Unions flexed muscles in state campaigns

November 20, 2012 @ 12:06 am


FILE This Nov. 6, 2012 file photo shows New Hampshire Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan in Manchester, N.H. When Hassan won the New Hampshire governor's race, it wasn't just a victory for Democrats. Unions spent millions to elect Hassan because she can block a Republican legislature from gutting their organizing and bargaining ability. From California to Maine, unions used their political muscle to defeat ballot initiatives against them and elect labor-friendly governors and lawmakers. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File) | Zoom
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - From California to Maine, unions used their political muscle in the recent elections to help install Democratic governors, build labor-friendly majorities in state legislatures and defeat ballot initiatives against them.

The combination of union money and member mobilization helped Democrats take control of state legislatures in Maine and Minnesota.

In Michigan, voters repealed a law that allowed cities in financial distress to suspend collective bargaining contracts. But unions lost there on an effort to make collective bargaining rights a part of the state constitution.

In New Hampshire, unions helped Maggie Hassan win the governor's race. Unions spent millions backing Hassan with television ads and an extensive get-out-the-vote operation because she opposes a right-to-work bill to ban labor-management contracts that require affected workers to be union members or pay union fees.

In perhaps their most important victory, unions defeated a California ballot measure that would have prohibited them from collecting money for political purposes through payroll deductions.

"The unions must be fairly happy with themselves," said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "These are positive signs, particularly saving their political life in California."

While re-electing President Barack Obama was labor's highest Election Day priority, unions invested major resources in state races where they have been fighting efforts by governors and state lawmakers to restrict bargaining rights or dilute union power.

The victories could mark a turnaround of sorts for unions nearly two years after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced plans to strip teachers, nurses and other public employees of most collective bargaining rights. Walker, a Republican, justified the move as necessary to trim the state's budget shortfall.

Since then, unions have been fighting dozens of measures around the country targeting labor rights. They failed earlier this year to recall Walker from office, but a judge has declared parts of the Wisconsin law unconstitutional.

It wasn't all good news for unions on election night. They lost a first-of-its-kind ballot effort in Michigan that would have enshrined collective bargaining rights in the state constitution.

Unions saw the measure as a way to prevent Republicans from passing a right-to-work law that would have ended unions' ability to collect fees from nonunion workers. Critics said it would cause the repeal of dozens of state laws and interfere with local officials trying to control their budgets. One union-backed group spent at least $6.5 million on TV ads supporting it.

Labor's victories came at a steep cost. Unions and other Democratic interests poured at least $75 million into the effort to defeat California's Proposition 32.

Unions are not so much thriving as surviving.

"Thanks to union dues, it's a self-replenishing stream," said Bill Whalen, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution. "They still have a sea of money to spend and they prove quite adept at winning political arguments."

After playing defense in more than a dozen states for the past two years, unions see no other choice. Public employee unions now make up a majority of the nation's 14.8 million union members, but they have taken a hit as state and local budgets shrink, forcing layoffs and cuts to salaries and pension benefits.

The 1.3-million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the nation's largest public employee union, has lost about 10 percent of its active members since 2009. The National Education Association, which represents public school teachers, lost more than 100,000 members since 2010.

"I'm not going to be cocky about anything," AFL-CIO political director Mike Podhorzer said. "There are still plenty of Republicans in office and we don't expect them to change their spots overnight."

Next to winning Obama's re-election, defeating Proposition 32 in California was labor's top goal. Prohibiting unions from collecting money for political activities through paycheck deductions would have deprived them of tens of millions of dollars for donations to candidates and financing campaigns.

In New Hampshire, unions were worried that the state legislature had passed right-to-work measures in the previous two legislative sessions. But lawmakers could not override a veto by Democratic Gov. John Lynch. Hassan's victory gives unions similar protection.

In Minnesota, gaining Democratic control of the state legislature could help the Service Employees International Union change a state law to allow the union to organize more than 12,000 day care providers in the state.

Perhaps the largest issue looming for public employee unions in the next few years is the shortfall in government pension systems, which have sunk deeper into the red as the recession has taken its toll. Cities and states around the country _ led by Republicans and Democrats alike _ have been reducing promised benefits to public workers and retirees as they attempt to cover shortfalls. States need about $1.4 trillion to fulfill their pension obligations, according to the Pew Center on the States.

Over the summer, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board approved new accounting rules for pensions that will make some underfunded plans look worse when the rules begin to go into effect late next year. State and local governments will have to print their total unfunded liability on the front of financial statements.

"It's going to help identify those plans in serious trouble, which could help policy makers and the public be aware of the need for action," said David Draine, a researcher who tracks pension changes at the Pew Center.

That could increase pressure on elected officials to reduce benefits and make bargaining more difficult for unions.


(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (30)


  • Add A Comment

  • Sid Vishess wrote...
    Define: Collusion
    November 19, 2012 11:58 pm
    "Look, we spend the money, get you the Nursing Home Vote and when you get into office, you make sure tostick it to the taxpayers and we both make out like bandits. Right, Mr. Inslee?"
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Unions loyal to the Dear Leader
    November 20, 2012 6:46 am
    now have their operatives, their puppets, entrenched deep into our republic.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    Poetic Justice For HA HA
    November 20, 2012 7:14 pm
    Would be to have The Koch Brothers and all of the big corporation money take complete control and privatize the fire departments just like what is happening in some of the southern states. We could see his pay and benefits get reduced and listen to him lament about his misfortunes. Einstein he isn't.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hayduke wrote...
    Yeah Haha, those "union thugs" are soooo powerful.
    November 20, 2012 11:50 am
    If that's so, perhaps you could explain how it is the hostess workers got canned while the CEO and execs there got pay bonuses of 300%?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    Union bosses
    November 22, 2012 10:27 am
    will still get their pay Hayduke. The workers won't though
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Uhhhh,
    November 20, 2012 2:58 pm
    Unions?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    its me
    November 20, 2012 8:23 pm
    Doesn't have a job. He and his delusional friends who are also unemployed have never had the benefit of a steady job, retirement, health care and the comfort of going to the same job every day and knowing you are a valuable employee. This is why he and his friends post such negative stuff about the Unions. I have a great medical plan, a good retirement, excellent wage and I am appreciated for what I do. What do you have, its me? Tell the posters here why you think you are entightled to your negative posts.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Because LWH what I have posted is the truth.
    November 21, 2012 6:59 am
    Obama loyal unions spend millions and millions of my union dues to get exactly what they now have. And you mind numbed Left wing Parrots where the ones who put your Dear Leader back in power for 4 more years.

    Parrots your Dear Leader is unaccountable. You useful idiots will be living under this umbrella the very same one that we Americans will be forced to live under until at least midterms.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    Why Don't You
    November 21, 2012 5:24 pm
    Quit your current job and go to work for Walmart. You will no longer have to complain about your union and you can praise The Walmart model. Go for it HA HA!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    I don't believe for a minute!
    November 21, 2012 7:59 pm
    That you belong to a union and post the kind of crap that you do. If you are a union member making union wages then you have BENEFITED from having Obama back in office for 4 more years. Do you want your union to be gone? Your pension? Your medical benefits? Your wages reduced to 2/3 of what you make now? That is what would have happened if your man mitt was elected. Get off the parrot and dear leader crap, it's offensive and smells really bad, just like your opinion.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Longwayhome
    November 22, 2012 4:40 am
    I have not benefited from your Dear Leader being in office. I have lost thousands of dollars in wages in the last 4 years because of his failed economic policies and my not having received raises and the amount of those raises being far less than they could if we had a thriving economy and not this ObamaEconomy. I have lost out on my retirement because of this ObamaEconomy and my lost wages and that the price of everything continues to skyrocket!

    You left wing tools have no idea of what you talk of. Which is no surprise. All you do is listen to MSNBC all day long! I would have been far better off under the Bush economy as most union and non union workers would be. I support the unions. I do not do so at the expense of the taxpaying citizen just to pay for the Obama, "Give our money to worthless lazy Obama supports simply for your votes"!

    LIke I have posted before, we working class Americans CANNOT afford this ObamaEconomy and you Useful Idiot Left wing Parrots just condemned the rest of us to FOUR MORE YEARS OF THIS LIBERAL OBAMUNIST INSANITY! Just remember this Parrots, you have to live under the same Umbrella of Obamunism as I do!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    HA HA
    November 22, 2012 6:33 am
    Hope you enjoy Thanksgiving Day eating crow. Keep up the rhetoric. Vote for the party that isn't only against a living wage, but also the minimum wage. Also the party that wants to cut benefits as much as possible to maximize profits.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    i dont need to pay to be a meber of a union
    November 22, 2012 8:05 am
    to know i am a valuable employee. A good employee doesn't need the union to defend or stick up for them. A good employee communicates effectively and does not rely on becoming a victim if things don't work out. If you are not happy with your union job get a new job were you are not in a union. The difference is AMAZING and your hard work will actually be rewarded instead of you getting the short end of the stick while some lazy schmo who's been there 20 years gets paid twice as much to take 15 bathroom brakes and bark orders.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    Sick
    November 22, 2012 8:23 am
    No you don't need to be a member of a union, but if you were, you'd find a lot of the stuff you just said is false.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    Obamunism
    November 22, 2012 8:14 am
    You totally baffle me with your lack of knowledge about our economy and what would come our way if the republicans had control of it again. Your memory is short, bush and his band of crooks nearly ruined this country financially, we are just now starting to recover. Up to the republicans we would be back on track for another fiscal disaster. If you don't learn from the past then (republicans) make the same mistakes all over again. Did the elections turn O.K. for you?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    Blame Bush blame Bush
    November 22, 2012 10:28 am
    Then blame Bush again. What a stunning policy
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    Hey dinkus,
    November 22, 2012 11:19 am
    Dems controlled congress in 2006. Are you denying their role in the mess you say is all Bush's fault?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    2006 VS 2007
    November 22, 2012 11:19 am
    Sorry, after 2006 election I mean.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    The Dems Role
    November 22, 2012 7:31 pm
    Their role was to see to see to it that money was spent to support the troops and the surge that Bush requested. Bush proposed bills and Congress had to decide whether or not to continue supporting those expenditures. Bush requested bailouts to keep the economy afloat from bad policies like deregulations and wars. What were The Dems supposed to do? Say no? Nice try blaming them.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    You probably blame Republicans
    November 22, 2012 7:50 pm
    for Obama not getting something done when Dems had all WH and Congress. Evil Bush controlled the Dems. What logic.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    NOPE
    November 22, 2012 9:43 pm
    The dems did the right thing. He didn't control them, he couldn't even control himself. He enters office with a surplus and blows it up. Bush proposes and Congress disposes. Congress of 2006 was paying the bills from proposals prior. Actually, they could have said "we aren't supporting the costs of the war anymore." That would have gone over like a lead balloon. Remember, we had the surge going. If they had pulled out, it would have sent a message that everything that was fought for was lost and it was the fault of the Dems. Obama came in and followed through with the Bush proposed exit date. McCain would have extended the date and we would continue the fight into even more debt. And you are correct about me blaming the GOP for filibustering more times in 4 years than the past 25 years. Obama had complete control for 2 months and 1 day. Not from 2008 to 2010 like Fox News tells their sheep. When Kennedy left his seat, Scott Brown took office and that tipped the balance. The filibustering killed him as well.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    NOPE
    November 22, 2012 9:44 pm
    The dems did the right thing. He didn't control them, he couldn't even control himself. He enters office with a surplus and blows it up. Bush proposes and Congress disposes. Congress of 2006 was paying the bills from proposals prior. Actually, they could have said "we aren't supporting the costs of the war anymore." That would have gone over like a lead balloon. Remember, we had the surge going. If they had pulled out, it would have sent a message that everything that was fought for was lost and it was the fault of the Dems. Obama came in and followed through with the Bush proposed exit date. McCain would have extended the date and we would continue the fight into even more debt. And you are correct about me blaming the GOP for filibustering more times in 4 years than the past 25 years. Obama had complete control for 2 months and 1 day. Not from 2008 to 2010 like Fox News tells their sheep. When Kennedy left his seat, Scott Brown took office and that tipped the balance. The filibustering killed him as well.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    OK
    November 23, 2012 7:04 am
    Everything that is wrong is wrong is because of Bush. He wrongly let spending get out of control. So your solution? Defend a congress and administration (who supports) even more out of control spending. Then, you blame that on Bush as well. Now everything is so clear.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    And stop the Fox news is so evil as well
    November 23, 2012 7:06 am
    Some of us don't really even watch it more than network news. They had a majority. Maybe not a supermajority. But they still had more. They still have it in the Senate now. So quit crying that foul.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    wsualumn
    November 23, 2012 10:48 am
    Have a good weekend. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Not sure the Apple Cup will go well for you. But it can still be fun. Politics are divisive. Football can ease that, even with fans on opposite sides.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    davies
    November 23, 2012 12:50 pm
    Hey, you sound like you can be a nice guy. So can I. Thanks for the words about The Cougs. I don't think they have much of a chance. Stranger things have happened. One thing we can agree on, Bush let spending get out of control. The Dems aren't very good in that department either, but I will say this, they usually will say raise taxes and spend. The GOP during Bush was cut taxes and spend. It was also an absolute mistake to go to war and have no payment plan. We have got to get our priorities straight. I think we can both agree on that one and probably many others. Things are going to get better. The new found sources of energy are going to change this country.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    The Cougs pulled it out
    November 23, 2012 3:33 pm
    Nice on them, bad on W. I hope you are right and things get better sooner than later.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    Davies
    November 23, 2012 4:23 pm
    Thumbs Up! The UW will have better days!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }