Damn unions anyway...
willis and I are having a disagreement about SEIU (willis is a jerk, I'm the good guy. kidding, kidding....) in the comments downblog. Here's the deal in a nutshell:
Unions represent 8% of workers. We don't know what percentage of the unions are Democrats. If someone does know this, please let me know. There is a constant threat hanging over Democrats if they don't please the unions. I think that threat outstrips the reality of the unions' ability to help or hurt any particular candidate - now, if a candidate says unions should be disbanded or something, it's likely that all the union voters will run to this candidate's opponent, but that's a threat every group - women, Muslim, seniors - has.
Bottom line: I don't want unions standing up for Democrats. I don't want Democrats standing up for unions. I want unions and Democrats standing up for workers, like they're supposed to. Protect the living wage, ensure workplace safety standards, access to health care - make these absolute priorities. Part of workplace safety is employee evaluation - if a union member isn't doing their job, the union has to be part of getting rid of that member in the best interest of the other workers (this is really my biggest beef with unions - some folks need to be cut loose, and I want to see the unions make this an issue of worker protection). I don't want them just opposing employers, but work with them to get the fairest working conditions possible.
Unions aren't political arms, they're representatives of workers. When they really knuckle down and focus on this, and Democrats really knuckle down and do the same, then union members and Democrats will already be on the same page, union rolls will increase, and we can get back to union being an organizing force. That endorsement can really MEAN something.
I'm willing to concede to willis that SEIU made a difference in some local races, but I will point out that the same can be said of women, of men, of youths and seniors, of Latino and African-Americans...the point is, labor is no longer the overwhelming force the Democratic Party treats it as. To get back there, I think a refocusing of priorities among both the unions and the Party is necessary, and I'd love to see that happen.
Unions represent 8% of workers. We don't know what percentage of the unions are Democrats. If someone does know this, please let me know. There is a constant threat hanging over Democrats if they don't please the unions. I think that threat outstrips the reality of the unions' ability to help or hurt any particular candidate - now, if a candidate says unions should be disbanded or something, it's likely that all the union voters will run to this candidate's opponent, but that's a threat every group - women, Muslim, seniors - has.
Bottom line: I don't want unions standing up for Democrats. I don't want Democrats standing up for unions. I want unions and Democrats standing up for workers, like they're supposed to. Protect the living wage, ensure workplace safety standards, access to health care - make these absolute priorities. Part of workplace safety is employee evaluation - if a union member isn't doing their job, the union has to be part of getting rid of that member in the best interest of the other workers (this is really my biggest beef with unions - some folks need to be cut loose, and I want to see the unions make this an issue of worker protection). I don't want them just opposing employers, but work with them to get the fairest working conditions possible.
Unions aren't political arms, they're representatives of workers. When they really knuckle down and focus on this, and Democrats really knuckle down and do the same, then union members and Democrats will already be on the same page, union rolls will increase, and we can get back to union being an organizing force. That endorsement can really MEAN something.
I'm willing to concede to willis that SEIU made a difference in some local races, but I will point out that the same can be said of women, of men, of youths and seniors, of Latino and African-Americans...the point is, labor is no longer the overwhelming force the Democratic Party treats it as. To get back there, I think a refocusing of priorities among both the unions and the Party is necessary, and I'd love to see that happen.
posted by switzerblog at
1:10 PM
2 Comments:
Switzer,
Here's the dilly - there are two major ways to win elections - talk people who are outside of your camp into your camp (hard to do), or increase the likelyhood of your likely supporters to vote for you (and nail them with a heavy GOTV effort - easier to do because of the prior affliation, etc). 8% of the workforce is a paying union member - making labor the single biggest membership organization in the country (unless you count churches). 8% of the population voting as a bloc could be a tremendous power - that is the (potential) power of unions.
They might not be the most Democratic group out there (only 61% of union members voted for Kerry in 2005), but 8% of the population isn't anything to scoff at.
The reason why so many of the unions poured so much of their resourses into the last election is because they cared for their membership, and knew that Bush was bad for working families. SEIU spent $65 million just to get Bush out of office because of his harmful effect on the middle class.
Now, I'm not here saying that labor in general is the bees knees - I'm not a big labor guy. Lots of unions aren't willing to put in the work to organize in a fashion that is best for their members - and that is exactly the reason why SEIU and the Teamsters, etc are leaving the AFL-CIO - they want to organize better so they can deliver more wins for their members. If it works, this will be a major overhaul (with some unions being folded into bigger unions - as competition between the unions has been detremental to the movement of late), and it could potentially bring labor back to mattering.
I think you're just bitching because you don't like the pressure of having to find a union shop for your printing - you look for the bug for the same reason you don't buy crap at Walmart - because you can't be assured that it was fabricated for a working wage.
Ok, I'm done - back to work (as you should be too, Mr. Switzer!).
"I don't want unions standing up for Democrats. I don't want Democrats standing up for unions. I want unions and Democrats standing up for workers, like they're supposed to. Protect the living wage, ensure workplace safety standards, access to health care - make these absolute priorities."
Great Quote!
In my opinion, big labor isn't working. I feel that the SEIU has got the right idea- build the unions back up from the ground. Increase membership.
The AFL-CIO has been losing members for over a decade, but refuse to make any structural changes.
This might be the best thing that happened to labor in years.
(BTW, great blog!)
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