Big Labor vs. Democrats
As "card check" grows more unpopular, congressional Democrats will soon have to choose between the powerful unions and their constituents.
McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin isn’t letting up now that Creigh Deeds has won the nomination. He tells Pajamas Media:
This is a jobs election. And Card Check is the biggest job-killing piece of legislation to come down the pike in decades. Bob McDonnell is clear: he strongly opposes Card Check. Creigh Deeds unfortunately refuses to take a position, even though he’s running to be governor of a Right to Work state. It raises the question: Whose interests are more important to Creigh Deeds, big national unions, or the workers and small business owners of Virginia?
So it is clear that if a battle royale is raging in the U.S. Senate and the influential Washington Post headlines are filled with card check stories Deeds will find it increasingly difficult to duck and run for cover when reporters and his opponent ask a simple question: Is he for or against card check?
And that is the dilemma for all Democrats who are in unsafe seats, especially those Red state senators who hail from right-to-work states. Harkin may want to throw a bone to Big Labor, but he’ll come under increasing pressure to back off from those who see this as a political loser for the more moderate and conservative elements in the party.
And the pro-card check forces were not helped this week by news that unions are financially adrift — perhaps the natural result of spending millions to elect Democrats and millions more to push for card check while their membership declined. But they have a solution: card check. The Hill reported that unions have bragged that without the necessity of secret ballot elections they could swell their membership rolls by about 1.5 million new members each year. That means enormous amounts of cash pouring into union coffers:
Unions would stand to gain an additional $320 million to spend on political activities in year 10 alone with a 10-year total of $1.75 billion, according to a report put together by the anti-EFCA Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI).
“EFCA’s passage into law could generate billions of additional dollars for unions to spend on political activity to advance their agenda,” a WFI memo says. “And for those union leaders whose pension funds have been mismanaged, EFCA’s passage would also amount to a massive government-engineered bailout of their financial mismanagement.”
So the question for Democrats seems simple: do they want more union members or more elected Democrats? If they pass card check, unions may celebrate but it may be the kiss of political death for their moderate colleagues and for up-and-coming candidates like Creigh Deeds. Given politicians’ acute sense of self-preservation, odds are that they will choose to throw Big Labor and not their fellow Democrats under the proverbial bus. And if not, Bob McDonnell and a lot of GOP challengers in 2010 will have big smiles on their faces.
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Jennifer Rubin is PJM's Washington, DC, editor. She also blogs at Commentary’s Contentions.
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34 Comments
1. David Thomson:Card check is going nowhere. Also, Sonia Sotomayor will not be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Self preservation is the name of the game. Barack Obama may still be enjoying high polling numbers due to guilt tripped whites—but that will not help your typical Democratic Party politician. They are going to have to worry about themselves. Obama’s policies are mostly proving to be unpopular. The last time I noticed roughly 70% of the American public is against card check. Have the numbers changed? If not, the Democrats in Washington will not dare to push the issue.
Jun 11, 2009 - 3:52 am 2. Big Labor Vs. Democrats | Secolul 21 ~ 21st Century:[...] more: Big Labor Vs. Democrats This entry is filed under America – Blogs, Pajamas Media. You can follow any responses to this [...]
Jun 11, 2009 - 4:01 am 3. eon:This is a no-brainer… for the Democratic leadership. Card check is what the unions want; union support, both in terms of money and votes (not to mention “poll watchers”)is what the Party needs to continue, and extend, its hegemony.
Look for Reid & Pelosi to demand, and get, a party-line vote, and for The One to sign it into law while it’s still warm.
Remember, they aren’t afraid of what the electorate will do to them next year. They calculate that increased union strength and bloc voting will negate any meaningful opposition. (After all, it’s always worked in Chicago.)
And of course, their enablers in the MSM and elsewhere will be telling us, “If you’re not on The One’s side, don’t bother to show up at the polls; it’s already a lock because He has the unions on his side… the ‘right’ side.”
If anyone needed another reason not to sit out the next “off-year” election, I’d say they’re about to get it.
clear ether
eon
Jun 11, 2009 - 4:01 am 4. Greg:If they don’t pass card-check – where are the Unions going to go? The Republicans?
They won’t hold back their support – its just about the only thing keeping them alive – if they remove it they will lose even more members.
Jun 11, 2009 - 5:33 am 5. Bilgeman:Ms. Rubin:
” If they pass card check, unions may celebrate but it may be the kiss of political death for their moderate colleagues and for up-and-coming candidates like Creigh Deeds.”
Which side of the Potomac do YOU live on? Can’t you read your tea leaves any better than that?
Deeds’ victory in the primary was a triumph of the VaJanYa breed of moderate to conservative Democrat, (lately called “Blue Dogs”), that has been a hallmark of Old Dominion politics since forever.
He lives in Bath County,f’godssakes. That’s about as rural as you can get. Not exactly a hotbed of industrialized Big Labor.
Virginia Democrats, (those that bothered to vote, the turnout was very low…a significant fact in itself), rejected the scandal-tainted “Moran” label and the odious Clintonian carpetbagger McAuliffe.
Not that it matters…McDonnell is going to clean Deeds’ clock in November.
The pendulum is swinging back…and not even 6 months from the Alleged Hawaiian’s inauguration.
Jun 11, 2009 - 5:47 am 6. AThinkingPerson:Hmmmm….Democrats will have to choose between unions or their constituents that voted for them? With the current mindset of this administration is there any guess as to which group will win out? They’ve given the unions the American auto-industry, why not control over the rest of the country too? Line up, bend over and prepare for the HOPE you were promised.
Welcome to your new America. Thank your local liberal loonie for gifting us with CHANGE.
Jun 11, 2009 - 6:02 am 7. David S:I don’t see this as any big difficulty for Democrats. Passing some version of card check is a “pro worker” bona fide that is not likely to be a net loser for the Democrats. Labor has supported the left through a long stretch of GOP governance, and they will extract a reward of some kind. Whether card check and arbitration survive in the final bill is hard to say – but labor will get a bill.
There may be some temporary setbacks in isolated elections, but success on this issue is not likely to bite the left very hard. Opposition to unions is weak because of a depressed labor market and faltering economy. Job security and stable wages are starting to look a lot more attractive to the right-to-work folks that are now standing in the unemployment line.
Sonia Sotomayor is likely to be confirmed before the end of August, and big labor will probably get their bill in time for Thanksgiving. It will be a merry xmas for the Dems.
Peace.
DS
Jun 11, 2009 - 6:11 am 8. Fred Beloit:My my, eon, you are so pessimistic today. The Dem lemmings marching the goose step into a lose in 2010 going “You voters don’t know what’s good for you but we do. Nyananehnyanya”? Seems implausible to me. Meanwhile, we can keep those calls and letters coming to the oft reelected to make sure they know we despise their Employee No Choice Bill.
Jun 11, 2009 - 6:18 am 9. David S:Alternatively, we can make them understand that if they pass that bill, they will logically have to do away with the secret ballot in governmental elections, won’t they?
@8. Fred Beloit:
“Alternatively, we can make them understand that if they pass that bill, they will logically have to do away with the secret ballot in governmental elections, won’t they?”
Have you registered Republican? Filled out your voter card? Good.
The idea that card check has anything to do with the secret ballot in government elections is hilarious. Labor has always had the option of a card check – except that employers were given a unilateral veto. Removing that veto is a fair change.
Peace.
DS
Jun 11, 2009 - 7:15 am 10. Sebastian Shaw:With President Obama’s consistent unpopular, useless government wasteful programs hitting a snag such as his Universal Health Care Rationing System & his Budget still in limbo, I do not see Card Check going anywhere for fear out of self-preservation over the corrupt Unions. The Congressional Democrats have a 2010 election next year. However, President Obama does not care about the Congressional Democrats & is willing to throw them under the bus to fulfill his Marxist nightmare for the United States of America. Hence, the rub.
The friction between the Congressional Democrats & the Marxist, President Obama will continue. In the meantime, Obama’s sacred so-called popularity will burst & Obama’s agenda will meet in freefall given his inept ability to govern.
Senator Harry Reid is in trouble in Nevada. All of these things do not bode well for the Socialist Democrats currently in power; they have overreached. And they will pay the price.
Jun 11, 2009 - 7:21 am 11. Fred Beloit:“The idea that card check has anything to do with the secret ballot in government elections is hilarious. Labor has always had the option of a card check – except that employers were given a unilateral veto. Removing that veto is a fair change.”
So, Dave, when you go down to city hall to register to vote a cop is there to find out which party you belong to…this is a requirement is it?
“…except that employers were given a unilateral veto.” Supporting link please.
Jun 11, 2009 - 7:28 am 12. Fred Beloit:Text of the No Choice Bill passed by the House:
Jun 11, 2009 - 7:35 am 13. Saltherring:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:4:./temp/~c110ufOiwd::
“If the Board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in the petition as their bargaining representative and that no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit, the Board shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization as the representative described in subsection (a).”
Fred Beloit @ 8 states, “Alternatively, we can make them understand that if they pass that bill, they will logically have to do away with the secret ballot in governmental elections, won’t they?”
Perhaps the criminals who now control our government can simply provide funding for ACORN to manage ‘big labor’ elections. This would minimize the public opinion controversy while virtually guaranteeing the desired results. Hey, this worked in the last presidential election, didn’t it? And who cares if a few deceased ‘members’ or illegal aliens cast votes, right? Well don’t get huffy about it…. I seem to recall ethics and election laws didn’t seem to bother you union members last November when ACORN ‘voters’ and illegal campaign donations pushed your guy over the top….
Jun 11, 2009 - 7:41 am 14. Michael:I belong to a union. I am absolutly against card check. Secret ballots let people choose what they want without fear of retribution. Unions want card check so they can pressure, threaten and extort.
Anyone against secret ballots has lost their American roots.
Jun 11, 2009 - 7:57 am 15. David S:@11. Fred Beloit:
“So, Dave, when you go down to city hall to register to vote a cop is there to find out which party you belong to…this is a requirement is it?”
Registering to vote does not require a visit to city hall in my jurisdiction, but as far as I know voter registrations are public information in all jurisdictions nationwide. So the cop is not required, but if you want to belong to a party, that’s a matter of public record.
“…except that employers were given a unilateral veto.” Supporting link please.
Here’s a link to wikipedia since you clearly have not started your research on card check.
Here’s a link to wikipedia for the Taft-Hartley Act, too – that’s the law that stripped workers of the right to organize.
An employer is allowed to request a secret ballot election, even if 100% of the workers have certified their union via card check. This kind of unilateral power to obstruct and delay is designed to make unionizing impossible – combined with the other restrictions of Taft-Hartley, the picture is clear. Workers get the short end of the stick as their right to organize is made meaningless.
It is way past time for workers to reclaim the right to organize.
Peace.
DS
Jun 11, 2009 - 8:26 am 16. Concerned:The unions are broke, they spent it all to get Obama elected. Now its time for Obama to pay back to the unions for their support in getting him elected. Without card check there is a serious possibility that some of the unions may go broke…..lets hope and pray that card check fails and along with that, the unions…….
Jun 11, 2009 - 8:57 am 17. savage24:If it comes down to unions or constituients the unions will win. Politicians only need the constituients on election day, and with ACORN the elections are becoming a laughing matter. Unions supply the grease(money) that keep the political wheels going round and round.
Jun 11, 2009 - 9:03 am 18. davidt:Big Labor vs. Democrats?
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Jun 11, 2009 - 9:42 am 19. Fred Beloit:“An employer is allowed to request a secret ballot election, even if 100% of the workers have certified their union via card check.”
So if 100% of the workers (actually it is a majority of the workers, if I recall correctly) certify they want an election, not as you, Dave, incorrectly put it “certify their union”, they get a secret ballot election. What the heck is wrong with that? You say it is a delay of some kind to have an election. Are you suggesting that registering to vote in a government election and stipulating your party makes the secret ballot election unnecessary for government elections? That the government is using a delaying tactic when they insist an election must be held?
Just exactly what is wrong with the secret ballot, Dave?
Jun 11, 2009 - 10:42 am 20. Fred Beloit:Dave makes the preposterous claim that no unions have been certified since Taft-Hartley was passed (June 1947).
“This kind of unilateral power to obstruct and delay is designed to make unionizing impossible – combined with the other restrictions of Taft-Hartley, the picture is clear. Workers get the short end of the stick as their right to organize is made meaningless.
Jun 11, 2009 - 10:49 am 21. Sebastian Shaw:It is way past time for workers to reclaim the right to organize.”
Michael, the Unions want Card Check to become a relevant outside the Democratic Party since they have become irreverent in the work force as a whole. Card Check is also a means to another end: Increase the Union’s power within the Democratic Party they once had.
Card Check is a loser for any involved & the Democrats know this. They must tread carefully or fall into the abyss themselves.
President Obama wants Card Check because he sold out to the Unions when they gave him money. They have done well in the short term with Chrystler & GM; however, in the long term, they will need government subsidies to survive. This is not a legitimate model to keep GM & Chrystler in business since no one will buy their cars.
The Unions are going to die a slow death instead of a quick one.
Jun 11, 2009 - 11:42 am 22. rickb308:3. eon:
Remember, they aren’t afraid of what the electorate will do to them next year. They calculate that increased union strength and bloc voting will negate any meaningful opposition. (After all, it’s always worked in Chicago.)
clear ether
eon
eon,
That is, until the unions take it in the shorts also.
Jun 11, 2009 - 11:53 am 23. JED:With the unions being given the auto industry and their pensions being paid by the national treasury, a little card check is a small speed bump in declaring that “we are all union now!”
Jun 11, 2009 - 12:32 pm 24. Terry:Why stop there with the rest of the collective social programs pending?
Hey Dave S, why not peddle your brand of union loving over at (c)HuffPo?
Jun 11, 2009 - 1:03 pm 25. AThinkingPerson:Re #24 Terry: David S. won’t peddle his BS over at the HuffPo because he thinks he sounds superior here at PJM (trust me, writing in complete sentences on the HuffPo grants you instant celebrity status over there). I enjoy his posts actually. It confirms my assumption that the Democratic party is composed of non-thinking urbanites who read all about the woes of the country and think they can figure all of life’s problems by sitting in their local Barnes & Noble and reading about it. Typical.
Read his latest posts on card-check? He’s gotten his facts from his local UAW post and now he’s going to “teach” us all about it. Yeah. Right. Sucks for him when reality doesn’t quite align with his books.
He’ll grow up and learn a few life lessons someday. I just hope I live long enough to see the tone in his posts change. Funny how liberals have to grow up eventually too isn’t it?
Jun 11, 2009 - 1:35 pm 26. AThinkingPerson:Shall we now see who Obama is beholden to?
Businesses are asking Obama if he also plans to limit UNION BOSSES salaries:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/back-story/2009/jun/11/business-groups-dare-obama-to-limit-pay-for-unions/
Jun 11, 2009 - 1:48 pm 27. myth buster:If Card Check is so good, why don’t we run congressional elections like that? As soon as a challenger gets 50%+1 eligible voters to sign a card endorsing them (and you can’t take it back once you sign it), we replace the congressman.
Jun 11, 2009 - 2:07 pm 28. "progressive"watch:In two years 70 percent of Americans will be against everything Obama does. And on top of this,the former mainstream media will pretty much be has-beens. They’re beating their own death march every day.
Jun 11, 2009 - 2:39 pm 29. LouAnn:AThinkingPerson wrote re: David: “Sucks for him when reality doesn’t quite align with his books.”
You nailed it. This past spring I was engaged in an email debate with a former boss who stated that our government is responsible for making everyone happy and healthy and productive, that included free transportation and health care and jobs and … and … and. We went around a few times about the economic implications until I finally asked him what reality he’s basing his notions on … to which he replied, “Nobody said I had to base it on reality!” Wish I had those hours back. P.S.: And he said he was a fiscal conservative, too, who believes the government shouldn’t spend more than it takes in. (As long as they keep raising the taxes, I guess the government will always have enough, right?)
Jun 11, 2009 - 4:01 pm 30. Self-hating Boomer:Hard to say which way this will go. If it were only up to 0bama, Pelosi, and Reid, it’s a slam-dunk. Other donkeys may be less certain. As uncertain (verily, unlikely) as an economic recovery by 2010 is, this will kill any chance at all.
Still too early to really know, but I’m beginning to see a bloodbath a la 1994 in 2010. Not because the public likes Republicans, but because the donkeys have done so much harm in such a short period.
The real question is, will enough bluedogs self-preserve, and bolt the pack?
Jun 11, 2009 - 6:20 pm 31. TheMightyMonarch:Honestly I don’t see the Republicans gaining more than a few seats in 2010. They screwed themselves over by embracing the moderate, “slow down the growth of government” bandwagon instead of fighting tooth and nail against the statist, expansionist agenda. Add to that a media that will demonize them no matter what they do and they are stuck.
The old guard needs to die off/retire and be replaced with a new set that sticks to core values of individual liberty, limited government and a strong national defense. Assuming we survive the coming depression without turning into a despotic oligarchy or fractured by secession.
Jun 11, 2009 - 11:03 pm 32. DavidN:So let me get this straight…you think that the Dems have a dilemma, because if they pass card check they’ll lost the Blue Dogs, but gain more money and influence from the Unions. Hmmm…less moderates, more money. Does anyone else see this the way I do? I think the party will jump at the chance to get card check, and if they shed a few moderates in the process they’ll cry crocodile tears all the way to the new bank account those extra union members are going to build for them. It’s a no brainer. It’s also interesting, Obama hasn’t said he’s for the legislation, last I heard. But he also isn’t one to buck his own party…
Jun 12, 2009 - 12:16 am 33. Jim Baker:I know, what a problem for the Collectivist Party and its followers. We only wish this would be a problem for them. The only problem becomes the tricky matter of exactly when to do what the unions want. Sheesh.
Jun 13, 2009 - 10:04 am 34. Bob Ditchman:This great nation was once a union, but now it is divided, we as a people are so busy complaining about each other we are destroying our way of life and this nation,when america dies, and it will,we can all share the blame for its demise.
Jun 18, 2009 - 9:13 pmUnions are such a small part of the whole that if they were no more, americans would find something else to bitch about,we will never be the great union (nation) that we once were, because most americans only think about them selfs,and not their fellow americians,we are trapped in the Me Generation.
Also not to worry,China already owns America
and Russia is re-emerging as a powerful industrial based nation, and you all are worried about card check,you all had better look beyound our borders and see what is happing around the world.