with foolish hopes of utopia.

I am the one advocating we go with a proven model to reform, because gradual progress has a chance of happening.

[aneerkoinos]

45. Nah

You are just indocrinated into ignorant prejudice against socialism.

Socialism is not utopia (communism is), there's one relatively succesfull socialist country not far from Florida, last time I looked. Country that has proven that socialist society can survive even worse than Peak Oil. US consumerist society, based on ultraindividualism and materialistic greed (and imperialism because US consumers need other peoples natural resources having used their own) is sure to collapse, probably via fascist totaliarism into Mad Max society. Strong socialist/communal movements could offer some hope of averting the worst scenarions and rebuilding the society from the roots according the principles of enviromental sustainability, social inclusiveness and solidarity.

Of course everything is gradual (or contextual), you just don't realize the utter seriousness of the situation and have your basic analysis wrong. US as you know it is dead and there is no going back. I have not become socialist because of ideology but because it's the only socio-economic model offering any hope of achieving a soft landing into post carbon society.

[K-W]

46. You are wrong on all counts.

I am in fact a socialist.

You just have a completely unrealistic view of what is going on and prefer to give in to your gloomy emotions rather than understand that this is as crazy as the country has ALWAYS been, the nation has been on the edge of falling apart since day one. We are no more doomed now than we were 100's of years ago.

We are only doomed if everyone gives up. And seriously, this website is for people who havent given up on the democratic party as a tool for reform.

[aneerkoinos]

54. gloomy, moi? :D

I'm having a gas here, comrade! :) (I've become socialist only since I started lurking DU and found about Peak Oil and made my analysis, and being a socialist if FUN!)

Your non-argument is hard to argue against, but I'll try. Imminent Peak Oil (you don't try to debunk it so I assume you accept it as given) the soon to follow bankrupty of the US federal state, and decades of negative growth are not business as usual falling apart, but REALLY falling apart, as the sociapath corporate entities are going to keep the sociopathic things they do even when growth is negative and the people will suddenly find out that the (New Deal)social contract has been revoked by the state, finding out that in reality state exists no more, only the hollow skeleton of the military-industrial complex that clings to imagined power and attempts to suffocate violently the rioting masses.

[Blue Wally]

59. Post carbon society???

The US is sitting on the largest coal fields in the world. Spend some money on coal gasification for power, fuels, making plastic, and fertilizers and we have a thousand years of coal in the ground.

[aneerkoinos]

69. One problem

Negative energy yield. Most of the remaining coal needs more energy to be extacted and put to effective use than it gives energy. There may be coal for plenty of years, but it is not an energy resource.

[Blue Wally]

77. Crap

Strip mining is very efficient and coal slurry pipelines reduce the transport problems.

[aneerkoinos]

79. Whatever

When Oil and (North-American) NG production go in steep decline, coal cannot make up for the difference in any reasonable way (pollution alone should be reason enough). But I'm sure you will try all the unreasonable ways to fuck up the Earth rather than give up the American Dream.

[B0S0X87]

60. Did you just call Cuba "relatively successful?"

I got problems with our government, but it is VASTLY preferrable to the one under Fidel.

[aneerkoinos]

70. Yep

all things considered. Like the evil big neighbour of Cuba doing its damndest to fuck things up for Cubans. And all you've succeeded is making Cuba stronger. I'd say that is one fucking big success, just to survive against US (look at Haiti that has not survived against US). Not to mention healthcare, education, organic agriculture and communal spirit. So what measures, in your opinion, should be used for comparison?

Given the choise between Cuba and US to live in, I would choose Cuba without hesitation, but hey, each to his tastes.

[fat free goodness]

90. So you now live...?

"Given the choise between Cuba and US to live in, I would choose Cuba without hesitation, but hey, each to his tastes."

Does that mean you now live in neither, or in Cuba?

My understanding is that it is quite easy to leave the USA, and not difficult to immigrate to Cuba. Thus, if you live in the USA I think you do indeed have this choice available.

I think the reverse is not true, and there are very many wanting to move in this direction.

Why do you suppose this is true?

[Stirk]

87. It *is* relatively successful.

Compare it to it's neighbors, not the United States.

You can make a similar argument for the Soviet Union. The Soviets made great strides under communism, interms of industrialization and improved infrastructure. People in the US tend to compare the 1980's Soviet Union to the 1980's United States and say, "see? our system is superior". But the US was already a developed, wealthy nation when Russia was just Europe's cheap labor market.

You have to compare these countries to others in a similar situation.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

80. One reason the unions don't represent the working class anymore is

the anti-union laws that were passed during the Reagan administration allowing permanent replacements of striking workers.

If you can be in effect fired for striking, then you have no right to strike unless you're feeling like committing economic suicide.

One platform that the Dems should adopt is to forbid the permanent replacement of striking workers nationwide.

[saracat]

88. The DLC hasn't won anything worth having in nine Years!

What have they won? Recently? A couple of Senate seats , maybe , that are occupied by senators who vote with the repugs on a regular basis? Some posters must be drinking funny water!
It amazes me that people say the DLC candidates are winning. I see no evidence of that fact!
You are right that now is NOT the time to leave the Democratic Party. The liberals are coming back, And I hope they come back with a vengeance.But it won't matter if we don't count the damn votes!

[Vincardog]

49. Voters don't control the US working class votes anymore

Until we get open fair elections we are lost.

[tsuki]

65. How many union members voted Reagan, Bush? I heard, quite a few.

[BillORightsMan]

73. So much for solidarity!

I gotta jump in here. I just got laid off from a good-paying CWA Union telecom job. They announced the "Work Force Adjustment" a month after the election. I guess the CEO saw bu$h's mandate as well. Here's what I wrote to a bunch of OH newspapers after the election:

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL UNION MEMBERS

I read about some exit polls from Ohio on CNN.com. It reported that about 17% of this year's voters belonged to unions, mirroring the 17% of all Ohio workers that are union members. Yet these exit polls showed that more than ONE THIRD of union members voted for Bush. YOU DO THE MATH: If we union members maintain solidarity, then John Kerry WINS by 2%!

I hope these union members remember who they voted for when they get laid off because of shortfalls in muny or school district funds, see their job get outsourced to a non-union shop or off-shored, lose their benefits and pensions, have to give up even more on their next contract (while corporations rack up record profits) and then find themselves working at Wal-Mart.

If you want to play the "moral values" card, it simply holds no water. This administration has made a concerted effort to limit workers' rights, eliminate overtime pay for millions and side with Big Business at every turn, from tax "reform" to health care to education. Bush's talk of "family values" has been repeatedly backed by exactly the opposite legislation and initiatives which hurt the average worker and their families instead of help.

Abraham Lincoln once said, "Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." Remember this and who you voted for when you're standing in the unemployment line.

Now I'M that guy on the unemployment line. So much for Union Solidarity :-(

[RevolutionStartsNow]

19. Maybe not, but...

organized labor is still a huge part of the fundraising and on-the-ground effort that it takes to win an election.

I think Labor has a much better case arguing that the Democratic Party doesn't support them than the other way around.

[K-W]

28. its quite simple, candidates who vote labor over corps lose elections

This is the fact that so many on this thread are trying to ignore.

They would rather pretend that the problem is the dems just up and deciding to be corporate.

The fact of the matter is that the corporations took the battle to us, and we got beaten back bad and the politics reflects that.

The answer is to regroup and fight the right so that we win elections and dominate the party. Not to abandon the party for an even more difficult path.

[aneerkoinos]

39. RevolutionStartsNow,

Do you still honestly believe that US is a democracy where elections still matter? If you don't, whats the point discussing Democratic Party and elections? I ask because I like your handle... :)

[K-W]

41. If youve given up on the system, go start a revolution.

What are you waiting for?

Last time I checked this forum was for discussing the route to progressive success through retaking the democratic party.

[aneerkoinos]

48. No thanks

Not in the sense you are meaning at least. Revolution starts with mind, and it is as much about spiritual evolution as social: http://www.gnostics.com/

Besides, I live in a country where the democratic system is still somewhat functional.

And last time I checked, this forum is for discussing the future of US (which is not separate from the rest of mankind) from the general progressive/leftist point of view, not just insider forum for the party hacks. But thanks for the silencing attempt anyways, I must be doing something right! :)

[RevolutionStartsNow]

56. My handle

is in reference to a Steve Earle song, and I'll quote him again here by saying "I'm a recovering addict, I can't afford to be cynical."
:)

I do believe that elections still matter, and I have a responsibility to keep fighting for inclusion of liberal values in the Democratic Party, which is flawed but comes much closer to addressing my beliefs than that other party does.

[Stirk]

85. You really believe that shit?

They've helped undermine organized labor because it's good for corporate America. The Democratic Party has helped to weaken organized labor in the US to the point of near irrelevance, and you think they'll follow labor if it means winning elections?

No- sorry. There was a labor movement in this country that was strong enough to win elections. Our two capital parties destroyed it.

If a strong labor movement starts again, it'll be fighting the Democratic Party every step of the way, because the only thing our old party hacks hate more than losing elections... is pissing off Wall Street.

[xxqqqzme]

12. Xactly - it is all about the grassroots

Unions have to go back there just as the Dems do. Ignore your base and they ignore U.

[indianablue]

61. I agree :)

NAFTA and the like did as much damage to Labor if not more than Reagan did. It was a total and compete betrayal of labor by the Democratic Party.

[K-W]

3. What a staggering ignorance of history.

If the new deal had never happened he might have a point. THe problem isnt that labor is throwing money at politics, its that labor can no longer compete with corporations in doing so.

I think that definately the focus needs to come off of donations and onto grassroots efforts and building up people.

The only thing that trumps dollars at the polls is bodies.

The argument that because the right is trouncing us we should abandon the political sphere is suicidal.

[Sandpiper]

10. That isn't the argument at all

The argument that because the right is trouncing us we should abandon the political sphere is suicidal.


The argument is that while labor has loyally supported the Democratic Party, they have little to show for their loyalty these days.

The DLC-dominated Democratic Party of the past 15 years sold Labor out in a major way and cozied up to corporations.

Labor is pissed, and I can hardly blame them.

[K-W]

14. You should blame them. They are making a huge mistake.

Our system is blindingly simple.

To stay in power a party needs votes. THose people who can deliver votes get power in the party.

Labor once delivered massive amounts of votes, enough to allow the democrats to be massively liberal on labor.

I am not blaming labor for the fact that this is no longer the case, it isnt thier fault. But rather than stupidly pointing the finger at the moderate dems that got elected instead of the labor dems, why doesnt labor get some labor dems elected.

The democratic party is made in party primaries and general elections. If labor wants power again, all it has to do is win those elections.

I think the fact that it no longer can is more of the problem here than the DLC.

[Sandpiper]

17. I'm not into killing the messenger

Simply because I don't like the message.


The point that the writer is making is that Labor is spinning their wheels with the current incarnation of the Democratic Party.

So rather than doing the same thing and expecting a different result, Labor needs to spend its money on building itself up at the grass roots and unionizing more of the work force.

More Union Members = Larger Labor Voting Bloc

[K-W]

30. And I agree with that part of the argument fully.

And I guess I do agree to a large extent on the money. Labor needs to stop just spending on democrats and start spending only on democrats who will support labor.

But the essay misses the mark a little. Unions should be working just as hard in the political sphere or at least that should be their goal once they have more numbers. THe problem isnt the democratic party. It is that the social movements that made the democratic party the liberal party are now losing the battle for our nation with corporate interests and reactionaries. Of course the Democrats will fall into centrist hands when the right marginalizes the left in politics and the media.

So yes, labor needs to completely redo thier strategy, but any strategy should focus on at least the eventual power grab in the democratic party through electing labor friendly democrats.

[fat free goodness]

23. "new deal" Not a very good argument.

"If the new deal had never happened he might have a point."

That was probably before most union members or the current people running for office were born. The argument is not that giving money / votes to Democrats never made sense, the argument is that it does not make sense now.

The answer is to show them it does amke a difference NOW.

[K-W]

31. The system simply will not work like that.

Our system is based on elections. The state of the party now is the result of the elections in the recent past. If you dont like the state of the party, you have to win elections, get your people in the party, and the party will change.

My point was that if the labor movement becomes a dominant force in our society again, it can get its people elected, and it can control a party. Unions should be active in the democratic party, they just need to rebuild thier power so that when they are active, it makes a difference.

The problem isnt the party, and isnt supporting politicians. The problem is that the right has taken over the media and then the government and has marginalized liberal values to the point that we lost alot of elections and the DLC was able to step in and supplant us as the power in the party.

We can do the same to them by simply winning elections.

[fat free goodness]

89. I think you missed my point.

Your argument is that to change the state of the Democratic party the Union needs to become powerful again. If they have the power to elect whomever they want, they can both put the Democratic party back in power and also change the party to their tastes.

My point is that if the Democratic party is no closer to what they want than the Republican party, they are better off influencing the party in power than trying to change which party this is.

Like with marriage... You select someone to marry that already fits, you don’t select someone thinking you are going to change them.

If the Democratic party wants Labor votes, we need to favor Labor causes. To expect them to elect us first with the hope they can change the party is hopeless.

[Radical Activist]

4. Great idea. And after more states go Republican

and pass right-to-work laws we'll see how much the writer cares about political action. It isn't just about Congress and national level politics. Ignoring the importance of state laws is foolish.

[Itsthetruth]

13. Perhaps Democratic Party Should Support Labor

Perhaps if most Democrats in Congress and elswhere would put up a real fight against the right-wing Republican agenda union representatives would not consider a new political approach.

If you check their actual voting records out you will see that almost very Democratic Senator votes consistenly against labor every year. Not just one or two times, but many times!

And as the writer pointed out, what happened to the S-1 anti-striker replacement legislation when we had a Democratic controlled Congress and a Democratic President? Labor's "friends" rolled over and played dead when the Republicans threatened a filibuster!

So we've spent over a billion dollars for "labor friendly" candidates. And what do we get in return? NAFTA and a kick in the teeth.

[K-W]

15. Its a circular problem, pointing fingers is stupid.

If the unions could win elections like they used to, the party would never ignore them, but the party ignoring them hurts thier ability to win elections.

Labor has to rebuild and become a voting force that can counter corporate money or it wont matter if the dems court them or not, they will never have power.

[Blue Wally]

84. Traditional labor unions

The traditional labor unions can no longer deliver their member's votes as a bloc. While the government employees unions and the teachers unions are pretty solid, the other unions have a lot of culturally conservative, strong America members that will bolt on election day if the nominee is tyoo far to the left.

[Sandpiper]

27. You forgot about the Universal Healthcare sell-out

And what do we get in return? NAFTA and a kick in the teeth.


Back when we still had a majority, Congressional Democrats broke ranks and helped the GOP vote down Universal Healthcare.

[whistle]

7. That is correct, labor needs its own political party and fast.....

...before labor looses everything they have worked for since the 1930's. Nixon was the first republican to fool labor with the Vietnam War peace with honor horse-shit, and got students and hard hats fighting each other. It's been muddy water for labor ever since.

[K-W]

9. We dont have proportional representation, so that is an aweful idea.

IN our system the parties act as brokers for non-party groups.

Stop worrying about whether the coalition building happens in congress or in the party and worry about building a coalition.

[whistle]

18. You just put your finger on what is totally wrong with the political

...process in the United States 100 senators, 435 congresmen, 9 Supreme Court Justices and 1 president. Set up when there were 40,000,000 Americans back in the 1800's. That is the entire power base of "checks and balances" of federal power to this day. Now, how many lobbyists are in Washington DC.? There are 40,000 to 50,000 and counting! That's who represents non-party groups and most of those are corporations and foreign interests who don't give a rat's ass about Americans. Proportionally our congress ought to have ten times the number of representatives it has! maybe we ought to try setting up a parliamentary system, which nearly all other democracies around the world have. Our system is corrupt and getting worse.

[K-W]

32. Right, but theres only 2 ways to fix it.

Get power again in the current system through a grassroots movement and change it or revolt.

If we dont think revolt is the only option, then we need to go back to what worked in the past and build grassroots movements that can build and eventually possess the structure of the democratic party and use it as a tool of reform.

[whistle]

40. Back and forth, back and forth, like a tennis match....

....our political process as far as average Americans are concerned has stalemated. The natural evolution of the current situation will be into complete fascism or a totalitarian theocracy of fundamentalist extremists.

Parliamentary government with proportional representation seems like the best direction in which our federal politics should move.

[K-W]

42. Fine, raise an army and overthrow the government and setup a parlimetary

system.

Until you do we have no choice but to fight in the system as it is first before we will have the power to reform it.

And your sense of fatalism is completely misplaced.

You seem to forget that out of the same problems that Germany got the Nazi's, the US got FDR.

All is not lost, unless of course you give up.

[sadiesworld]

34. I agree.

Labor could provide the base for a viable third party.
Where do I sign up? :shrug:

[rogerashton]

63. check here:

http://www.thelaborparty.org/

As an OCAW brat, I say that's a damn fine union -- too.

On edit better link.

[GOPBasher]

8. Ummmm, this is accepting defeat.

How in the world do they expect to accomplish ANY of their goals without influencing the lawmakers? Sure, just jump ship and give it up, then. Let's see where the country is after a few more years of Republican control.

[glenhein]

11. not too surprising

Unfortunately, the democrat politicians at the federal level have become too attached to big businesses. They have lost their roots
with the little guy!

[lastliberalintexas]

20. Welcome to DU, glenhein!

Just a fair warning however. When used as an adjective, DemocratIC is the proper form. What you wrote is how the RWers refer to Dems. Just wanted you to know before anyone jumps on you. :hi:

[glenhein]

58. What's an RWer?

I guess I'm not too good at acronym games, but what are "RWers"?

[Celeborn Skywalker]

68. Rightwingers. n/t

[porphyrian]

21. They were right, until we put Dean in charge.

The DLC led us into failure in three major elections with their snipe hunt for the "moderate swing voter" they invented.

[Sandpiper]

29. Even with Dean in charge

Organized Labor needs to spend more of its attention on rebuilding itself at the grass roots level.

That's how the labor movement became a political force in the first place.

[porphyrian]

36. Good point. - n/t

[girl gone mad]

64. I have to say..

I agree with you and with what the author wrote.

Labor would be better served by getting their message out to the people rather than spending billions of dollars getting politicians elected only to have those politicians turn their backs.

Like so many other groups, Unions seem to be defined in the public conscience by enemies in the conservative movement these days.

[BigBearJohn]

22. I think this is a MAJOR idea. I LOVE IT!!! SIGN ME UP!!!@#$!#$

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. He makes good points. Organize workers rather than fund politicians.

Make the politicians actually do something rather than pay lip service to labor and then "compromise" with the capitalists.

[K-W]

33. Actually they need to do both.

Neither alone will accomplish much of anything. They need to get bodies in thier movement AND use those bodies to win elections and take the reigns of power.

The problem at the moment is that the democrats dont trust that unions can win elections with thier bodies anymore and now just use them as a desperate source of cash to fight PR battles that we will always lose because the other side will always win money battles.

[THUNDER HANDS]

26. in a way, he's right

Labor is toothless, pretty much.

Most democrats don't support them, and even if they did, the party controls no branches of goverment, and won't, for at least the next 7 years.

[Itsthetruth]

35. Labor Movement Has Done Much More Than Just Give Money

LaborTalk for November 10, 2004

Those 200,000 Election Volunteers Lost
Unique Chance to Recruit New Members
By Harry Kelber

AFL-CIO unions deserve to be congratulated for their extraordinary achievements in the 2004 presidential election. They sent close to 5,000 staff people to work full-time on the campaign. They mobilized 200,000 union volunteers to knock on the doors of six million voters to discuss issues that most concern working families.

They distributed more than 30 million flyers. They set up phone banks, open 24/7, where calls were made to hundreds of thousands of voters around the country, but especially in the battleground states. The labor movement, more unified than in decades, organized an enormous voter turnout in the final days of the campaign.

Yet one wonders why AFL-CIO strategists didn’t see the election campaign as a way to recruit new members or at least build favorable sentiment for unions. With 200,000 union volunteers talking to millions of unorganized workers on job sites and in the communities, we had a made-to-order opening to get the union message to that vast audience in one-on-one discussions. Why did the AFL-CIO pass up this wonderful opportunity?

Certainly, the right to join a union is an important election issue, even though it was far down the list on Kerry’s agenda. And why weren’t the volunteers instructed to include a couple of union flyers along with the literature they left in support of the Kerry campaign?

It’s unlikely there will be any serious analysis within the labor movement of the election defeat or why, for example, the Democratic Party treated the AFL-CIO like a distant relative, without giving the unions major credit for their exceptional contributions to the campaign.

http://www.laboreducator.org./electvol.htm

[Itsthetruth]

43. Union And Other Activists Feel Betrayed

After the Elections: What Next?
Mark Dudzic, Labor Party National Organizer

The Betrayal of the Activists

The stakes were high in this election and the drive to defeat Bush mobilized unprecedented numbers. Tens of thousands of rank-and-file union members volunteered to work on this campaign. Many took unpaid time off or traveled to distant states at their own expense. They saw this election as a fight for their survival. New forms of organization also emerged that used the Internet and new technologies to educate and mobilize in creative and exciting ways.

But the disjuncture between the hopes and aspirations of these activists and the policies and positions of their candidate was truly striking. Legions of anti-war activists campaigned their hearts out for a pro-war candidate. Laid-off textile workers and steelworkers went to the wall for a man who had never voted against a single trade agreement. Lifelong advocates of health care as a right devoted their every waking hour to elect someone who promised to throw another half a trillion dollars down the sinkhole of private, for-profit health insurance. It was not Kerry's rhetoric or charisma that brought out the passion of these people. Rather it was their passion that animated a directionless and vapid campaign and almost brought it to victory.

And now that the election is over, the Democratic Party will surely move further to the right. They will run away from their natural base and toward some fictitious "center" that itself keeps shifting to the right the faster they run toward it. They will frame this call for retreat in the "scientific" language of poll results and computer simulations. The stalking horse of the mythical "swing voter" will be used to supplant the aspirations and values of the very real activists who keep them in the game.

In the absence of any alternative, our political activity over the next four years will be reduced to preventing catastrophe. Victory will be defined as simply surviving for one more day. If that is all we do, we will be in the same weak position in 2008 that we found ourselves in this year.

http://www.thelaborparty.org/election.html

[K-W]

44. Had Kerry won with strong liberal support, the party would have

swing left like an oversprung door.

I know we were raised to think that liberals and democrats were one in the same, because for so long labor, enviroment, rights, etc groups were who decided who won elections, especially democratic primaries.

The right changed the equation. Well funded democrats with centrists messages got elected instead of liberals and the party shifted right. It will shift left the day that being right on the issues gets politicians elected again and not a moment sooner.

And more importanly than anything is trends. Politicians and party insiders love trends. SO far theyve yet to see the build on the left turn into a trend in elections. Until they do they wont see the left as firm ground to walk on.

[idlisambar]

47. It's worth a shot

Though, if it were up to me I would still give true labor supporting candidates some help.

[rainy]

50. They should pour their money into election reform and the greens

We need instant runoff voting desperately.

[Itsthetruth]

51. Ca You Really Blame Progressives For Being Discouraged?

For many years now well-intentioned progressive and liberals have been trying to influence and take control of the Democratic Party.

How well have they done in the past 20 or so years? It looks to me they have at best become marginalized and are farther away from reaching their objective than ever before.

I think it's now clear that many individual movement activists and progressive organizations are losing faith and hope in that dream. Can anyone really blame them?

The Congressional Progressive Caucas only has 52 members in the House of Representatives and not a single Senator. Here's the list of members.


Dennis Kucinich
(CO-CHAIR, OHIO-10)
1730 LHOB 225-5871 WEBSITE
Barbara Lee
(CO-CHAIR, CALIFORNIA-09)
426 CHOB 225-2661 WEBSITE
Lynn Woolsey
(VICE-CHAIR, CALIFORNIA-06)
2263 RHOB 225-5161 WEBSITE
Peter DeFazio
(OFFICER, OREGON-04)
2134 RHOB 225-6416 WEBSITE
Jesse Jackson, Jr
(OFFICER, ILLINOIS-02)
313 CHOB 225-0773
Major Owens
(OFFICER, NEW YORK-11)
2309 RHOB 225-6231 WEBSITE
Bernie Sanders
(OFFICER, VERMONT)
2233 RHOB 225-4115 WEBSITE
Hilda Solis
(OFFICER, CALIFORNIA-31)
1641 LHOB 225-5464 WEBSITE

members
Member/Position/District
Address Phone Website
Neil Abercrombie
(MEMBER, HAWAII-01)
1502 LHOB 225-2726 WEBSITE
Tammy Baldwin
(MEMBER, WISCONSIN-02)
1022 LHOB 225-2906 WEBSITE
Xavier Becerra
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-30)
1119 LHOB 225-6235 WEBSITE
Corrine Brown
(MEMBER, FLORIDA-03)
2444 RHOB 225-0123 WEBSITE
Sherrod Brown
(MEMBER, OHIO-13)
2438 RHOB 225-3401 WEBSITE
Michael Capuano
(MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-08)
1232 LHOB 225-5111 WEBSITE
Julia Carson
(MEMBER, INDIANA-10)
1339 LHOB 225-4011 WEBSITE
William "Lacy" Clay
(MEMBER, MISSOURI-01)
415 CHOB 225-2406 WEBSITE
John Conyers
(MEMBER, MICHIGAN-14)
2426 RHOB 225-5126 WEBSITE
Danny Davis
(MEMBER, ILLINOIS-07)
1222 LHOB 225-5006 WEBSITE
Rosa DeLauro
(MEMBER, CONNECTICUT-03)
2262 RHOB 225-3661 WEBSITE
Lane Evans
(MEMBER, ILLINOIS-17)
2211 RHOB 225-5905 WEBSITE
Eni Faleomavaega
(MEMBER, AMERICAN SAMOA)
2422 RHOB 225-8577 WEBSITE
Sam Farr
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-17)
1221 LHOB 225-2861 WEBSITE
Chaka Fattah
(MEMBER, PENNSYLVANIA-02)
1205 LHOB 225-4001 WEBSITE
Bob Filner
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-50)
2463 RHOB 225-8045 WEBSITE
Barney Frank
(MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-04)
2252 RHOB 225-5931 WEBSITE
Raul Grijalva
(MEMBER, ARIZONA-07)
1440 RHOB 225-2435 WEBSITE
Luis Gutierrez
(MEMBER, ILLINOIS-04)
2452 RHOB 225-8203 WEBSITE
Maurice Hinchey
(MEMBER, NEW YORK-26)
2431 RHOB 225-6335 WEBSITE
Sheila Jackson-Lee
(MEMBER, TEXAS-18)
403 CHOB 225-3816 WEBSITE
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
(MEMBER, OHIO-11)
1516 LHOB 225-7032 WEBSITE
Marcy Kaptur
(MEMBER, OHIO-09)
2366 RHOB 225-4146 WEBSITE
Tom Lantos
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-12)
2217 RHOB 225-3531 WEBSITE
John Lewis
(MEMBER, GEORGIA-05)
343 CHOB 225-3801 WEBSITE
Jim McDermott
(MEMBER, WASHINGTON-07)
1035 LHOB 225-3106 WEBSITE
James P. McGovern
(MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-03)
430 CHOB 225-6101 WEBSITE
George Miller
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-07)
2205 RHOB 225-2095 WEBSITE
Jerry Nadler
(MEMBER, NEW YORK-08)
2334 RHOB 225-5635 WEBSITE
Eleanor Holmes Norton
(MEMBER, D.C.)
2136 RHOB 225-8050 WEBSITE
John Olver
(MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-01)
1027 LHOB 225-5335 WEBSITE
Ed Pastor
(MEMBER, ARIZONA-02)
2465 RHOB 225-4065 WEBSITE
Donald Payne
(MEMBER, NEW JERSEY-10)
2209 RHOB 225-3436 WEBSITE
Nancy Pelosi
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-08)
2457 RHOB 225-4965 WEBSITE
Bobby Rush
(MEMBER, ILLINOIS-01)
2416 RHOB 225-4372 WEBSITE
Jan Schakowsky
(MEMBER, ILLINOIS-09)
515 CHOB 225-2111 WEBSITE
Jose Serrano
(MEMBER, NEW YORK-16)
2342 RHOB 225-4361 WEBSITE
Pete Stark
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-13)
239 CHOB 225-5065 WEBSITE
Bennie Thompson
(MEMBER, MISSISSIPPI-02)
2432 RHOB 225-5876 WEBSITE
John Tierney
(MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-06)
120 CHOB 225-8020 WEBSITE
Tom Udall
(MEMBER, NEW MEXICO-03)
502 CHOB 225-6190 WEBSITE
Nydia Velazquez
(MEMBER, NEW YORK-12)
2241 RHOB 225-2361 WEBSITE
Maxine Waters
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-35)
2344 RHOB 225-2201 WEBSITE
Diane Watson
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-32)
2413 RHOB 225-7084 WEBSITE
Mel Watt
(MEMBER, NORTH CAROLINA-12)
2236 RHOB 225-1510 WEBSITE
Henry Waxman
(MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-29)
2204 RHOB 225-3976 WEBSITE

[dryan]

52. Sorry....

but the "National Writers Union" is not a labor union, it is more like a guild or trade association. I looked it up on google and checked their website. They act as a clearing house for freelance writers who have problems with publishers.

[Itsthetruth]

81. National Writers Union Is A Bona Fide Union

The National Writers Union (NWU)is also known as Local 1981 of the United Auto Workers Union AFL-CIO.

[dryan]

53. Sorry....

but the "National Writers Union" is not a labor union, it is more like a guild or trade association. I looked it up on google and checked their website. They act as a clearing house for freelance writers who have problems with publishers.

[Itsthetruth]

83. More Interesting Info On The National Writers Union

The National Writers Union is more than just another writers' organization. It is the only labor union that represents freelance writers in all genres, formats, and media.

With the combined strength of 3,500 members in 17 local chapters nationwide, and with the support of the United Automobile Workers (UAW), the NWU works to advance the economic and working conditions of writers. We do this by challenging the corporate media giants, lobbying Congress to pass legislation that protects the rights of writers, creating viable solutions to provide publishers fair alternatives to unfair practices, and by educating and empowering our members.

As we march further into the new millennium, our work has become more crucial than ever. With the consolidation of power into the hands of ever-larger corporate entities and with the advent of technologies that facilitate the exploitation of a writer's work, the individual writer has become increasingly disenfranchised. Now, more than ever, writers need an organization with the clout and know-how to protect our interests. One that will forge new rules for a new era, fight hard and take chances, one that goes to bat, goes to court, and goes to the streets, if need be, to protect writers' rights.

Let's face it: there's more to being a professional writer than just writing well. Talent and experience won't protect you from inept or unscrupulous employers, those who misuse your work, demand rights that are yours, underpay, pay late or won't pay at all.

The National Writers Union defends its members and all writers by fighting to win rights, fair compensation, and just plain dignity...and we succeed!

[enki23]

55. i couldn't agree more

endorse democrats, obviously. even solicit funds for them. but refocus on what unions are actually supposed to do, and use the tools which unions have. because this nation's electoral politics is doing what it has always done. it's a heat sink for the energy and dreams of organized working people. it captures that concentrated energy, and disperses it in a million harmless directions.

[jswordy]

57. Makes a lot of sense to me. He's talking about using the campaign...

...contribution money to instead reinvigorate the labor movement in the United States. Until that movement is reinvigorated, both Democratic and Republican pols will continue to step all over the rights of American workers. As long as only 11 percent of Americans are standing together in unions, the worker will always get the short end. Remember, NAFTA was initially a Republican idea, but was passed under a Democratic president.

I'm for a resurgence in the labor movement, and I think he's right that it won't be revived by simply draining its resources into the Democratic party, no questions asked.

[FlemingsGhost]

62. Hmmmmm .... I wonder if the DLC even cares. (n/t)

Flem

[DemocracyInaction]

66. Perhaps I'm reading this differently than others

I think the writer isn't just calling for using money to organize more people, etc.. I think the writer is saying that since they spend a wad on candidates who court them and then treat them like yesterday's whore after elected, it may be best for them just to go pay off senators and representatives for votes...one issue at a time. Bascially, corporations are paying them off as their pet issues come up. I think maybe this is a wiser use of their money. Remember, scum Republicans like da' money as much as these Dems who turn their back on them. Might be the wave of the future for those of the liberal ilk-----save your donations and just go buy a vote when you need one.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

67. I find myself oddly in favor of his remedy

Valuable resources which COULD have and SHOULD have been stregnthening unions have gone to political campaigns while unions have seen their membership shrink.

Unions still seem to have enough buying power to secure reasonably priced healthcare for their members but not much else.

For their buck, they might actually get a better bang from unionizing service industries. Imagine if all the McBusinesses got unionized. It seems getting WORKERS regardless of their color together would probably go a longer way in the furtherance of their goals.

And to the poster above who says they don't know their history,,,I would suggest they know their history all too well. The Dems only ever got the union vote when socialism was banging at the door.

[BrightKnight]

71. Labor is the heart of the Democratic Party

If Labor wants to make changes, we are all listening. You do not think that Labor should be involved in politics. Do you really want to see Texas labor laws everywhere? DeLay would love to make a few changes. Count your blessings.

Labor and the DNC should be focused on both the grassroots and national agendas

[struggle4progress]

72. Yes! Organize! Organize! Organize! eom

[Vektor]

74. Yet AGAIN, it smells like ELEPHANT dung in here.

n/t

[BrightKnight]

78. smells like a freeper wedgie - n/t

[Lilith Velkor]

75. About fucking time! n/t

[fujiyama]

86. He has some good points

but I also think they need a massive overall in PR.

Unions hold little clout now in the labor market. While it's true that Clinton is partly responsible for this, it goes back years before that. Some of it is inevitable and corresponds with the weakening industrial and manufacturing base here in the US.

It's amazing how many times you'll hear people bitch about "lazy union workers". This is all a part of how the right has been able to demonize them. This will take a lot of effort to change the reputation of them. Also if about a third of union MEMBERS themselves are voting for Bush, it looks like the cultural issues are having an impact as well (I suppose they can lose their job, but hey atleast those "homos can't get married")...

Part of the solution is ditch gun control (said a million times already) and play to populist tendancies. This is tough, because often times the interests of workers are at odds with social liberals and environmentalists.