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Winner: labor

Union workers got out the vote for Democratic candidates, and they now stand to make strides with the new Congress.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 15, 2006

WASHINGTON - Organized labor delivered millions of votes for the Democratic Party in the 2006 midterm elections and has spelled out what it wants from the Democratic-controlled Congress in return.

Union workers voted Democratic 67 to 30 percent in the House races. And others in union households voted almost as strongly Democratic, according to exit polls conducted for the Associated Press and the networks.

After time spent over the past six years "in a defensive crouch," AFL-CIO legislative director Bill Samuel sees Congress' next session as an opportunity to push proworker issues.

Organized labor will press for an increase in the minimum wage - the most likely item on labor's wish list to be passed because President Bush may go along with it if certain benefits are included for small businesses.

"One of the best ways we can address stagnating wages and lost pensions and health care is to restore the bargaining power of workers," Samuel said.

The most effective way to restore that bargaining power, he said, is passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow formation of a union once there is majority support, and increase penalties for management violations of efforts to organize. Current procedures that call for an election can be drawn out by managers to allow time to campaign aggressively against formation of a union, he said.

Organized labor spent an unprecedented amount of money for midterm elections on its get-out-the-vote-effort - $40-million by the AFL-CIO - with 187,000 union volunteers in the AFL-CIO program knocking on more than 3-million doors in the final four days.

After a union split in 2005 that some projected would cripple the labor movement, the seven breakaway unions in the Change to Win federation put together an ambitious election program, some of it coordinated with the AFL-CIO. The aggressive political effort comes as organized labor has been shrinking.

When the AFL-CIO merged in the 1950s, one of every three private-sector workers belonged to a labor union. Now, about 8 percent of private-sector workers are unionized.

"Activists from Change to Win welcome their new leadership, but with an expectation," said Anna Burger, chairwoman of Change to Win. "These new leaders must do their part to restore the American dream - a paycheck that supports a family, affordable health care, a secure retirement and most of all, a better life for our kids."

While much of the electorate shifted toward the Democrats, union voters clearly made a difference in many close races. And Democratic lawmakers acknowledge that proworker legislation will be a priority.

Labor priorities:

Some legislative measures that are priorities for organized labor after the elections put Democrats in power in Congress:

Minimum wage: A federal minimum wage bill not attached to any legislation that complicates its passage. President Bush has indicated he could support such a measure if certain benefits are given to small businesses.

Negotiation of Medicare drug prices: A measure that would allow the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower prescription drug prices.

Expansion of health care: Expand Medicare and child insurance programs to provide coverage to more people, getting closer to providing health coverage for all who need it.

Pension protection: Provide more protection for the pension system, including defined benefit pensions, which are increasingly being replaced by 401(k) plans.

Tougher trade agreements: Push for opposition to trade agreements that don't provide tough labor protections.

Easier to organize: Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which allows for formation of a union if a majority of workers want to form one and increased penalties for employer violations.

Reduce job outsourcing: A change in the tax code to reduce job outsourcing.

[Last modified November 15, 2006, 00:04:36]