The GOP war on organized labor leads to political realignment

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Despite what you have been lead to believe by a lazy media, not all labor unions are Democratic leaning. In particular, police and fire association unions have tended to support Republicans over the years.

But with the GOP war on organized labor in state legislatures across the country this year, there has been a subtle but significant political realignment underway. Police and fire associations have stood arm-in-arm with their brothers and sisters in the public employee unions.

When Gov. Scott Walker pushed his union busting bill to end collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, police and fire association unions came to Madison to stand with the public employee unions in opposing the bill, even though Walker had excluded police and fire association unions from his bill in a cynical attempt to retain their support.

When FAUX News host Gov. John Kasich pushed his union busting bill to end collective bargaining rights in Ohio, he actually included police and fire association unions in his bill. Police and fire association unions joined with public employee unions and other organized labor to collect more than a million signatures to put Senate Bill 5 on the ballot this November for a "People's Veto" referendum.

In state legislatures across the country, including Arizona, public employee pensions came under assault, reducing pension benefits and increasing employee contributions, despite states having for years failed to fully fund their pension contributions — in breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty as the pension fund administrator. In Arizona, it was also in breach of an express constitutional provision. The police and fire association unions opposed these "reforms" alongside public employee unions.

The most significant consequence of this political realignment will be in local city council races, where police and fire association unions have tended to be the largest financial contributors to Republican candidates or to independent expenditure committees in support of Republican candidates.

Two years ago in Tucson, the police and fire association unions were the force behind an independent expenditure committee supporting Prop. 200, the so-called Public Safety Initiative, that was soundly defeated by voters.

This year, the Tucson Police Officers Association has endorsed Democratic Candidate for Mayor of Tucson, Jonathan Rothschild. Tucson Police Officers Association Endorses Jonathan Rothschild for Mayor. And in Phoenix, the Professional Firefighters of Arizona have endorsed Democratic candidate for Mayor of Phoenix, Greg Stanton. Fireighters back Stanton, call Gullett 'reckless' (The Arizona Guardian, subscription required).

The significance of this political realignment should not be underestimated. If the police and fire association unions pull their financial resources and boots on the ground from Republican candidates and independent expenditure committees in support of Republican candidates, this will have an impact on local city council races.

It remains to be seen how this political realignment will impact state legislative races. The unions were caught flat-footed on the so-called "pension reform" bills in the last legislative session. But it is my understanding that the unions will be better organized and prepared to oppose Gov. Jan Brewer's secret bill in January to do away with civil service protection, and return us to the bad old days of Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall where political patronage and corruption ruled the day.