Republicans have made important inroads into the universe of voters who shop and work at Wal-Mart. Can the Dems win them back?
Excerpts from:
Labor's Dilemna
By Eleanor Clift
Newsweek
May 6, 2005
Everybody’s rebranding these days, and the labor movement is no exception. Fifty years ago, one in three workers belonged to a union; today, it’s one in 10. No other institution except maybe the Vatican is in more need of an overhaul.
A product of the social movements of the 1960s and '70s, [Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union,] has not let middle age dim his revolutionary fervor. His harshest words are reserved for Democrats, who have lost the allegiance of the working class, which was once the core of the party. “If you had 50 percent union membership, Democrats would win a lot more elections,” he says. “We’re losers; they [the Republicans] are winners in terms of having the guts to make changes.”
It’s fashionable in some Democratic quarters to assail working-class Republican supporters for voting against their economic interests. [I do this all of the time when I talk about voting rich and living poor.] Stern has a different take. “If you could tell me what the Democratic Party stands for on economic issues, it would be easier to tell you if they’re voting against their economic interests.”
He assails Democrats as a party of “no ideas and small ideas,” noting that he, like everybody in the room, admires Franklin Roosevelt—“but that was 70 years ago.”
Stern likes to challenge people’s assumptions, and that was evident when he brought up Wal-Mart, the company that exemplifies the dilemma of labor. Wal-Marts are mostly located in conservative strongholds, rural areas and the exurbs. They may be accused of depriving workers of decent wages and benefits, but they appeal to working people because of their low prices and designated “family-friendly” areas of the store that are free from sexually and violently explicit games. “If they target Wal-Mart, they could turn off a lot of people they want to organize,” says Marshall Wittmann, a spokesman for the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.
There is an opening for labor, Democrats and progressives if they can find a voice that speaks to values in addition to economic anxieties, says Wittmann, who grew up in Texas. He recalls his boyhood hero, populist Democrat Ralph Yarborough, who in 1958 had on the back of his campaign flier his favorite Christian prayer. Bush strategist Karl Rove understands the nexus of faith, values and politics, and the Republicans have made important inroads to the universe of voters who shop at Wal-Mart and work at Wal-Mart. Wittmann cautions that attempts to unionize in these conservative pockets of America will be portrayed as an anti-religious, pro-abortion, East Coast movement.
Stern understands the risk and is going instead to state legislatures and pointing out that most Wal-Mart workers earn less than $19,000 a year and are eligible for taxpayer-funded Medicaid benefits. In Georgia alone, 10,000 Wal-Mart employees receive Medicaid while the company records strong profits from its 3,700 stores. Stern successfully pushed through a bill in Maryland that requires Wal-Mart to pay a percentage of the federal health tab for its employees. “Wal-Mart is the most successful company in the world,” says Stern. “They should share the wealth and at least meet community standards. Instead they pay less and drag down the standards.” A chart in The New York Times on Wednesday compares hourly wages of $9.68 at Wal-Mart to comparable discount megastores of $16 at Costco and $12 at Sam’s Club.
How labor organizes this new work force is the challenge. Because of industrialization and globalization, there are two kinds of jobs—lovely and lousy, high-tech information jobs and service industry. It’s not a new trend; it’s been happening for decades, and in the last few presidential elections, Democrats and progressives lost touch with working and downscale voters. Asked if his endorsement of Howard Dean in the presidential primaries last year hurt him, Stern says not at all. “Our membership would like us to bash the Democrats. They don’t think they represent them.”
Labor's Dilemna
By Eleanor Clift
Newsweek
May 6, 2005
Everybody’s rebranding these days, and the labor movement is no exception. Fifty years ago, one in three workers belonged to a union; today, it’s one in 10. No other institution except maybe the Vatican is in more need of an overhaul.
A product of the social movements of the 1960s and '70s, [Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union,] has not let middle age dim his revolutionary fervor. His harshest words are reserved for Democrats, who have lost the allegiance of the working class, which was once the core of the party. “If you had 50 percent union membership, Democrats would win a lot more elections,” he says. “We’re losers; they [the Republicans] are winners in terms of having the guts to make changes.”
It’s fashionable in some Democratic quarters to assail working-class Republican supporters for voting against their economic interests. [I do this all of the time when I talk about voting rich and living poor.] Stern has a different take. “If you could tell me what the Democratic Party stands for on economic issues, it would be easier to tell you if they’re voting against their economic interests.”
He assails Democrats as a party of “no ideas and small ideas,” noting that he, like everybody in the room, admires Franklin Roosevelt—“but that was 70 years ago.”
Stern likes to challenge people’s assumptions, and that was evident when he brought up Wal-Mart, the company that exemplifies the dilemma of labor. Wal-Marts are mostly located in conservative strongholds, rural areas and the exurbs. They may be accused of depriving workers of decent wages and benefits, but they appeal to working people because of their low prices and designated “family-friendly” areas of the store that are free from sexually and violently explicit games. “If they target Wal-Mart, they could turn off a lot of people they want to organize,” says Marshall Wittmann, a spokesman for the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.
There is an opening for labor, Democrats and progressives if they can find a voice that speaks to values in addition to economic anxieties, says Wittmann, who grew up in Texas. He recalls his boyhood hero, populist Democrat Ralph Yarborough, who in 1958 had on the back of his campaign flier his favorite Christian prayer. Bush strategist Karl Rove understands the nexus of faith, values and politics, and the Republicans have made important inroads to the universe of voters who shop at Wal-Mart and work at Wal-Mart. Wittmann cautions that attempts to unionize in these conservative pockets of America will be portrayed as an anti-religious, pro-abortion, East Coast movement.
Stern understands the risk and is going instead to state legislatures and pointing out that most Wal-Mart workers earn less than $19,000 a year and are eligible for taxpayer-funded Medicaid benefits. In Georgia alone, 10,000 Wal-Mart employees receive Medicaid while the company records strong profits from its 3,700 stores. Stern successfully pushed through a bill in Maryland that requires Wal-Mart to pay a percentage of the federal health tab for its employees. “Wal-Mart is the most successful company in the world,” says Stern. “They should share the wealth and at least meet community standards. Instead they pay less and drag down the standards.” A chart in The New York Times on Wednesday compares hourly wages of $9.68 at Wal-Mart to comparable discount megastores of $16 at Costco and $12 at Sam’s Club.
How labor organizes this new work force is the challenge. Because of industrialization and globalization, there are two kinds of jobs—lovely and lousy, high-tech information jobs and service industry. It’s not a new trend; it’s been happening for decades, and in the last few presidential elections, Democrats and progressives lost touch with working and downscale voters. Asked if his endorsement of Howard Dean in the presidential primaries last year hurt him, Stern says not at all. “Our membership would like us to bash the Democrats. They don’t think they represent them.”
posted by Sid Cottingham | 7:22 AM
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