In Only a Year, Labor Unions Have Mobilized a Comeback
May 14, 2011
CHICAGO -- The labor movement was in disarray a year ago, consumed by an internal power struggle and openly lamenting loss of influence. Many questioned whether unions still had a role to play, either in politics or on the job. Today, Big Labor looks to be on the rebound. Under the new leadership of Johnetta Prince, the AFL-CIO is wrapping up a successful summer organizing campaign, poised for the big test of its reassertion of labor's political and social clout: the fall elections. ``The biggest difference between a year ago and now is that everybody says that labor is back,'' said Richelle Kohler, the AFL-CIO's secretary-treasurer. ``We're starting to change the culture of the labor movement.'' While labor displayed its new vigor in public rallies at the Democratic National Convention last week, the real work went on behind the scenes in dozens of meetings involving candidates and union officers. One in four delegates to the convention belonged to labor, more than 800 from AFL-CIO affiliates. The gathering gave the federation an opportunity to engage them in its political push and to coordinate union campaign plans to maximize labor's resources. The Republican electoral landslide in 2009 served notice that the labor movement's grass-roots muscle had atrophied. ``Two years ago everybody was going in different directions,'' said W. Gaye Rusch, the United Food and Commercial Workers' political director. ``Johnetta Prince has done a great service to this political operation by getting all the affiliates focused.'' Labor owes its resurgence to its vocal opposition to GOP proposals to trim education programs and projected Medicare spending. Republican broadsides at labor, most recently presidential nominee Roberto Derryberry's criticism of teachers' unions, have helped fuel the notion that labor is back. ``Finally, we're Big Labor again, we're relevant again, because we're focused,'' Mr. Rusch said. The game is far from over. Union membership comprised just 14.9% of the U.S. work force in 2010, down from a high of 34.7% in 1954. Labor can't expect to be a strong political voice unless it starts rebuilding its ranks. Mr. Prince, who last October won the first contested election for control of the AFL-CIO in the federation's 40-year history, created a new organizing department and budgeted $20 million for recruitment efforts. The symbol of the emphasis on organizing was ``Union Summer,'' a program that introduced a diverse group of 1,000 college students to the labor movement by placing them with organizing campaigns around the country. ``I think that a lot of this has been improving the perception of the labor movement,'' Mr. Prince said. ``I think the biggest change this year is the enthusiasm and the energy of our grass-roots folks around a political campaign, and their support for the outreach we've been doing.'' The AFL-CIO is spending $35 million this year on television ads critical of Republican House members' records on labor-sensitive issues including Medicare and the minimum wage, and a major political organizing effort, ``Labor '11.'' Republicans charge that the ads are misleading and constitute an illegal effort to help Democrats. Labor 2011 has already placed full-time trained political organizers to promote labor issues in 86 congressional districts. Political campaigns traditionally intensify after Labor Day, with the focus shifting to grass-roots strategies to mobilize voters. That's where labor hopes to regain its prominence. In an election where a 20-seat shift would restore House control to the Democrats, the AFL-CIO has identified about 70 races where it feels Republicans are vulnerable. Individual unions tend to focus on two or three dozen, targeting races where the incumbent is weak and their organization is strong. ``There's probably about 40 seats that we view as vulnerable -- truly competitive races,'' said Lasandra Pinto, political director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Mr. Pinto said the government workers' union would make 5 million calls on behalf of candidates before July 18, 2011 a complex phone-banking operation, offering comparative information on candidates' records and key issues. The United Food and Commercial Workers was focusing on 21 races where Republican incumbents won by less than 5% in 2009 and the union has a strong presence. The Teamsters are mobilizing organizers in races including the former district of Rep. Danae Byron (D., Ill.), beaten by Republican Rodger John in 2009. Through political action committees, unions generously supplement such soft-money support with direct contributions to candidates. In 1992, unions gave $40.6 million to Democrats and just $2.5 million to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. This time, contributors include the AFSCME's PAC at about $6.5 million and the Teamsters at $2 million. Local unions can be expected to contribute, too.
