The platform adopted at the 2012 Democratic National Convention includes quite a few shout outs and provisions aimed at boosting their supporters in Big Labor:
The first part is a reference to card check, which would have made labor organizing radically easier by replacing the standard federally monitored secret ballot election with what amounts to a public petition drive. An Obama administration effort to pass that in Congress stalled amid bipartisan opposition.
The section on police, nurses, firefighters and such includes a direct reference to expanding those public sector unions. These groups have been the backbone of organized labor in recent years. There are actually more unionized public sector workers than private sector ones now, according to the Labor Department. Democrats now officially say they want to expand those numbers even further.
Earlier this year, President Obama said, “The private sector is doing fine.” He argued the real problem with the economy was the last of public sector hiring by governors and mayors.
The “right to work” section announces their opposition to laws that would give workers the right to opt out of joining a union or paying dues to one as a condition of employment. (Most union contracts with employers require that all of their employees must be union members or at least pay dues.)
Big Labor is a big booster of the Democratic Party. AFl-CIO President Richard Trumka is set to speak from the DNC’s main stage at around 6 p.m. today.
