The reason Obama is so powerful within the party is not because he is the Presidential nominee, but because he has consolidated money and media around his brand. Money and media are the oxygen of politics, and with his consolidation of the financial conduits, there are only a few independent centers of power left. The netroots is one, as is EMILY's List and Moveon. But the union movement is by far the biggest outside actor, and with its reliability of contributions and support, large warchest, and institutional memory, it is worth understand its internal changes and its death fight with the business groups on the right, which will in all likelihood attempt to become part of the Democratic coalition in 2009 and rot us from within.
Right now, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which is funded by large conservative industrial barons, is trying to undermine the biggest union in the country, SEIU. SEIU has been having strong public disagreements about organizing philosophies, which is a sign of health for the union movement, even though the disagreements have become vicious struggles for power. Recently, for instance, the SEIU DC leadership filed a lawsuit against its dissident local United Health Care Workers West (UHW) in California alleging financial improprieties, was dismissed without a hearing. That lawsuit was the first step in 'trusteeing' that local, removing their leadership and installing a more compliant crew to run that California branch.
While the specifics of the fight between SEIU's leaders in DC and their leaders in California are open to debate, the move to consolidation of power into a centralized entity is undeniable. There are good reasons for wanting centralized power - most significantly coordination improves - as well as reasons to fear it. Recently, at the SEIU Convention, the union adopted - through a democratic process - an amendment to step up member giving through their PAC, the largest PAC in the country which uses tens of millions of dollars a cycle. What this means is that there will be more campaigns by people like Donna Edwards, as SEIU can now focus its energy wherever opportunities open up. It also forces SEIU locals to organize their own members better so as to increase member donations, and that's a good thing. There are however some possible legal problems in the offing.
For some context, 300,000 janitors and health care workers give about $6/month to help promote progressive policies, which puts it slightly larger than Actblue's total take in 2006. Donna Edwards had backing of a million dollars or so through SEIU's PAC, and the contributions are voluntary. Of course, the business right wants to cut off those funds, and will go after labor in any manner it can to do so, including fighting against the Employee Free Choice Act or going after the source with ballot initiatives in California.
The mighty Service Employees International Union (SEIU) plans to spend some $150 million in this year's election, most of it to get Barack Obama and other Democrats elected. Where'd they get that much money?
That's a question the Departments of Labor and Justice are being asked to investigate by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Specifically, the labor watchdog group wants Justice to query a new SEIU policy that appears to coerce local workers into funding the parent union's national political priorities.
The union adopted a new amendment to its constitution at last month's SEIU convention, requiring that every local contribute an amount equal to $6 per member per year to the union's national political action committee. This is in addition to regular union dues.
If the local doesn't put enough money into the national PAC, they will have to pay a penalty of regular funds out of union dues to the international. PAC contributions are voluntary and only come when members feel empowered, whereas union dues are automatic, so this is a strong incentive for locals to organize and empower their members. It's a good policy move, and it was voted on and ratified at the SEIU Convention.
The problem is that this policy might be considered discriminatory against locals that don't raise enough PAC money 'voluntarily'. The requirement and penalty do somewhat cut against what it means to voluntarily give to political causes. A possible lawsuit might be viable.
The major obstacle facing unions is that businesses can just fire employees trying to organize, and pay only a small penalty years later. The Employee Free Choice Act deals with this problem, but another possible solution lies with what the brilliant labor lawyer Tom Geoghegan suggests, which is to turn labor rights into a civil right and make discrimination against union members illegal. That would open up businesses that attack union members to massive lawsuits. Right now, the vulnerability of unions is underscored by the very reasonable steps SEIU is taking to up political contributions and incentivize organizing, which may end up becoming problems.
Most Americans understand that discrimination is wrong, so it's a much easier sell. We'll see how this goes. SEIU is an incredibly important institution, and it is making significant moves this election cycle.
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