Weak Democratic Party, frustrated labor show disarray

The sky isn’t falling for organized labor and the Democratic Party, which seems in disarray nationally.

In fact, the sky may be opening up, as some top labor leaders are fed up and a labor-backed candidate was the clear winner in Democrats’ primary for New York City Mayor.

In June, Randy Weingarten, president of the American Teachers Association, and Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (and chair of the AFL-CIO Political Committee of union presidents) both quit the Democratic National Committee.

“While I am proud to be a Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities,” Weingarten wrote DNC chair Ken Martin in Washington.

The resignations came around the time the DNC’s Vice Chair, David Hogg, 25, stepped down from his position over objections to his establishing a $20 million campaign finance committee, to challenge “out-of-touch, in effective” incumbent Democrats.

“We launched ‘Leaders We Deserve’ because we were tired of being told to wait our turn,” Hogg said. “We can run now. We can win now.”

About 200 miles north, voters elected 33-year-old Muslim Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani to be Dems’ nominee for New York City’s mayor in a race that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was favored to take. Cuomo had a huge war chest and endorsements by one-time heavy hitters Bill Clinton, Michael Bloomberg and James Clyburn, and consultants apparently expected voters to show the same deference to prominent Democrats and big donors they counted on in recent elections.

The New York City Labor Council has endorsed Mamdani, a social democrat, for the Nov. 4 election.

“Throughout his campaign and service as an elected leader, Assemblymember Mamdani has shown a deep and genuine commitment and connection to working families and communities,” said Vincent Alvarez, President of the coalition of some 300 unions. “He understands the urgent need to rein in the rising costs of living and preserve affordability, and to fight for policies that protect the right to organize, invest in union jobs, and ensure economic growth doesn’t come at the expense of workers.”     

Mamdani is a gifted speaker with a charismatic presence who used social media, face-to-face politicking, social media, and some 40,000 volunteers to appeal to voters who’d felt ignored or betrayed, campaigning on pocketbook issues.

“We beat $30 million in spending by the same billionaires who backed Donald Trump AND a political and media establishment that told us this race was unwinnable,” said Hoggs, a Mamdani supporter who became politically active at the age of 17 after surviving the mass shooting in Parkland,, Fla.

Meanwhile, some Democratic incumbents and consultants are saying they plan to campaign in the 2026 congressional elections on Trump’s terrible “Big Beautiful Bill,” an apparent variation of previous election losses that seemed to say, “We’re not as bad as Trump!” instead of articulating a positive message of possibilities and answers addressing the kitchen-table concerns everyday Americans have.

Besides trying to present Kamala Harris as a decent alternative to an indecent Trump, Democrats last year stressed their commitment to “save democracy.”

How’s that going, beyond unending requests for political donations and talking?

Showing a disconnect between Dems and the grassroots, author and former Democratic Texas state official Jim Hightower reported that this spring, “Democratic congressional leaders held an internal ‘gripe-fest.’ Not griping about Trump's authoritarian assault,  but about their constituents inundating them with calls and emails demanding that they grow spines and start fighting the rising oligarchy.”

Accepting the narrow votes codifying Trump’s agenda of attacking working people and the needy while enriching the wealthy, too many Democratic leaders seem timid – while regular Americans say they support universal health care, affordable child care, and higher taxes on the rich, according to Reuters – issues too many elected Democrats are lukewarm to back or sabotage.

If Democratic leaders subscribe to the tired excuse “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” they should consider other old sayings: “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity,” and “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”

Democratic leader need a plan to help Americans help themselves and each other – and tell them.

“Unfortunately, many labor leaders are scared of their own shadow, [but] union leaders are stepping up to resist the Trump administration’s attacks on unions and working people,” said Matthew Cunnigham-Cook of City University of New York’s Labor Studies program. “Democratic leaders have failed to meet the moment.”

Indeed, four key unions are organizing against threats of unlawful detention and deportation of Americans and unionists: Auto Workers, Machinists, Service Employees, and Sheet Metal Workers.

Many unions, working people and even long-time Democrats resent being taken for granted – for phone-banking, door-knocking, money and votes.

The dockworkers’ International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is clear in its dissatisfaction with Democratic leaders.

“Democratic Party leadership and their rank and file members of Congress, with a few notable exceptions, have failed the American worker and can no longer be relied upon to be an effective opposition to the war on the working class,” said ILWU President Bobby Olvera Jr.

“The last three months have underscored the importance of solidarity and having strong unions in our communities. The labor movement and the ILWU have been essential forces in defending democracy and civil rights,” he continued. But “the ILWU will no longer offer blind allegiance to any political party or individual politician. Our loyalty is to our rank-and-file membership and the values and principles upon which this union was built.”

Everyday Democrats seem to understand, as a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that 62% of Democrats want a change in party leadership.

If the party continues to stick with its weak, losing approach, Dems are unlikely to take back the House, expand  Senate seats, and resist the Trump administration, and instead repeat results like that of 2024, when about 59% of white working-class men voted for Trump, according to Harvard’s Cooperative Congressional Election Study. (In contrast, union members still align with the Democratic Party, according to Pew Research, which reported that 50% of them voted for Harris, and 43% for Trump.)

Trump’s win was no “mandate” – one of his favorite lies – since Trump had 77 million votes, and Harris had 75 million. But 89 million eligible voters didn’t cast ballots. The DNC must inspire turnout by advocating for and to people to improve individuals’ lives and the nation’s health.

“Randi Weingarten, Lee Saunders and David Hogg are critical voices in our party. They want a worker-centered agenda with trade schools and support for collective bargaining,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). “They have called for a new generation of leaders. We need to be a big tent party that includes them.”

The DNC’s heated debates need not be a meltdown.

Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large at The American Prospect magazine, wrote, “Democrats won’t win elections until they are in touch with working-class anger. It will be by someone in the mold of [Bernie] Sanders: calling out the authors of our discontent and charting some paths to viable working-class lives.”