Labor Political Activity

Class 1 or 3

Administrative

• Not too early to be studying for the final exam

Review – Unions and the Disadvantaged

• Unions racist and sexist but perhaps less so than the society as a whole

• Law forbids union discrimination or union to cause employer to discriminate

• Women and minorities making some gains in getting to union office but still significantly underrepresented

Today

I. The Pre-AFL Period

II. The AFL Period

III. The Split Period

IV. The Post-Merger Period

I. The Pre-AFL Period

Early Labor Parties

• Workingmen’s Party of Philadelphia

• Growth of workers’ parties in the 1830s

• Died out by end of the Jacksonian Period

Late 19th Century

• Workingmen’s Party of the United States

• National Greenback Labor Party

• New York Mayoral Election ‑ 1886– Unions joined together and nominated

Henry George– Who was Henry George?

II. The AFL Period

• Early objective of political action – ease legal restrictions on unions

• Approach to politics – voluntarism– Opposed a labor party– Relied exclusively on lobbying

Early Electoral Activity

• Prompted by increased use of injunctions

• 1906 campaigned against Chair of House Judiciary Committee

• Gompers began to take personal public positions on presidential elections

Election of 1924

• 1922 Chicago meeting formed the Conference for Progressive Political Action

• Republicans nominated Coolidge and Democrats nominated John W. Davis

• C.P.P.A. then nominated Senator Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin

CPPA Platform 1924

• Government ownership of railroads

• Relief for farmers

• Anti‑monopoly

• Anti‑injunction

• Favored constitutional amendment to limit Supreme Court's power to invalidate laws of Congress

1924 Election

• AFL Executive Council hesitated but formally endorsed LaFollette

• LaFollette won 17% of the vote

• Still, AFL viewed this as disaster

III. The Period of the Split

Changes in the Democratic Party• Entered 1920's with predominantly

Anglo‑Saxon, Protestant, Rural tradition• 1928 the forces of the urban areas, new

immigrants, Catholics, Jews, eastern working class, rallied around Al Smith and secured him nomination

• Helped establish Democrats as party of working class

The CIO and Political Action

• Labor's Non‑Partisan League supported FDR in 1936

• Lewis supported Willkie in 1940

• CIO‑PAC supported Roosevelt in 1944

AFL in the Split Period

• Passage of Taft-Hartley

• Use of National Emergency Injunctions

• These convinced the AFL of the need to get involved politically

• Prior to 1952 election, AFL established Labor’s League for Political Education

IV. The Post-Merger Period

• Structure– Electoral Activities and lobbying separate– AFL‑CIO COPE

• Policy– Supported Democratic candidate in every

election through 1968– 1972 rejected McGovern– Have supported Democratic candidate in

every election since 1972

Next Time

• Public Policy on Labor Electoral Activity

• Labor Lobbying Activity

• Importance of Labor Political Activity

Labor Political Activity

Class 2 of 3

Recent Elections and COPE’S Tactics

Administrative

• Final exam reminder

• If you haven’t seen me about your essay, you must do that

• Quiz reminder

Review

• Labor Parties largely disappeared due to lack of class consciousness and their issues being absorbed by major parties

• Gradual shift from non-political stance to active participation in electoral politics

• Non-partisanship and relationship to Democrats

Today

I. Recent Elections

II. COPE’s Electoral Techniques

I. Recent Elections

• Supported Clinton

• Supported Gore in 2000

• Large independent expenditures in 1996 and 2000 Congressional races

• Impact on Voting

I. 2004 Election

• 2004 both union-supported Democratic candidates eliminated

• Supported John Kerry

• Money spent (much greater than money donated)

• Union voters

I. 2006 Election

• Unions worked extremely hard to elect a Democratic Congress

• Central NY Labor Council endorsed mostly Democrats but a few Republicans

I. 2008 Election

• Change in business PAC donations between 2006 and 2007

• February 2008, several major unions came out for Obama

• Some unions have supported Clinton

• Most major unions will support the Democrat, whoever it is, against Republican John McCain

II. COPE’s Electoral Techniques

COPE structure

• Divided into national, state and local bodies• National COPE

– Headed by former CWA Political Director Steve Rosenthal

– Endorses presidential candidates– State endorsements largely based on National

COPE’s ratings of Congressional representatives

II. COPE’s Strategy and Tactics

• Non-partisanship and relationship to the Democrats

• Financial Assistance to candidates– Relatively small amounts of money compared

to business PACs – Still this is a sizable amount to Democrats

who are normally outspent

II. Registration and Get-out-the-vote drives

• Identifying precincts which tend to vote Democratic

• Leafleting workplaces and homes in such areas

• Phoning on election day, driving people to polls, minding kids, etc.

II. COPE’s Strategy and Tactics

• Voter Education• Loans of skilled organizational personnel to

campaigns, often union officers on paid leave• Organizational support more important than

financial support• Research indicates COPE endorsements and

support do translate into more votes by unionists and their families

Next Time

• Legal Regulation of Union Political Activity

• Union Lobbying

Labor and Politics

Class 3 of 3

Administrative

• Have you all seen me about your essays?

Review

• History of early labor union political activity including importance of voluntarism and non-partisanship

• Unions in recent elections

• Campaign strategy and tactics of COPE

Today

I. Legal Regulation of Labor Electoral Activity

II. Labor Lobbying Activity

III. Importance of Labor Political Activity

I. Legal Regulation of Labor Electoral Activity

Prohibition on contribution of dues money to candidates in federal elections or expenditures related to federal elections

• Originated in Smith-Connally (1943) and continued in Taft-Hartley (1947)

• Corporations similarly restricted

I. Relevant Cases

• USA v. CIO

• IAM v. Street

• CWA v. Beck

• 2001 President Bush issued Executive Order requiring federal contractors to post notices that workers are entitled to such rebates

• Lax Enforcement

I. Federal Election Campaign Act (1971)

Excluded from the ban

• Union communications to members and their families on any subject permitted

• Non‑partisan registration and get out the vote drives aimed at members and their families permitted

• Activities financed by voluntary contributions permitted

I. 1974 (Watergate) Amendments

• A PAC (union, business or otherwise) cannot contribute more than $5000 to any candidate

• Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

I. McCain-Feingold (2002)

• Prohibits national party organizations from raising or spending certain types of soft money

• Prohibits federal candidates from raising or spending soft money

• Raised dollar limit on hard money contributions

I. Current Law

• “527” organizations are the new way around the soft money ban

• Individuals can give up to $25,000 per year to party organizations – soft money

I. Unions under Current Law

• Union can use dues to establish a PAC and solicit contributions

• Unions may conduct nonpartisan or partisan "get‑out‑the‑vote" drives among members

• Unions may sponsor non‑partisan "get‑out‑the‑vote" drives among nonmembers only if co‑sponsored by a non‑partisan civic body, e.g. League of Women Voters

• A union may engage in unlimited independent expenditure (not solicited or controlled by the candidate) aimed at its members

I. New York State Law

• Companies can donate $5000 each to candidate– But so can each subsidiary– Can make unlimited donations to PACs, which

can each donate up to $50,100 to each candidate

• Unions can donate $50,100 to candidate– More to parties

II. Lobbying Activity

• AFL-CIO has full-time lobbying operation

• Often cooperate with other union lobbyists or even other specialist lobbyists: e.g. NAACP, Common Cause, AARP, etc.

• Effectiveness

II. Lobbying Issues

• Narrow areas of labor policy ‑ regulation of collective bargaining and union affairs

• Broad areas of labor policy - affect union and nonunion employees

• Areas of general economic policy

• Areas of general social policy

III. Importance of Labor Political Activity

• Who speaks for business interests?

• Who speaks for working people?

Next Time

• Final lecture

• Discussion of final exam

• Course Evaluation