Frustrated Labor Unions May Boycott 2012 Democratic Convention
TheBlaze.com
- Posted on August 12, 2011 at 4:08pm by
Billy Hallowell
WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — More than a dozen trade unions plan to sit out the 2012 Democratic convention because of their anger over the site of the meeting in a right-to-work state and their frustration over Democrats’ struggles to create jobs.
[Photo] Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC (Site of the 2012 Democratic Convention)
If unions don’t participate, it would deprive the party of millions of dollars that would have been spent on sky boxes and other sponsorships that usually help underwrite the convention. The move could pose a larger problem for President Barack Obama next year if an increasingly dispirited base of labor activists becomes so discouraged that it doesn’t get the rank-and-file to the polls in its usual strong numbers.
The unions – all part of the AFL-CIO’s building and construction trades unit – told party officials this week they are gravely disappointed that labor was not consulted before Democrats settled on Charlotte, N.C., where there are no unionized hotels.
“We find it troubling that the party so closely associated with basic human rights would choose a state with the lowest unionization rate in the country due to regressive policies aimed at diluting the power of workers,” Mark Ayers, president of the building trades unit, wrote in a letter to Democratic Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
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AFL-CIO Head Tries to Meddle in NFL Labor Dispute; Update: NFL Says ‘No Thanks’
TheBlaze.com
- Posted on September 30, 2010 at 3:47pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The president of the AFL-CIO is ready to play mediator in the NFL’s labor dispute.
In a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka offered to sit down with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and determine the parameters for a new collective bargaining agreement.
“I would like to invite you both to meet with me to discuss how an agreement might be reached,” the letter reads. “I believe such a meeting would be an immediate and important step toward saving football for the 2011 season and avoiding the significant job losses that will occur if owners lock out the players and cancel games.”
The current CBA does not expire until March, and Smith contends league owners are preparing to lock out the players before the start of next season.
The two sides held their most recent bargaining session earlier this week in Washington.
Neither league officials nor players association representatives responded immediately to e-mailed requests for comment from the AP regarding Trumka’s letter, which went to NFL owners, mayors of NFL cities and governors of states that have NFL teams.
It’s not the first time the AFL-CIO, a labor union federation, has jumped into the NFL’s game.
Two weeks ago, Trumka sent a letter to all 32 team owners, warning that a lockout could cost thousands of Americans their jobs and cities more than $140 million in revenue.
Trumka made some familiar requests in the second letter, too.
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