Posts Tagged ‘2012 Democratic National Convention’

Democrats’ Labor Piggybank Returns

Monday, January 21st, 2013

This summer, organized labor went out of its way to say it was no longer beholden to the Democratic Party’s agenda. But the checks coming in now show that the Democrats and labor never really broke up.

The Hill reports that at least nine labor unions have donated to President Obama’s second inauguration, which took place today. Those ponying up include:

  • American Federation of Government Employees
  • American Postal Workers Union
  • International Association of Fire Fighters
  • International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
  • International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
  • Laborers International Union of North America
  • Sheet Metal Workers International Association
  • United Association
  • United Food & Commercial Workers

If you had been paying attention to labor’s pronouncements in August, you might be confused by the last-minute donations. Labor made it clear that it planned not to donate to the Democrats’ Charlotte convention and even staged its own “shadow convention” in Philadelphia. Nonetheless, when the clarion call went out that funding for the inauguration was coming up short, labor delivered. The Democrats’ reliable piggybank of organized labor is back.

But this should not come as a surprise. Labor cutting off its support for the convention and having its own gathering in Philadelphia was no more than an “expensive temper tantrum.” Unions still hosted “Hug-a-Union-Thug” events in Charlotte. They also had a presence at many of the other related events there. In turn, the DNC chair made at an appearance at the Philadelphia event. And all of labor’s political efforts in 2012, though officially “independent” of the Democratic Party, were almost exclusively in support of Barack Obama and other Democrats.

Even before the country made it official today, labor unions had already started pushing their agenda for the second term. Leaders injected themselves into the budget debate, putting Obama in “listening mode” at the White House while union leaders told him what to do on the fiscal cliff deal. Not surprisingly, Obama was quick to support Michigan labor unions in their failed attempt to stop the state from becoming number 24 on the right-to-work list.

Labor’s donations to the inauguration show that what some might have believed was a full-blown divorce between labor and the Democratic Party was no more than unions telling the Dems to sleep on the couch.

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Posted in Center for Union Facts, Political Money |

Will Democrats Cave to UNITE HERE’s Demands?

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

Last week, the labor union UNITE HERE, which represents mostly service workers, issued a demand to the Democratic Party. UNITE HERE wanted Cleveland and Charlotte, N.C., two of the sites being considered for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, ruled out because the cities didn’t have enough unionized hotels.

While the demand seems rather comical to the casual observer, this is frankly nothing out of the ordinary.

DemConWatch, an online blog,  said conventions have been won or lost based on the issue. In one posting, the blog suggested the city of Charlotte is proud not to have any union hotels, and pointed to a “Visit Charlotte” spokesperson’s push to attract the DNC, which included the fact that Charlotte has non-union hotels. …

Democrats have not officially responded, but Dr. David Swindell, director of UNC Charlotte’s Public Policy Degree Program, says they’re probably not taking this lightly.

“It’s a core constituency of the Democratic Party so of course they’re going to be interested in something like that,” Swindell says.

Labor unions spent at least $171.5 million on the 2010 elections. They were by far the Democrats’ biggest sources of money, and their money undoubtedly helped stem some of the potential electoral damage. Now Democrats owe organized labor big time.

The Democrats are considering having their convention in Charlotte because North Carolina is a swing state that voted for Obama in 2008. But it’s also a right-to-work state where collective bargaining and strikes by public employees are illegal. By asking Democrats to rule out two perfectly viable American cities for their convention, UNITE HERE is testing the waters. Will Democrats give in to the pressure of their most deep-pocketed supporters? Given what happened with the 2008 convention, we’re going with “likely.”

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Posted in Center for Union Facts, UNITE HERE |