Political Action: Taking Unions Out of the Workplace

The AFL-CIO's unconventional — and surprisingly successful — strategy to make American organized labor politically powerful again.

by Nelson Lichtenstein (AlterNet, 2007-11-29)

Despite all the high-profile sniping between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in advance of the Iowa primary, there seems a good chance - knock on wood - that the Democrats are going to win big in November 2008. But there is a historically consequential issue that remains entirely up for grabs. Will the Democratic party's presumptive electoral success merely represent a "throw the bums out" repudiation of Bush administration excesses? Or are we on the verge of a historic remobilization of American liberalism that will usher in a generation of progressive statecraft?

The answer may come from the ranks of American labour - not just the 12% of all working Americans who are now enrolled in unions, but the vastly larger segment of the working population who support universal healthcare, oppose the war in Iraq and want a voice in their workplace. While de-industrialization and management hostility have slashed union membership during the last three decades, pro-union sentiment has actually increased in the American heartland. More than half of all wage earners have told pollsters that they would like to join a union.

You know what I think: Unless the victory goes to Edwards, there is zero chance of fundamental change, and even with an Edwards victory, without a powerful movement to counteract the incredible pressure that the corporatist forces will apply to an Edwards administration, reaction will prevail. Is Labor's new activism an early manifestation of such a movement?

The rest of the story: AlterNet