SocraticGadfly: Would a Democratic president really be that much better for unions?

May 03, 2006

Would a Democratic president really be that much better for unions?

I agree with Kevin Drum that card checks for unionization drives beat National Labor Relations Board elections, but the NLRB’s decline into the National Management Relations Board hasn’t been an all-Republican affair.

Let’s remember that, although the “rightening” of the NLRB began already back with Reagan, this was another thing that techie wonk Clinton continued on his own eight-year watch.

While Gore, or Kerry, might have given lip service to unionism, how friendly to modern unionization efforts are most Democrats today, anyway, unless a revitalized Farm Workers gives them the chance to score points with Hispanics?

For that matter, I’d wager that a fair chunk of traditional heavy-industries union members are selfish enough they might not look totally favorably on the SEIU/HERE breakaway group's efforts to unionize retail worers.

I’m sorry, but unionization is an area where I’m the most cynical about most modern Democrats. Besides Bill Clinton, one only need look at a Dick Gephardt to see why.

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