If your union endorsed a candidate you strongly opposed, would you drop the union?

[RiverStone]

There was a Dem caller on Ed Schultz yesterday who was very angry his union (AFSCME) endorsed Hillary. Not only was Hillary not who he supported, but the caller felt that union endorsements prior to the primaries were premature. His plan was to drop the union in protest of the leadership decision.

I feel mixed on this. I was a member of a local teachers union (an affiliate of the NEA) for many years and there were times the union made early endorsements which I opposed. On balance, unions support our Party because we support the rights of regular working folks. Our values ideally weigh in to protect the individual vs the corporation. Thats a damn good thing! Yet I also wonder if unions would be better served to advocate for positions on issues vs endorsing specific candidates? Or at least wait until after the primaries to endorse a candidate in the General. Back room union deals in convention halls have been part of good ol boy politics for the most of the last century.

What do you think?

Your union endorses a candidate your strongly opposed to, would you drop the union?




on edit: shortened my question!

[madinmaryland]

1. If I was a member of a union, I would still vote my concious.

If it was not the same candidate as the one I supported, I would still vote for my candidate. I would, though, listen to the reasons from the union as to why they are supporting another candidate.

[Virginia Dare]

2. Interesting..

I wonder how many angry AFSCME members will jump to SEIU? That's why I was speculating yesterday if the SEIU leadership would go ahead and endorse Edwards now, even though they said they wouldn't. I'm sure there are some interesting discussions going on.

[EFerrari]

3. No. You can remain a member and ignore the endorsement

The SEIU went around the country trying to keep third party candidates off of the ballot in 2004. What they did was undemocratic and, illegal in some cases. Wherever you have a bureaucracy, you also have wiggle room for corruption.

Nobody's perfect.

[cloudbase]

4. I wouldn't drop the union.

I wouldn't work for the endorsed candidate, though, and would probably reevaluate my donations to the union's PAC.

[Touchdown]

5. No, that's dumb. Unions are not monoliths.

So many people think their union should agree with every single little thing they do. Unions have too many people to make that possible, but some people are just too unreasonable to understand that.

Unions are democracies. You win some, you lose some. I don't like the CWA's (my union) endorsement of the Judith Miller Bill (National Shield) but that's just one of many that CWA does support that I do agree with.

[Inspired]

6. No, I'd vote my conscience. No one tells me who to support. n/t