APNewsBreak: Some unions to skip 2012 convention

WASHINGTON (AP) -- About a dozen trade unions plan to sit out the 2012 Democratic convention because they're angry that it's being held in a right-to-work state and frustrated that Democrats haven't done enough to create jobs.

The move could pose a larger problem for President Barack Obama next year if an increasingly dispirited base of labor activists becomes so discouraged that it doesn't get the rank-and-file to the polls in the usual strong numbers.

The unions - all part of the AFL-CIO's building and construction trades unit - told party officials this week they are gravely disappointed that labor was not consulted before Democrats settled on Charlotte, N.C., where there are no unionized hotels.

"We find it troubling that the party so closely associated with basic human rights would choose a state with the lowest unionization rate in the country due to regressive policies aimed at diluting the power of workers," Mark Ayers, president of the building trades unit, wrote in a letter to Democratic Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEMOCRATIC_CONVENTION_UNIONS

Pres. Obama is not a New Democrat, in any case.

Furthermore, I don't recall unions having a problem endorsing New Democrat/DLC/Third Way Hillary when she ran for POTUS.

Our support isn't unconditional. Jobs are on the radar now, with the elections closing in. 2 1/2 years of nothing.

Holding the convention in NC is a successful extension of the 50-state strategy. If unions want to skip the event, fine. But I see nothing wrong with the DNC will do what it takes to expand the playing field in 2012.

Wrong approach to getting our man re-elected.

Democrats will slap unions in the face in order to cater to those who hate workers.

The only thing unions are doing here is screwing their own members out of work.

Obama calls himself a New Democrat and shows what it means.
By Bruce Reed
Posted Wednesday, March 11, 2009, at 3:06 PM ET
For conservatives still trying to fit Barack Obama into their old tax-and-spend-liberal box, Tuesday was a very bad day. In the morning, the president gave a tough-minded education reform speech demanding more accountability from schools, teachers, students, and parents. The same afternoon, he brought members of the House New Democrat Coalition to the White House and told them, "I am a New Democrat." According to Politico, Obama went on to describe himself as a fiscally responsible, pro-growth Democrat who supports free and fair trade and opposes protectionism.

http://www.slate.com/id/2213474/

the way Bush attacked Kerry in 2004.

They have no street cred.

I know Politico has no street cred with most of DU; that's why I found an article written by Bruce Reed, darling of, and mover and shaker in, the Dem. Party. He's a Washington insider, and he definitley has street cred.

You made my point for me.

..to coming.

Maybe we should all sit it out.

trying to crochet during a tornado.
Oh, sure, you might get one or two lines done, but then the wind will come up and undo everything you put together.

Some of the smaller unions broke away from the main union they were with over giving any concessions to business 4 or 5 years ago.
Without making concessions to the people who managed those companies, they were lucky to be able to keep their jobs at all.

The unions don't decide where the Democratic party holds our conventions.
They aren't the mafia, they don't get to sit in on every fucking meeting we hold.

THEY don't get to tell DEMS what to do? Because UNIONS act like the mafia? (how original). More like the unions shouldn't let the Dems boss them around. Why should union leaders give Democrats OUR DUES MONEY and hollow out OUR STRIKE FUNDS to support politicians that abandon their rank and file.

I support unions above the Democratic Party, and let me tell you, if the unions leave it: I leave it.

STOP EXTORTING OUR UNION DUES.

Go to the Republican convention and see what you get!!!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

No votes, no money, no boots on the ground or phone banks. We use to be partners.

What you just said sounds like blackmail to me.
More of the "my way or the highway" shit that Boehner espouses.

:rofl:
Stopping voluntary support because there's no value in it is not blackmail. Being told that we have no where else to go gets old. We can chose to support no one.
You obviously have no idea how valuable we are to the party.

Anywhere else would be preaching to the choir.

Hotels are trying to break unions all over the country. I believe that it is important for the Democratic Party to support venues that still employ union workers.

Force a Third Party.

NC turned blue for the first time in 2008.

Its a key swing state.

So let's tell NC to fuck off in 2012.

Talk about cutting off your own nose to spite your face.

This is the reason Dems snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

people will support him.

much of the Dem Party has deserted the unions, so the unions would naturally desert the Party. Hey, after all, there DO have to be consequences.

Is there a bigger weasel than Rick Scott. No, says I.

like decent people.

Democrats having a convention in a Right to work for less state is a slap in the face to unions a not insubstantial part of the base.

:thumbsup:

Stand strong.

K and R

time since reconstruction. Unions could both attend and picket outside to change the debate. This picture is one I took of people supporting Wisconsin workers in Raleigh against the tea party. There was plenty of public sentiment for unions in it.