Samuel Gompers was a founder
of the American Federation of Labor, and a century ago he summarized organized
labor’s response to politicians and other power-brokers: “Reward our friends
and punish our enemies.”
Today’s labor leaders may be
more subtle or sophisticated, deciding which candidates are friends or foes
depending on their own records, and not outright requesting the rank and file
to vote certain ways as much as helping to inform them of candidates’ positions
and specific issues important to their union, the labor movement and working
Americans.
“Why do we endorse?” asked
Mark McManus, General President of the United Association
“Like it or not, our duty at
the United Association and all our local unions is to our membership. We
advocate for our members’ jobs and way of life. And that means getting involved
in politics to ensure we are not left behind.”
He said people from the union
of plumbers, pipefitters and allied trades routinely meet with manufacturers, contractors,
inspectors, elected officials and trade associations, and “because we get
involved, our voice is louder than ever with every one of our end-users. In
politics it’s simple: Our end-user is in the White House.
“The sideline is no place for
the UA to be when the stakes are this high,” he added.
Not all unions endorse all
races (See sidebar for comments.) For example, because many News Guild
members cover politicians, their union typically doesn’t endorse candidates to
avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. However, the
Communications Workers of America affiliate does advocate on issues affecting
its members and their work: labor law, the First Amendment, workplace safety
and health, etc.
Plus, union members are no
more uniform across-the-board in their beliefs than all women, all rural
residents or all minority Americans agree on all things.
“That’s good,” McManus said.
“Our job is to call balls and strikes and to do what is best for our
membership. Our job is to sort through the noise and present the facts on the
issues that directly impact United Association’s members’ jobs, wages and
retirement security.
“Our membership has so much
more in common than things we allow to keep us divided.”
Unions can be pivotal in elections,
too, whether a municipal contest with a candidate against Prevailing Wages, or a
national race where a candidate whose history shows opposition to labor.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler
said, “Our workers are powerful because they have something that is so rare today
— the trust of those around them. Union members are credible political
messengers. They can connect with each other and with the people in their
communities in a way no one else can.”
Indeed, Gallup on Aug. 28
released its newest poll on how Americans feel about unions, and it shows 70%
support unions (and among people younger than 30 years old, it’s 90%).
Further, labor has shown it can
be effective.
Speaking with the Labor
Paper, Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea said, “Union members trust their
unions to provide election information, including endorsements. People vote for
many reasons, but we’ve seen across the board, that union members and their
families look for facts about the issues and candidates that affect their work
and home life. Unions provide the information they can take when they weigh
their choices on the ballot.”
Unions have experience
organizing, members of unions are also members of neighborhoods with community
contacts, labor has for decades led get-out-the-vote efforts, and union
households vote at a higher percentage than the general electorate.
In fact, according to data
from Roper, union households “punched above their weight” in both 2016 and
2020. U.S. union members total about 16 million (compared to the anti-union
National Right to Work Committee’s claim of 2.8 million members!), but that’s
less than 12% of the work force. However, in 2016’s election 18% of ballots
were from union households, and in 2020 union households made up 20% of the
votes.
Peoria labor leader Bud Toft,
Local President of the American Postal Workers Union Heart of Illinois area,
commented, “Unions like to endorse political candidates to help members make an
educated, informed decision. Some members are not aware of what politicians
have voted on and not voted on. Unions are most interested in politicians who’ve
voted in favor of labor issues, retention or expansion of jobs, and future
union growth.
“I encourage my members to
vote for whomever they choose,” Toft continued. “All I ask is for the members
to consider is what is most important: keeping your and others’ good jobs paying
living wages and benefits, or the need to make another gun-control law? The
main point is that they vote. It is their right and unions have always fought for
the rights of all workers, not just their members.”
Endorsements are part of
engagement and voting is having a voice.
“What’s the point of building
all this power on the ground, if we don’t use it when it really matters – when
absolutely everything is on the line?” Shuler said. “When we fight, we win.”
Another decades-old slogan
comes to mind as well. Fighting India’s caste system and denouncing capitalist
economics, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar of the Independent Labor Party in the 1940s said
activists must “educate, agitate and organize.”
Other voices
Americans resent being told what to do or who to vote for,
and union members are no different. What IS different is fully informing the
rank & file and then accepting individuals’ decisions with respect.
“What’s said about members who do not want to be told who to
vote for is true. For this reason, our Local tends not to endorse candidates on
a Local level and usually defers to the work that the AFL-CIO and the UFCW
International Union does, and then our Local informs members based on those
recommendations.
“When our Local does endorse a particular candidate, it
usually occurs by the politician scheduling to meet our entire Executive Board.
However, in 20+ years with Local 536, I only remember less than a handful of
candidates who even approached our Local concerning an endorsement.
“Lastly, even if our Local union does endorse, we must
request any political funds from the International. We do our best to inform
our membership on candidate positions concerning labor issues, but it is the
member who votes on the day of the election.”
-- Marc Parker, President of Local 536 of the United Food
and Commercial Workers
“Labor unions endorse political candidates in the hopes of
forging relationships that can be mutually reinforcing. By throwing our weight
behind a candidate that puts forward
policies the union supports we hopefully gain a voice for our members in the
halls of power. While members politics can span the gamut, in terms of local
and state affairs there are clear areas where legislation would either help or
harm our members and their profession."
-- Sarah Hurd,
Illinois Nurses Association organizer
“As workers, we rely on politicians to protect and advance
our rights as others try to take them away. It’s important that we support
those who support us because our livelihoods depend on it. New threats are
posed all the time, and we can’t fight against them alone.”
-- Electrician Chase Carlton, president of the West Central
Illinois Labor Council
“We pay attention to politics day-in and day-out, not just
during polarizing presidential elections. In a lot of cases, our members may
not watch what happens in politics until the big elections, like the
presidential, occurs. As union
representatives we spend most of our time focusing on how policy impacts our
ability to put members to work and grow our unions.
“Our research is based on voting records of candidates who
literally demonstrate their support for policies such as Project Labor
Agreements or Responsible Bidder Ordinances, not empty promises or rhetoric.
The heavy lifting we do between election cycles should give our membership the
assurances that when they vote they’re casting their ballots for the union.”
-- Matt Bartolo, Business Manager of Laborers Local 165
“We focus mostly on school board races. We may jump into the
mayoral race this time. We need improvements in our schools and in our city.
At the local level, we don’t generally endorse state or federal
politicians, but the IFT and AFT select who they think is best for education,
and they send that information to our members.”
-- Jeff Adkins-Dutro, President of the Peoria Federation of
Teachers
“When unions endorse, they are not telling their members who
to vote for. Unions endorse candidates because protecting workers’ rights and
paychecks are heavily dependent on government policy.”
-- Retired Laborer John F. Penn
“Government action lays the foundation for our labor
relations system. Legislation and legal
interpretations of labor law determines everything from who is a worker to how
workers can protect their rights in the workplace. Furthermore, government
policy provides the infrastructure of our political-economic system. Endorsing
candidates for office is part of the important ways that labor unions impact
state action and give workers an effective voice in the political process.”
– University of Illinois Professor Robert Bruno, Director of
its Labor Education Program