[Libloather]

...the decades-long decline in union membership.

More bad news for the RATS...

[Army Air Corps]

I noticed that they blame everything BUT their leadership and uber-left polictics. If unions had moved towards political neutrality and stuck to negotiating contracts, and not playing games with dues, they might have fared better.

[byteback]

hmmmm.....anyone else see a chance to get their votes by protecting the border and therefore their jobs?

[Sgt_Schultze]

HAhahahahaha! Look at the irony -

..."It's a shame for working people that before the first vote has been cast, four unions have decided that if they can't win, they won't show up for the game," Sweeney said.

Sound exactly like a STRIKE to me! And Sweeny doesn't like it

Hahahahahahahaha!

[Sthitch]

Divide and concur! My grandfather was put out of business by a wildcat Teamsters strike, nothing would make me happier than the see that union, and their thug comrades broken.

[xzins]

These old unions are corrupt and all the leaders want is their own access to accounts.

[FlingWingFlyer]

A divided labor movement worries Democratic leaders who rely on the AFL-CIO's money and manpower on Election Day.

There is some stuff going on with the Buddhist monks too. Not "lookin' good" for the rich, white boys down at the DNC.

[mmercier]

>> Sweeney's allies are primarily industrial unions whose workers are facing the brunt of global economic shifts.

Sweeney's "allies" (read "controllers") are the public employee unions.

They could give a chit about working people, they intend to tax employers into penury. Why should they care in the end, they work for the "public" sector.

America must eventually acknowledge the existence of a political party that is solely dedicated to, and responsible for, the growth of governing structures; growth to the point where all else is subservient and all else is financially held accountable to their payrolls.

That structure will be born of the surviving rats and what remains of the AFL-CIO. We will likely get there from here with the vast majority still bitching about the evil rich people.

Wont they be surprised when they find out they are the "rich people"....

[RightDemocrat]

Labor might actually benefit from this. The Teamsters have long been willing to work with both parties and good track record of getting higher wages for their members. Unions can still be effective but the AFL-CIO has been using World War II era tactics. Labor would have been better off spending more on organizing efforts and less on political campaigns. And unions like the AFL-CIO have let workers down on issues like immigration.

[Hank Rearden]

(clearing throat) Ahem.

Unions must die. Die, unions, die. Die, Die, Die!

Corrupt, lazy, worthless, parasitic thugs.

[vpintheak]

Death to the Unions!!!! Death to the Unions!!!! Death to the Unions!!!! Death to the Unions!!!! Death to the Unions!!!!

[claudiustg]

---"Anything that sidetracks us from our goals ... is not healthy," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel---

Duh money...

[Dan from Michigan]

GOOD.

[goldstategop]

Organized labor is a dinosaur that has failed to adapt to the new economy and take workers' bread and butter issues seriously. They've spent less time helping members get better pay and benefits and organizing workers and they've spent millions on elections and bolstering the power of government employees. No wonder labor's influence has declined. When four unions bolted, its a sign of how badly the situation's changed for the worse and AFL-CIO leaders seem to have no clue as to how to make things better for working people around America. Today's developments reveal that change can better happen outside instead of within the labor federation.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Nowhere Man]

BUMP for later, Mom is a member of SEIU and so is my grandmoter.

[Young Scholar]

they would take about $35 million a year from the estimated $120 million annual budget of the AFL-CIO, which has already been forced to layoff lay off a quarter of its 400-person staff.

Must be a union reporter.

[DuckFan4ever]

This has me a little worried. The AFL-CIO was a dinosaur. This new union may have a winning strategy. I hope not.

[adam_az]

"More bad news for the RATS..."

Robert Reich was on CNN sounding apoplectic.

His speil made sense only if you followed every one of his sentences predicting impending doom with the word "for Democrats."

[I_dmc]

Now there's a shocker. Union convention in Chicago.

[counterpunch]

The Democrats are going to have a very hard time winning elections from here on out.
Or an even harder time I should say...
Ah, what the hell, they already don't win elections.

Another consequence of this is the Democrats will drift even further left, and may very well lose elected leaders like Joe Lieberman. The blue-collar unions were the only thing moderating the Democrats at all, and as their membership ranks shrink along with the blue-collar work force in America, their political influence shrinks with it.

The unions will be completely replaced by the likes of MoveOn.org in the Democrat party. If anyone is wonder what the future holds for the Democrats, whether they will continue to drift further left or if they will climb their way back to the political center, this should give you some good insight.

With the fracturing of their most important and powerful special interest group, there will be a vacuum left and no one to fill it but the kooks. they really have no place left to go but off the cliff.

[Triggerhippie]

If all four boycotting unions quit the federation, they would take about $35 million a year from the estimated $120 million annual budget of the AFL-CIO, which has already been forced to layoff a quarter of its 400-person staff.

Is there anything funnier than Union Staffers getting laid off?

I guess they need better representation...