Posted on 10/13/2002 10:37:17 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
WASHINGTON -- Union leaders across California said they are "angry," "disappointed" and "outraged" at Sen. Dianne Feinstein for supporting President Bush as he brandished the Taft-Hartley Act this week for the first time in a quarter century to end the West Coast port lockout. But whether the widespread disenchantment with the state's senior Democratic senator will cause labor leaders to yank their money and support is another matter.
"We're not starting a campaign against her four years from the election," said Steve Stallone, spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
"We have to just deal with her, and that's what we're doing here," he said.
Feinstein, who is not up for election again until 2006, has long enjoyed strong union support. She regularly wins the endorsement of the California Labor Federation, and campaign finance re-
cords show she took in about$269,000 from organized labor donations since 1997.
But when she called on Bush last week to invoke an 80-day "cooling off" period between dockworkers and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), the ILWU called it an "outrage."
Negotiate in good faith
Unions oppose the 1947 act because they believe their bargaining power rests in their ability to threaten a strike. If the government can order workers back on the job, the unions fear management will not negotiate in good faith.
"We're very disappointed. Bordering on outrage," said Stallone. "We've always had a good relationship with her. That's part of why we're so disappointed."
For Feinstein, it was the $1 billion a day price tag to the national economy that propelled her to urge Bush to invoke Taft-Hartley.
"She looked at the economic damage that was a potential as a result of the lockout," said her spokesman Scott Gerber. "The risk for a prolonged lockout was so important that she thought the president had no other option."
Bruce Cain, a political science professor with the University of California, Berkeley, said he didn't find Feinstein's move surprising.
"Dianne Feinstein has always portrayed herself as a more pro-business Democrat rather than a pro-union Democrat," Cain said. "She's never been as tightly-held to the unions as, say, Barbara Boxer or Willie Brown or some of the other mainstream liberals."
Urging Taft-Hartley, Cain said, was "perfectly consistent with everything she's ever done."
Organized labor officials nationwide, however, said they felt Feinstein abandoned the dockworkers and, in doing so, all unions.
"She gave absolute cover to the PMA and the president to do what they wanted to do," said Lindsay McLaughlin, legislative director with the AFL-CIO.
'Extraordinarily disappointed'
"We are extraordinarily disappointed," he said.
Added Don Hahs, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, "We understand the pressure she was under to get the ports open, but we're disappointed."
Last week wasn't the first time that Feinstein has lost favor with a loyal Democratic ally.
Last month the nation's largest environmental group, the Sierra Club, issued a blistering rebuke of Feinstein when she endorsed a bill that would boost logging on federal lands in order to reduce the threat of wildfires.
The group called Feinstein's plan "destructive" and said the senator's hand in crafting the compromise with Republican lawmakers was "disturbing."
But though the Sierra Club, like the unions, flicked strong words at Feinstein, neither backed up their anger by withdrawing political support.
"There's a lot of issues out there. We look at the totality of the record," said Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope. "Her election is a long way away. Our concern ... is working this out as we go forward," he said.
While McLaughlin, Stallone and other union officials said they are making their unhappiness with Feinstein known, Gerber said the senator's office has not received much feedback from organized labor.
"We've gotten a few phone calls from individual members of the union, but there's not overwhelming calls," he said.
Across the board, union officials stopped short of saying they would stop supporting Feinstein because of her position on Taft-Hartley.
California Republican political consultant Allan Hoffenblum said he doesn't think Feinstein has much to worry about.
Isolated in criticism
"Labor is somewhat isolated in their criticism," he said.
Union leaders may be angry at Feinstien, Hoffenblum said, but, "They're playing to their constituency. They have to be bad and they have to be indignant. But it's not going to have much impact."
Hahs agreed, predicting that his union and others would continue to support Feinstein come election crunch time. "We don't have much choice," he said.
Anyone want to start a pool on this?
They won't campaign against her in four years - no way, no how. In fact, this will be a "I can't recall" moment for the union in only about six months max...
How could I foget that...sniper overload I guess
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