Posted on 05/14/2005 10:59:32 AM PDT by JulieRNR21
Labor's disarray echoes loudly for Democrats
By RON FOURNIER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Divided and desperate, union leaders are looking everywhere - from Ivy League classrooms to the ''megachurch'' pulpits of far-flung suburbia - for ways to reverse a 50-year decline in membership that is tipping the balance of power in politics.
Labor's woes are a threat to the Democratic Party, because unions are the single-greatest organizing tool on the left side of the political spectrum. ''If we can't reverse course, the future is very, very bleak,'' said Harold Ickes, an influential Democrat and labor ally.
Organized labor is at a tipping point, buffeted by economic, political and social shifts that make it harder to recruit new members. Under the leadership of John Sweeney, the AFL-CIO has maintained its political might despite the nosedive in membership, but few union or party leaders believe that organized labor can cling to relevancy unless it changes with the times.
The question is how to adapt. The AFL-CIO, a federation of 57 unions formed at the peak of labor's powers 50 years ago, is in danger of breaking apart in a dispute over strategies.
The federation's largest partner, 1.8 million-member Service Employees International Union, is threatening to bolt unless the AFL-CIO commits to a dramatic reorganization. The SEIU wants the AFL-CIO to cut its budget by more than 50 percent and use the savings to increase organizing by its member unions.
Sweeney, facing a tough re-election bid this summer, says he's done plenty to increase membership since 1995 - and pledges to do more.
''The infighting couldn't come at a worse time for them, or for Democrats,'' said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic consultant with deep ties to labor. ''It's bad for the Democrat Party to have labor leaders fighting each other instead of helping us win.''
The feud is part of a drumbeat of bad news for labor: The AFL-CIO laid off 167 employees this month as part of Sweeney's plan to increase spending on union membership drives. The Labor Department warned labor not to use money from pension funds to lobby against President Bush's proposal to overhaul Social Security, and suggested that unions were being closely watched for potential wrongdoing.
A federal bankruptcy judge approved United Airlines' plan to terminate its employees' pension plans. The ruling could impact pensions in other industries, labor officials said, undermining one of the key selling points of a union.
About 14 percent of voters in last fall's elections said they were union members, down from 16 percent in 2000. About two-thirds said they voted for Democratic candidate John Kerry, matching similar support for Al Gore in 2000, despite a twofold increase in union spending. The worse news is old news: The unionized portion of the U.S. work force has dropped from 32.5 percent in the mid-1950s to 12 percent.
Labor leaders cite many reasons for the decline: The global economy, trade agreements, the shift from an industrial-based to a technology-based economy, poor enforcement of labor laws and Republican tax policies that squeeze middle-class incomes.
Harvard professor Robert Putnam, author of ''Bowling Alone,'' said labor's membership declines coincided with the steep drop in all community and civic activities starting in the 1960s. Once part of a worker's social network - with crowded union halls and other activities - organized labor now has a purely transactional relationship with workers. ''They're merely bargaining agents,'' Putnam said.
He suggests that union leaders look at fast-growing churches, where leaders give worshippers a higher purpose and small-group communities - valued commodities in exurbia, where virtually everybody is new to the neighborhood. Labor needs to fill that social capital void, too, he said.
Stern's leadership team recently traveled to Harvard to develop new strategies and hear Putnam's pitch. Their reading list for the three-day meeting included ''Jesus Christ Superflock,'' a Mother Jones article about the organizational strength of megachurches.
''Megachurches have done an incredible job of helping people find a sense of community,'' Stern said. ''Churches changed in recent years to be a lot more welcoming - more welcoming than the labor movement.''
Steve Rosenthal, a Democratic consultant and former AFL-CIO political director, said labor leaders need to ''think outside the box'' and change along with society. Rosenthal, like his friend Stern, admires the tactics of megachurch leaders.
''I was struck by how much they have done to make the church the center of the community and how union halls were at one time much the center of the community,'' he said.
A frustrated Ickes said he knows labor needs to change, he's just not sure how.
''Business has reorganized itself to meet the global competition, but labor is still back in the old industrial economy mind-set, when they were sheltered by two oceans and had no competition'' Ickes said with a sigh. ''Those are nice generalities. If you press me beyond that, I don't know what to say.''
(Cape Cod Times: May 14, 2005)
These Dem consultants ignore the fact that the people flocking to many of these 'Megachurches' have the moral values NOT supported or endorsed by the Democrat Party.
Schadenfreude........Julie
I'm sure a pro-abort leader will play well in the megachurches. Riiiiiiiight.
Infuential Democrat Harold Ickes (FOB) is 'frustrated' over decline of influence of Labor Unions.......PING
I wonder if any of the Unions woes come from Republican members of unions getting a damned bellyfull of their Union disenfranchising them by always voting for Democrats. I know mine disgusted me this way and their Pac can kiss my rosy red azz.
People flocking to the megachurches are Joe Sixpack regular guys who are the children and grandchildren of New Deal Democrats and the greatgrandchildren of Williams Jenning Bryan Populists. They are not at all laissez faire libertarian types.
They are very open to an economic populist appeal.
And those whooping the decline of organized labor should take note that NAFTA and CAFTA and H1Bs are direct results of the diminished power of organized labor to fight for American workers. Would these things happen in the days of Reuther and Meany and Hoffa ?
Just how far does Ickes have to have his little gremlin shaped head up his a$$ to not understand he's gotten exactly what he asked for.
"Harvard professor Robert Putnam, author of ''Bowling Alone,'' said labor's membership declines coincided with the steep drop in all community and civic activities starting in the 1960s. Once part of a worker's social network - with crowded union halls and other activities - organized labor now has a purely transactional relationship with workers. ''They're merely bargaining agents,'' Putnam said.
He suggests that union leaders look at fast-growing churches, where leaders give worshippers a higher purpose and small-group communities - valued commodities in exurbia, where virtually everybody is new to the neighborhood. Labor needs to fill that social capital void, too, he said."
Watching Ickes twist in the wind is better than sex. If he's become useless to Hillary, he had better hire a union loyal food taster.
And they give their members....no choice. They take the members' money & give it to the Dems. In the 2002 FL Governor race, the FL Teachers' Union mortaged their Miami Beach Hdq. for 2 million to support Dem loser Bill McBride!
"There is certainly no decline in the Federal, state, county, and municipal unions across the country. They and their pensions are eating us alive."
BINGO.....Exactly right...with their decline in manufacturing industries...the Unions have organized in government & education where they can get whatever they scream loudest for by browbeating taxpayers!
And the liberal media supports their efforts!
LOL... I guess the union workers will have to unionize against the heartless union bosses.
Hope your prediction comes true!
" LOL... I guess the union workers will have to unionize against the heartless union bosses."
Ditto - what a total irony...
Maybe the unions would not be losing so many members if they stopped spending their members' money on far left-wing liberal causes that most of their members' opppose?
What the hell? Shoddy writing and reporting. Can anyone find a Republican president that raised taxes on the middle class? What alleged policy is this referring to?
Middle class people's taxes keep going down, and according to the liberals they're supposed to be upset that other people's taxes went down as well. Makes zero sense.
Someone with an entrepreneural sense will see that there is opportunity in these numbers.
Unions must die. Die, unions, die. Die, die, die!
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