Unions and the election

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11591333

The voice of labour

Jun 19th 2008 | NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE
From The Economist print edition
What union members want

OUTSIDE one of John McCain's town-hall meetings stands a throng of protesters. There are anti-war Quakers and someone stoically sweating in a polar-bear suit, but the biggest group consists of union members.

One of them, Tom Callaghan, has gone to a lot of trouble to make a plywood bus, the “Stuck in the Rut Express”, mocking Mr McCain's “Straight Talk Express”. Mr Callaghan has stuck a picture of Mr McCain looking clueless in the driver's seat.

America's labour unions are limbering up for a fight. They see a rare opportunity for Democrats to control the White House and both arms of Congress, and are determined not to let it slip by. They want universal health care and decent pensions, and protection against callous managers and foreign competition. With union membership tumbling in the private sector, they want an end to the rule that obliges workers to hold a secret ballot before unionising.

This week, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees joined forces with MoveOn.org, a pressure group, to air a television spot. In it, an actress with a baby says: “John McCain, when you say you would stay in Iraq for 100 years, were you counting on Alex? Because if you were, you can't have him.” This sort of thing is the most visible part of the union campaign, but perhaps the least important.

Unions are good at sending someone you trust to knock on your door. The AFL-CIO, an umbrella group, has a budget of $53m for grassroot activities related to the election. They expect to reach more than 13m voters in union households, concentrating on a list of 24 battleground states and giving top priority to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. These five are all must-win states where unions are strong.

Overall, unions are catching up with business in the amount they spend on electioneering. In 2000, firms and their employees spent three times as much as unions. By 2006, it was only twice as much. And the unions' money probably goes further. The AFL-CIO aims to deploy 250,000 campaign volunteers this year. And whereas other groups sometimes ring doorbells at random, unions know where their members live and have a good idea what each one cares about.

FULL story at link.