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Democrats Petrified Over Labor Rift NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON -- The AFL-CIO fracture is posing potential problems for Democratic leaders, who rely heavily on unions for money and volunteers. And it could play into the hands of Republicans seeking to extend their clout among one of the most traditionally Democratic constituencies. Two unions representing 3.2 million workers - the Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union - bolted from the AFL-CIO on Monday. Further defections were possible. Story Continues Below The exodus came in a dispute over what dissidents see as AFL-CIO President John Sweeney's inability to halt declining membership and over the future direction of the labor movement. Critics say the union should shift its emphasis from electoral politics to finding new members. Because the AFL-CIO has played such a major role in supporting Democrats over the years, the rift is producing unease among top Democrats who have seen the control of both Congress and the White House slip from them in recent years. "I don't know what's going to happen but it's not going to help," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. "I really hoped it wouldn't come to this. It's not the money, it's the lack of unity on the issues and not having a solid front." Labor experts suggested the dispute could continue to erode the Democratic hold on labor and offer an opening to Republicans. "This put labor up for grabs in American politics again," said Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland. In particular, Morici said he expected Republicans to reach out directly to union members and try to cut deals with dissident coalition leader SEIU President Andrew Stern. "Stern is more of a pragmatist" than old-school labor leaders like Sweeney, Morici said. Both Stern and Teamsters President James P. Hoffa disputed that there would be any net falloff in support for Democratic candidates. "We will have as much or more money to organize and to be politically active," Hoffa told reporters in Chicago, the site of this week's troubled AFL-CIO convention. But there will be "a period of adjustment" that will begin to impact candidates running in 2006, said Democratic strategist Jenny Backus. "Instead of one-stop shopping, it will be two-stop shopping" for those seeking union support, she said. However, most Democratic candidates "already have strong relationships" with both the AFL-CIO and the two unions that bolted. "It is disappointing. I think we work better when we're united," Backus said. Stern's Change to Win Coalition consists of seven unions, four of which boycotted the AFL-CIO convention: The SEIU, Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE HERE, a group of textile, hotel and restaurant employees. Sweeney called the defections and boycott of the convention by the latter two unions - UFCW and UNITE HERE - "a grievous insult to all the unions." Labor officials expect UFCW and UNITE HERE to leave the AFL-CIO later. Prior to Monday's split, the AFL-CIO had 13 million members. Democratic leaders tread cautiously in public comments. "I know these are trying times for labor," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., told the AFL-CIO convention. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it was "vital that whatever decisions are made this week, labor must emerge from this convention stronger, and ready to confront any challenge." Phil Singer, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that despite the upheaval, "At the end of the day, American workers are going to support the party whose agenda best fits their priorities." That's the Democratic Party and "that's not going to change," Singer said. Still, Democratic leaders were clearly edgy about the internal dispute that provided the latest blow to a movement that peaked in the 1950s and has been losing political clout and membership ever since. People from union households accounted for 24 percent of the 2004 presidential election vote. And they chose Democrat John Kerry over Republican Bush by a margin of 3-2. Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, conceded, "The labor movement is unfortunately weaker today than it was yesterday." He suggested the rift could have an impact on local races like governor, mayor and State legislatures "because many unions have individual agendas." "I don't see any real effect on the national political scene," McEntee said. Republicans seemed content to watch from the sidelines. "That's a matter for those organizations to address," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "The president has a long record of reaching out to working Americans and working families." To John Hastert, 45, of Green River, Wyo., a delegate for the United Steelworkers, the split with the Teamsters and the SIEU "couldn't come at a worse time." "The labor movement is under attack. We need to expend our energy getting better wages and better health care, not on this infighting," Hastert said.
© 2005 The Associated Press
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