Unions bitterly divided in Democratic race
This article captures the union split -- and how those backing Clinton are pulling out all the stops to attack Obama (I've heard that not only is AFSCME importing members/organizers from California to defeat Obama in Nevada (as the article below notes), but the California Teachers Assoc. is doing so as well):
The intensity of the struggle between the Culinary Workers and AFSCME is matched by controversies inside AFSCME.
Seven board members have protested the degree to which their union is backing Clinton, including running what they described as negative ads in Iowa and New Hampshire about Obama's healthcare proposal. The seven wrote union President Gerald W. McEntee on Jan. 4 saying they were "shocked and appalled to learn that our union . . . is squandering precious resources to wage a costly and deceptive campaign to oppose Barack Obama."
They said the ads threatened unity among labor needed to defeat Republicans in November and undermined the union's reputation. Obama's supporters say his position on healthcare is closer than Clinton's to the union's own position, which opposes a universal mandate such as she has endorsed.
AFSCME, which has only a few thousand members in Nevada, is relying heavily on paid workers from outside the state, a practice virtually all national unions employ when they need reinforcements.
But the Culinary Workers' Taylor criticized the scale of the effort: "I have never heard of such an intensive member education movement in my life."
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Unions bitterly divided in Democratic race
posted by Whitney Tilson at 7:35 AM
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