WP: Republicans See Opportunity in Labor Rift

Republicans See Opportunity in Labor Rift
Jesse Jackson Appeals for Unity as Democrats Worry About Election Consequences

By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 27, 2005; Page A02


CHICAGO, July 26 -- The political consequences of the split within the AFL-CIO began to reverberate nationwide Tuesday, with Democrats fretting that it will dilute the importance of labor endorsements while Republicans looked for opportunities to make inroads.

Civil rights leader and two-time Democratic presidential candidate Jesse L. Jackson pleaded with the warring forces to end their fight. "We must turn to each other, not on each other," Jackson told 800 delegates to the AFL-CIO convention here. He warned against leaving "so much blood on the field that you cannot compete" against "anti-civil-rights, anti-labor-rights Republicans."

Democratic strategists and union operatives noted that the split will change the dynamics of presidential and state elections. Presidential candidates will now seek endorsements from two separate and competing labor groups, the AFL-CIO and the newly formed Change to Win Coalition, they noted.

"It's going to be like figuring out who to stay friends with after a divorce," one Democratic presidential operative said. In addition, he and others noted, there will be strong incentives for the two wings of labor to pick different candidates as each tries to outdo the other.

Republican operatives are watching the splintering of the AFL-CIO carefully to see if the divisions offer opportunities to gain a beachhead in labor. "This cuts the legs out from one of their main GOTV groups, a Republican Party official said with undisguised pleasure....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/26/AR2005072601738.html

:rofl: What a lark. Most labor people would rather have their tongue removed with a spatula than go anywhere near the GOP.

This is just media cheerleading by the RNC.

Seems like the Teamsters endorsed both Nixon and Reagan, what's more Reagan wouldn't have won as strongly as he did with out a hell of a lot blue collar votes. Never mind that those 8 years were the most anti-labor since the early 1900's.

I am the President of a small IBEW local in Boston. The IBEW is staying in the AFL-CIO.

I'm a member of the Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO), and the Committee on Political Education (COPE). This split has far reaching ramifications. I have always tried to join and/or form coalitions among different locals. I'm from the old school, that there is strength in numbers.

We have tried to bring some very powerful locals together for additional local aid to cities and towns. This is necessary to bring down property taxes without cutting services and jobs. Let the average taxpayer see that labor is against the most regressive of taxes, property taxes.

Project-Labor agreements are a result of many locals joining together to guarantee union jobs in construction, thus providing good jobs, quality workmanship, and safety.

All of these efforts are now in jeopardy if some locals must withdraw from these coalitions because their International has broken from the Federation (AFL-CIO).

I hope and pray that this can be worked out, for the sake of organized labor and, most importantly, for the sake our country.

On one hand you want to keep everyone united, but on the other hand it is much like the current state of the democratic party - one group wants to continue down a losing course whereas others want to try something different. Democrats in general must face this problem every election, they must ask themselves if they should keep supporting candidates they KNOW are going to sell out America the first time things get politically tough or do they only vote for candidates willing to stand up for America but don't have much chance of winning. I would like to see both happen, a strong united Union that is willing to move forward rather than continue the good ol boy network of following the same path to the same losses each time.

because of union rift."

Any repuke that gets a working class person to vote for them has told a lie to gain the trust of the voter and to get him/her to vote against there own best interests. It is a shame that so many people fall for the lies.

not neocons up the wazoo

would EVER do ANYTHING to benefit the working people in this country.