AFL-CIO will spend $28 million in '98 elections

By Fred Gaboury

This article was reprinted from the March 28, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Members of the AFL-CIO Executive Council threw down the gauntlet to all aspiring candidates who may seek the support of organized labor in this year's elections.

"If there is a litmus test for the 1998 elections it is very simple. Candidates we support must support the right of workers to organize. [AFL-CIO] President Sweeney has made that clear in speech after speech," Ray Abernathy, an AFL-CIO spokesperson, told the World. He said the federation was not as concerned with party labels as it is with where candidates stand on the issues facing workers.

Meeting in the city Sweeney calls the "hottest union city in America," where construction cranes swing back and forth even at night, the 54-member council fleshed out details of Labor '98, the federation's strategic plan for this year's elections.

They also met with President Clinton, Vice President Gore, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, all of whom expressed their support for the right to organize and promised to ward off right-wing attacks on the labor movement.

And there were celebrations, most notably one honoring Dr. Elias Ghanem, who provided free maternity service to more than 100 workers at the Frontier Hotel during their six- year- long strike.

McEntee described Labor '98 as "made by the labor movement, paid for by the labor movement to elect candidates favorable to labor. And none of it will go to candidates or political parties," he added.

In the resolution outlining the goals of Labor '98, the council agreed to enhance its political education efforts by "sharply focusing on grass roots membership organization" and to "provide more and better information on which [union members] may base their decisions and involvement."

Building on the experience gained in the highly successful Labor '96 campaign that saw nearly a dozen right wing members of the House of Representatives go down in flames, the executive council plans to assign 300 paid organizers to key state and congressional races.

Gerald McEntee, chair of the AFL-CIO Executive Council's political committee, told reporters that Labor '98 rests on the council's decision to ask AFL-CIO affiliates to voluntarily participate in a one-time dollar-per-member assessment that will raise $13 million to finance a membership education and mobilization campaign.

McEntee, who is also president of the State, County and Municipal Workers union, said the money will be in addition to the $15 million approved at last September's convention, giving the federation a $28 million war chest as it enters the 1998 election wars.

Steve Rosenblatt, AFL-CIO political director, defined electoral work as a "question of power." He said that priorities for 1998 begin with defeat of the so-called pay check protection ballot measures in California, Nevada and Oregon.

If these measures are enacted into law, unions will be tied up in an endless snarl of red tape that will effectively limit their ability to participate in political, electoral or legislative activity. When similar legislation became law in Washington in 1992, union spending for political activities declined sharply.

Rosenblatt said that given the pivotal role California plays the political life of the nation, the national AFL- CIO was setting aside $4.5 to defeat Proposition 226 which will be voted on in the June 2 primary election. If passed, 226 will take effect in July, thereby effectively baring union participation in this year's November election.

Rosenblatt told reporters that opponents will probably need to raise $20 million to stay competitive with the right wing funders of the proposition. "Polls show that we're behind but we were behind in the Ohio workers comp battle when we started. But we won there and we'll win in California," he added.

Nor is the battle to silence the labor movement's voice in the political arena limited to the states where initiative measures are on the ballot. Bills to gag labor have been dropped in the hopper in 25 state legislatures. They have been defeated in all 12 states where the measure has been acted upon.

Legislation similar to the California initiative and authored by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott suffered a similar fate in the U.S. Senate where it was defeated by a filibuster. A companion bill, which enjoys the support of Speaker Newt Gingrich, is pending in the House where a vote is expected momentarily.

Other legislation high on labor's "kill list" is a GOP bill that would allow employers to fire union organizers who get jobs at different work sites to recruit more union members.

McEntee told reporters that while the legislation is particularly aimed at "salting" by building trades unions, the legislation was, in fact, "another assault" on the labor movement.

Pete McCall, a spokesperson for the Washington office of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Council told the World that "'salting' a job is a lot like salting food. It adds flavor and enhances a worksite."