http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/shamus-cooke/38024/can-labor-confront-obama-over-jobsAs the seeds of Obama's 2012 electoral campaign begin to sprout, labor unions are being forced either to pledge their allegiance or distance themselves from the incumbent president. There has already emerged some hefty splits in the labor movement over the issue, based on the President's complete lack of action on creating jobs combined with his false promises in the 2008 election.
In fact, Obama has presided over the worst atmosphere for U.S. labor unions since the Reagan Administration. He has remained silent over the massive attack on public employee unions while aggressively pushing his union-busting education program, Race to the Top. Obama's 2012 electoral campaign offers enormous potential for U.S. labor unions to stand in opposition to these policies by refusing to endorse or campaign for the President.
Some large unions will attempt to mobilize their members in favor of Obama's re-election, regardless of his anti-worker policies. The National Education Association has already — shamefully — endorsed the President, even as his policies aim to cut off at the knees the teachers’ unions. The Service Employee International Union (SEIU) will certainly endorse Obama too, since they seem totally incapable of voicing any criticism of the President, wrongly placing blame solely on the Republicans for the deterioration of their union via public-sector job loss and benefit cuts.
Fortunately, the AFL-CIO has finally distanced itself from the attitude of uncritically worshipping the anti-labor President. Unlike the above unions, the AFL-CIO realizes that there is a major jobs’ crisis in the country that the President has done virtually nothing to fix. Many in the AFL-CIO also recognize it has a duty to intervene in the matter. But the level of intervention will come into conflict with the AFL-CIO's cozy and subservient relationship with the President. For an effective jobs campaign to be waged, the AFL-CIO will have to sever their mostly-positive attitude toward the President, since Obama will be the target of anger among union members who want jobs and real "change.”
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