A top labor adviser to President Barack Obama and a central negotiator in union merger talks hinted late last week that it was unlikely that Change to Win and the AFL-CIO will finalize a deal by the target date of April 15...Read the whole story at PortsideLabor.
"We've been having regular meetings and we're going to
continue to do that. ... We hope to have something to
show in the next couple of months," former White House
transition adviser and ex-House Democratic Whip David
Bonior (Mich.) said...
A union official, who declined to be named, said that
recent collaboration on card check and organized
labor's huge push for Obama last year belies a
lingering antagonism and lack of focus between the
various labor groups, as was apparent when AFL-CIO
affiliates jumped ship for Change to Win three and a
half years ago.
"The rationale behind it would be to have a unified
labor community, particularly with all of the political
fights going on, so labor would appear to be unified
and stronger," the official said. "We've been working
together through all of our political efforts ... but
it's choppy."
Team Obama has reason to be concerned. For the first time since the Johnson administration, we have a White House that would rather have labor as an ally instead of a whipping boy, or at best an annoying stepchild.
To do what he needs to do--set aside what he might want to do--Pres. Obama has to counterbalance the power of the GOP and their rabidly anti-labor backers. Minority or not, big and small business and free market-worshippers make up a force in the body politic with a lot of clout. A revived, unified labor movement would help a lot.
If they won't do it for their members, maybe they'd do it for themselves? So sad that we even have to ask. ey
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