Posts tagged Democrat
Harris faces challenge with union voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania
October 9, 2024 // One labor official who requested anonymity said many members of his union come from more culturally conservative households and aren’t very familiar with Harris’s record on labor issues. “We have a lot of Republicans in our membership,” the official said, adding that union members reflect society’s spectrum of different political views. That diversity within union membership, however, didn’t stop labor groups from embracing Biden in 2020, as well as Clinton in 2016 and former President Obama in 2012 and 2008.
New proposed federal law would bar unions from promoting antisemitism
October 7, 2024 // Title VII of the Civil Rights Act allows employees not to pay dues or fees to a union based on their religious beliefs or practices. But Cassidy said many workers were unaware they have the right to pull their union dues from activities that have nothing to do with union bargaining for salaries and benefits. As part of the Senate committee’s probe into antisemitism, the senator also found that unions make it difficult to opt out of these unrelated costs — including bogging down workers with lawsuits that end up costing more than the actual dues. “Union members pay unions to represent before management. This legislation keeps unions focused on that,” said Cassidy.
Former IBEW head Johnny ‘Doc’ Dougherty heads to prison to begin 6 year sentence
October 3, 2024 // On Tuesday, former labor leader John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty reported to federal prison in Lewisburg to begin a six year sentence after being convicted of embezzling funds from the union he formerly led
“Warehouse Worker Protection Act” Reintroduced with Bipartisan Support
October 2, 2024 // The bill imposes restrictions on employers’ use of productivity quotas to measure workers’ performance or output and includes substantial notice requirements to workers on the use of such quotas, discipline for failing to meet the quotas, and workers’ rights under the act, among other things. It mandates breaks for covered workers and recordkeeping obligations for employers. The WWPA also requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue two new rulemakings and creates a new category of unfair labor practices under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). It also expands the federal bureaucracy by creating a Quota Task Force as well as the Fairness and Transparency Office within the Department of Labor. This legislation is a thinly-veiled attack on large companies like Amazon that the Democratic Party and labor organizations do not support. The original sponsors of the WWPA were Senators Markey, Bob Casey (D-PA), and Tina Smith (D-MN). The cosponsors now include Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Hawley, Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).
CNN’s Harry Enten Has Very Bad Union News for Harris, Polling Shows How Much Trouble She’s In
October 1, 2024 // That's not going to be good for her, particularly in the Rust Belt. I wrote about some of the trouble they were having there earlier, in Michigan, including with polling that Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) was warning them about. If we look at what union members were telling MSNBC were their concerns -- jobs and illegal immigration -- you can see why they would more naturally gravitate to Trump, versus Harris. It's also why Trump might have more of a pull for members than a regular Republican out of central casting migh
IRS Agents Union Endorses Kamala Harris, Cites Inflation Reduction Act Windfall
September 24, 2024 // “The administration also delivered agency budgets that provide federal employees with additional staffing and resources, including significant new investments to rebuild the IRS under the Inflation Reduction Act.” Indeed, the Inflation Reduction Act, for which Harris cast the deciding vote to break a Senate deadlock, boosts the IRS budget by $80 billion, enabling the agency to hire an additional 87,000 employees – while increasing the union’s membership in the process. However, the IRS expansion won’t just increase union membership, it’ll also help the agency to collect an additional $5 trillion of tax increases Harris wants, analysis by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) finds:
Commentary: For Once, Trump Can Legitimately Argue an Elite Cabal Cheated Him of a Real Win
September 23, 2024 // Keep in mind, the Trump campaign already gave the union an unprecedented gift: Teamsters president Sean O’Brien gave the closing address on the first night of the Republican National Convention, serving up a 17-minute speech that spent a lot of time bragging about how effective the Teamsters are, denounced corporations for “economic terrorism,” and praised Missouri senator Josh Hawley for changing his position to oppose national “right to work” legislation. (Dominic Pino reminds us what the Teamsters Union actually is.) My Three Martini Lunch podcast co-host Greg Corombos and I spent the first segment on Tuesday discussing the rumors that the Teamsters were going to betray Trump and endorse Harris. Trump dodged the worst-case scenario, but . . . based on that poll, he earned the Teamsters endorsement, and the leadership of the union wouldn’t give it to him. A non-endorsement is a tie that really should have been a Trump win.
Union Members Offered $100 To Attend Rally for Dem Rep. Susan Wild, Leaked Text Message Shows
September 23, 2024 // An official with the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers offered the stipend to union members to attend a "Labor Rally/Canvass Launch" on Sept. 7 in Allentown, the message shows. "Wear your Union Colors and there will be a $100 stipend for those that would like to participate," wrote Randy Eberly, the secretary treasurer of the local chapter of the bricklayers union. He signed off the message with, "In Union Solidarity."
The real impact of the Teamsters’ non-endorsement
September 20, 2024 // “Union endorsements are valuable because they usually come with access to resources, particularly volunteers to knock on doors and work phone banks,” Squire said. “Leadership may be able to persuade some members to vote the way they would like, but the real value is in campaign assistance.” Besides the setback of having fewer volunteers, there’s also some possibility that the non-endorsement could sway non-union voters sympathetic to labor issues.
Teamsters without endorsement as members back Trump over Harris
September 19, 2024 // Rank-and-file members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters back former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, according to a new poll, though the union says it will not back a candidate this election cycle. The Teamsters union, which represents truckers and UPS drivers, released internal polling of its membership Wednesday, finding that 58% of members support Trump compared to 31% who back Harris.