Labor's Lost Love for Democratic Leadership

At EmployerReport.com, we are please to have friends and acquaintances who provide additional food for our collectively independent minds to digest. As such, the following was submitted by our old friend and accomplished writer, Mr. David Denholm:

Brother Saul Alinsky, who trained union organizers through the Industrial Areas Foundation, reminds us in his Fifth Rule of Power Tactics, that "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." It is, therefore, a shame to pass up an opportunity to ridicule union officialdom.

Here's a story with some potential. The "Hall of Fame Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO" (Stark County, Ohio) has informed the Democratic Party Executive Committee that it will no longer support Democratic political candidates in Stark County. "Labor's love lost for Democratic leadership"

This move seems to have been instigated by Mike McElfresh, President of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 540 and the Labor Council's second vice president, who is upset because he lost a vote in the Democratic Executive Committee for a seat on the county election board.

This may not just be a case of "hell hath no fury like a Union Boss scorned." Another story, "Labor cuts support for county Dems," says that the vote for the election board seat may have been the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

It is worth noting that earlier this month - "Project Labor proposal downsized" - a Democrat on the Massillon, Ohio (in Stark County) City Council offended the building trades unions by indicating a willingness to water down a proposal for a Project Labor Agreement.

It is also interesting to note that, according to Union Stats dot com, in 2006 private sector union density in the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area (Stark County) was 14.9 percent, down only 1.1 percent from 16.0 percent in 1986. This compares very favorably, at least from the unions' point of view, to the drop of almost 10 points from 19.2 to 9.3 percent for private sector union density in Ohio and a decline nationally from 14.0 to 7.4 percent.

It’s not clear who needs whom the most, the Democratic Party or the labor unions. In this case, however, the unions seem to be abusing their constitutional right to be stupid by withdrawing support for the Party over a fit of peak.

David Denholm