Union Leaders Call For Do-Over; Others Call Foul
By Jeff Cohen - WNPR
Published: Jul 19, 2011
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Union Leaders Call For Do-Over; Say It's About 'Democracy'
Leaders of the state's unions say they're listening to their members as they push for a re-vote on the governor's plan to balance the budget by scaling back benefits for state workers.
But, as WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, union leadership has its critics.
When state workers rejected the concessions plan, labor spokesman Matt O’Connor said it was democracy in action. But as Governor Dannel Malloy moved ahead with thousands of layoffs and deep budget cuts, the unions called for a do-over. And, again, O’Connor says it’s about democracy.
“Our coalition is a federation of democratic organizations and the most fundamental principle of democracy is majority rule.”
So that gets to the question: If you can change the rules of the game after the game ends, what’s up with union democracy?
"In Connecticut, with a Democratic governor, you can't help seeing that there was incredible and unanticipated crisis between the membership and the leadership."
That’s Jonathan Cutler, head of the sociology department at Wesleyan University. He studies unions, but is skeptical of the state's union leadership.
“They didn’t come back ready to fight, ready to use the ‘no’ vote to pressure the governor. They let the governor use the ‘no’ vote to pressure them. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind what they’re doing. They’re ramming it through.”
Cutler sees a union leadership more in touch with the interests of a Democratic party than those of its members. And he sees some workers willing to sacrifice jobs now for better benefits later.
“I think the membership is saying, we’re not afraid of this recession. Go ahead, take your best shot, we’ll slaughter the governor at election time, and when the revenues come back, the state workers will be rehired anyway."
O'Connor, the union spokesman, says he doesn't see a union crisis. He sees an economic one.
"What we have is an economic reality that's facing everyone in the State of Connecticut, everyone in this country."
And that means losing thousands of jobs can't be an option. So there will likely be a re-vote. And Malloy says he'd like to see it sooner rather than later.
For WNPR, I'm Jeff Cohen.
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Cutler sees a union
Cutler sees a union leadership more in touch with the interests of a Democratic party than those of its members.
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The legislation that created public sector unions may have had some concern for the workers, but the effect, lo these past decades later, is a mandate that workers fork over millions in dues to the leaders who subsequently fork over contributions and other support to Dem pols. That is, there is something of an identity between them. In some instances leadership in two groups is literally identical; Speaker Donovan, for example, was an Seiu organizer. Who was it that said, "What's good for GM is good for America."? (punctuation edit needed) Union leadership and Dem leadership in the State Capitol believe what's good for them is also good for union members and legislative constituents. At least, that is the less cynical interpretation of the present rigging of the union rules to achieve a new result. Are the workers poorly represented? Very likely their interests are at least second in the mind of leadership. Nor in the minds of Dem pols are the interests of their constituents first. But, unions and Dems have long been like that. What's new is the growing awareness that Connecticut's State finances are in crisis. It is the precarious position of the States fiscal arrangements that has exposed the sham that is public sector unionization adversarial relation with State management.
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