Labor Relations on Labor Day

Seems that an overly enthusiastic Gabby volunteer took a step over the line in preparing the Pima Democratic Party newsletter announcing the Labor Day AFL-CIO/PALF picnic. The volunteer very clearly implied that the event was a Pima Democratic Party event and that that the Party was endorsing the listed candidates.

Join
us at Reid Park (Country Club, between 22nd and Broadway) on Monday,
Sept. 4th at Ramada 1 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. as the Pima County
Democrats celebrate Labor Day with the Tucson Community.

• Come hear our candidates speak!
• Governor Janet Napolitano
• Congressman Raul Grijalva
• U.S. Senate candidate Jim Pederson
• District 8 candidate Gabrielle Giffords

Interesting. I had no idea that that the Pima County Party considered Gabby "our" candidate, being as she hasn’t been selected by the Party members in a primary yet, but this newsletter, which goes to thousands of Pima County Democrats, sure implied that.

Of course, Donna Branch-Gilby, the Pima County Chair, was livid, and had nothing to do with this episode. Even so, I’ve heard rumors that she is considering resignation over this. Better to fix the problem and insulate this sort of party function from the most partisan of volunteers, I say.

Pima Democrats sent out a correction the next morning which clarified that the picnic was a labor union event with participating candidates chosen by the sponsors, not the party.

THE
LABOR DAY PICNIC  AT REID PARK IS PLANNED, ORGANIZED AND SPONSORED BY
THE PIMA AREA LABOR FEDERATION WITH THE TUCSON JOBS FOR JUSTICE
COALITION  AND NOT BY THE PIMA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY AS THE  EARLIER
NEWS- LETTER ANNOUNCEMENT IMPLIED.

THE
PROGRAM AND SPEAKERS HAVE BEEN  DETERMINED BY THE SPONSORS.  THE PIMA
COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY WILL PARTICIPATE WITH A VOTER REGISTRATION
TABLE AND PARTY INFORMATION.  COME AND JOIN THE CELEBRATION ON LABOR
DAY, 10 AM – 2PM AT THE REID PARK BANDSHELL.

It is questionable, however, whether this correction really addressed the root problem that upset all the non-Gabby candidates for Congress, which is that the email clearly intimated that Gabby was the Party’s chosen candidate. The correction did nothing to roll back that impression.

All of the candidate’s were pretty annoyed, but I think I’ll take the statement of one as emblematic of how they are all likely feeling. Very seldom does a candidate for office speak with the no non-sense, honest good sense of Francine Shacter. So I’ll just reproduce her statement on the matter.

Organized labor, thanks to
the crushing of unions by Republican President, Ronald Reagan, has lost
the clout it once had. Here, in CD 8, labor pretends to have power by
endorsing the candidate thought to be the front runner. The remaining
Democratic candidates, all strong supporters of labor, are expected
to support the Labor Movement even when the Labor Movement does not
support them.

Quite by accident, the Pima
county Democratic Party put out a news letter that made it seem like
the local party had endorsed one of the candidates. The other five candidates
were outraged, as well they should be. In an effort to salvage a bad
situation and prevent damage to the local Democratic campaigns, I suggested
that the AFL-CIO permit each of the other candidates the opportunity
to speak at the Reid Park rally. Word came back – no! It’s their
party. They don’t have to – and they won’t. So, the local AFL-CIO
prefers to exercise its muscle and alienate five Democratic candidates
rather than bend a little and give each of us a few minutes at the mike.

Many people say the AFL-CIO
is out of step with “the people”. As a staunch supporter of labor,
I have denied that accusation and defended them. Not any more. Any organization
which is so arrogant and stiff-necked does not deserve the confidence
of working women and men – and it has lost my support. New unions
are entering the arena. In the future, I will put my support behind
unions which understand that they represent the people. I’m afraid
that the AFL-CIO has taken a page out of the sorry book George Bush
has written: I can do whatever I think is right! It isn’t a question
of what you can do, it is really a question of what you want to do.
And if you are strong enough and confident enough in your mission, you
will reach out to people, not squelch them. What a crying shame that
the AFL-CIO couldn’t find it in their hearts to reach out to the other
Democratic candidates on Labor Day, 2006.

Francine Shacter

Candidate for Congress, CD
8

I attended the picnic and was pleased to find most of the Congressional candidates, and candidates for many other offices, in attendance, working the crowd all morning and afternoon and meeting the voters and union members. Those who were given leave to speak, however, tended to swoop in with their entourages, spend a few minutes on the ground to do standups for local media, made their speeches, and swoop right back out. I guess once you’ve got labor’s endorsement you get too busy to actually stay for entire events.