Question about labor unions.

[NVMojo]

Do Republicans and unions embrace each other these days? Do unions typically endorse Republican candidates? If so, when did this change? Is there something going on nationwide with unions that they are now in the sack with Repukes? Thanks!

[WildEyedLiberal]

1. Whaa?

Not that I'm aware of at ALL. AFL-CIO and UAW as well as every other union I am aware of was solidly behind Kerry.

[Kipling]

2. WTF?

No...

[Selatius]

3. Republicans and unionists are almost mutually exclusive

There's a few union workers, I'm sure, who've been had over the wedge issues of abortion, gay marriage, etc., but generally, no.

[NVMojo]

4. Selatius and all, that's what I thought but I do live in La-La Land up

in foreign goldmining leg-humping land, northeast Nevada, and the unions endorse Republican candidates here. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a nationwide thing. Thanks!

[Selatius]

6. I think a few union workers in deeply red states do vote Repub.

I'm sure where I live (Mississippi) has a few union workers who voted Repub. I haven't talked to many, but I'd venture one of the bigger reasons is because of "family values." Then again, there are very few union workers at all in Mississippi. We're a "right to work" state.

[KharmaTrain]

5. A Bit More Complex Than That

Union problems are many and it's sad since the movement has gotten so messed up in recent decades.

My grandfather was in the Meat Cutters union a century ago...fought in the Chicago Stock Yards for the 8 hour day, knew Eugene Debs and is burried in a union cemetary. I went through a bunch of his papers and saw how the unions would coordinate...garment workers, auto workers, steel workers, teamsters...if one union was screwed with, they all were. They had to be stong and firm...as like today, they had a government that was against them and more than happy to do the corporate's bidding.

In the 80's, I was part of a union...AFTRA. Sadly, it was an old union with a lot of problems...that I've learned is a problem with a lot of them. Many of the top union brass were either "lifers"...who hadn't worked in the trenches in ages and had no clue what the rank and file did other than pay dues. There was also a steady stream of people who would jump from union to management to union to management...taking whichever offered the best deal at the moment. Many would get jobs at places with union problems and they'd go away. Many of us "peons" were bitter and left the union...the rest were later busted out as consolidation all but made the union obsolete.

Many of the big unions are like government and corporations...loaded with big payroll "executives" who deal far more with management and wheeler-dealers than they do with the rank and file. Rules that were meant to give workers stability have been perverted by many to create a caste system of "tenure" or seniority that means many unions spend more time fighting within themselves then to bother with what management is up to. They get caught when the company outsources or goes bankrupt and the membership almost always pays.

It'd be nice to see the rebirth of the union movement...workers joining together to demand an end to the corporate gluttony that's destroyed this country. But it just might have to take a depression, 12 hour work days and petrid working conditions for that to happen.

[Selatius]

7. You might want to look into anarcho-syndicalist worker unions

Their worker unions are more organized along direct democratic principles where the hierarchy is rather flat, as opposed to traditional unions, like yours, that have layers and layers of bureacracy and where leaders can often become insulated from the problems at the base of the pyramid where most of the workers are. They've tried to pretty much abolish the concept of the "union boss."

This poster is a perfect example:

[KharmaTrain]

8. I Know Of Something Similar

I'm retired...haven't been near or around unions for nearly 20 years. I've met many in working on campaigns and our involvement in local school activities.

One person is active in helping set up a new unions along the lines of your poster...not quite as socialist. The goals are modest...just to get recognized and then set up collective bargaining. He's frustrated with the union at his "9-5" job as it's very top heavy with "lifers" and his union work is viewed with more suspect by his shop stewards than by his bosses.

There needs to be a mainstream re-birth of the labor movement...so many people have been abused for so long. Sadly many are scared by the restrictions of most unions...dues, meetings and so on...or that it will hurt their chances for future jobs (a major reason many in my field left the union). When push comes to shove, too many unions cave for the stability and lose more power every time. When was the last time this country had a workers stike that really affected people's lives? I can't remember...and I'm 50.

[Conservativesux]

9. Air Controllers Strike during Reagans watch.....

but of course we all know how that turned out, and *'s actions makes Ronnie's "mistakes" look like those of a choirboy!

[Gman]

11. There are some unions that are staying ahead of the curve

You have some good insight and I think you're pretty much right on about unions.

There are some unions that are staying ahead of the curve. The IBEW and CWA are probably the most foresighted of the affiliated unions. CWA, through its president Morton Bahr was fully prepared for many of the changes in the telecommunications industry long before they occurred. The CWA has transitioned from being solely a telephone company union to a union representing a very diverse cross-section of industry.

I went to a conference on technology put on by the national AFL-CIO in about 1995. I was actually dismayed to find unions such as the UFCW and IUE discussing just in time inventory and trying to think of ways to keep it from happening. I was dismayed because rather than try to adapt to JIT, they were choosing to fight it. I felt choosing to fight it was short sighted and futile as JIT was going to happen (and was happening) regardless of how they felt. I thought their efforts would be better spent educating the membership that JIT was coming, and that it would impact the workforce through layoffs. I felt that they should have been trying to negotiate better job security agreements that would include larger severance pay as a result of layoffs from technology changes plus bigger education/training benefits to help the members find different work faster if that's what it came to. Maybe they were already doing these things, I don't really know. But it sure didn't seem like it.

[B Calm]

10. Back when theTeamsters Union was corrupt, it backed repukes.