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‘He Owes Them Big Time’: What a Second Obama Term Will Mean for Big Labor

Nov. 13, 2012 2:53pm Guest Post

[Editor's note: The following is a cross post that originally appeared on CNBC.com]:

What Will Obama Do for American Labor Movement?

Workers walk off the job at Walmarts, Boeing employees get the right to discuss unions during work time, and Chicago teachers get most of their demands met.

Add to this a re-elected President Barack Obama — who’s meeting with labor leaders Tuesday at the White House for talks on the “fiscal cliff” — and some analysts say the time may be right for a “rebirth” for American labor activism.

“I do think it’s a favorable time for workers and the unions,” said Chris Rhomberg, associate professor of sociology at Fordham University. “What’s happening, including the election, is a push back on the reversal of worker’s rights that hasn’t happened since the New Deal.”

Obama’s return to the White House will put greater pressure on him to do more for a major constituency, said John Alan James, executive director for global governance at Pace University.

“He owes them big time,” James said. “The Democrats got a big labor turnout this election. There’s pressure on Obama to deliver on things like the Employee Free Choice Act, which makes it easier to organize unions.”

There’s no doubt labor belonged to Obama in his re-election. Union members voted for him in 2012 at a rate of 65 percent to 33 percent, according to the AFL-CIO. Obama’s support in union households was 58 percent, just 1 percentage point less than 2008. And union votes helped to defeat several state ballot measures, including ones in California and Idaho designed to cut education and public services.

Even before the election, workers and unions were pushing their agenda. The Chicago teachers’ strike ended in September in what the teachers union called a victory. The summer recall attempt of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker failed, but a state court in September struck down many of the laws he backed to end public union collective bargaining.

Meanwhile, Boeing employees in the aerospace company’s nonunion plant in North Charleston, S.C., were granted the right in October to discuss union membership while on the job by the National Labor Relations Board (The NLRB is an independent agency charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating unfair labor practices.)

Also in October, a small number of workers staged the first ever walk outs at Walmart — lasting just about an hour — at stores in Dallas, Miami, Seattle as well as in California and Louisiana for better pay and working conditions. They’ve threatened the super store giant with a walkout on Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally the busiest holiday shopping day of the year — if their demands are not met.

But analysts don’t expect a tidal wave of sign-carrying workers on long picket lines, like happened in the 1930s.

President Barack Obama standing with AFL-CIO Presidet Richard Trumka (AP)

“I think the labor movement, if it’s to be successful, needs a new strategy,” said Dan Opler, an associate professor of history at the College of Saint Vincent in Riverdale, N.Y. “The numbers just don’t scream labor ascendency.”

Total union membership in 2011 was at an all-time low of 11.8 percent in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of members split among private and public unions, about 7.4 million in each — with public-sector workers having a union membership rate (37 percent) more than five times higher than that of private-sector workers (6.9 percent).

And there’s the issue of unity. Just look at the 780 striking Caterpillar machinists in Joliet, Ill., said Michael Zweig, professor of economics at Stony Brook University. The workers voted in August — after a four-month walkout — against their union leaders in ratifying a contract that basically gave the equipment manufacturer concessions on wage and pensions freezes.

“People at Caterpillar were afraid of losing their jobs,” Zweig said. “The lesson is that you really have to mobilize workers and organize your base.”

“Companies work hard to keep unions out when it comes to pay and benefits,” said John Malloy, an executive search consultant with Sanford Rose Associates. “Why join a union when you are making more money without them.”

For Pace University’s James, unions have more or less become irrelevant in today’s business world.

“Since World War II, companies developed their human resource departments to help keep unions out of the private sector and even the public sector,” said James. “With HR, there’s better motivation and empathy and pay programs that make most workers feel rewarded. Unions haven’t adjusted their attitude toward capitalism and are too old.”

Just what Obama and the Democrats actually plan to do for labor remains unknown. Little was said on the issue during the campaign by either Obama or Mitt Romney.

But Obama has stated he believes all workers should be given the right to bargain collectively and strike if the need arises — something labor leaders have pushed for. He also said he would see that striking workers are not completely expelled from work. And he supported the Employees Free Choice Act.

But getting the act — which allows unions to be certified solely by a majority sign-up — through a Republican-controlled House will likely prove difficult if not impossible once again. Attacked by the business community as a way to raise labor costs through unionization — and by some labor activists as not going far enough to protect union organizing — the measure has failed to pass Congress since 2007.

Instead, experts say, the NLRB is the place to look for any immediate movement on labor.

“Obama has two recess (temporary) appointments to the board that has helped the labor cause,” said Malloy, pointing to the Boeing decision in South Carolina. “I don’t see Republicans being able to block that (the decisions) except by lawsuits.”

Some say it remains an uphill fight for labor no matter what Obama does.

“The movement is not good at getting into the private sector, and with right to work laws (not allowing unions) states have put up a lot of barriers,” said Opler. “As long as states are determined to prevent unionization, open ballots and stronger penalties for violations won’t do much.”

But one expert says unions and workers organizing aren’t going away.

“We may see the growth of worker organization in areas like restaurants,” said Emily Rosenberg, director of labor education at DePaul University. “With Walmart, and what happened in Wisconsin and even with some orchestra musicians taking to picket lines, I believe you will see more worker agitation in the future.”

–

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Comments (78)

TelepromoterNChief
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 5:41pm
Richard (D!ck) Trumpka is FAT.

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- turkey13
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 6:30pm
  New law goes into effect next year that if you buy a Union produced car rather than non Union you get a $5,000.00 tax deduction on your 2014 taxes.
  
  Report this comment
- Secret Squirrel
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 10:35pm
  .
  “He owes them big time”
  Why? The election is over.
  Is Obama planning on a third term?
  He never keeps his promises, the goons should know that.
  They were used. It’s the Chicago way.
  
  Report this comment
- NeilChapin
  Posted on November 14, 2012 at 6:16am
  The second term is going to see billions more in taxpayer money going to unions. That is why the Republican House needs to nix any legislation that includes union payoffs and tell the public why they are voting against it. Read fresh political commentary at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
  Report this comment
SamIamTwo
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 5:39pm
They simply want more people to join the union. It lets the thugs at the top have sweet incomes while the employees reduce their pay. And they do not fight for the individual, they fight for the Union. If you have a complaint it turns into a debate between Union and Management. They have never helped anyone. They use to be needed but they outlived their useful purpose years ago.

Unions need to sit down and STFU

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South Philly Boy
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 5:16pm
Means HIGHER PRICES

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FANGS
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:38pm
Start the War on Unions. We can wipe them out in one swift war. They must be exterminated.

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- vox_populi
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:49pm
  Labor’s organized. We control the government and the wheels of production. What do you control?
  
  Report this comment
- rickc34
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 5:31pm
  Ban the union label as much as you can. There are ways for the over 49 % that did not vote for Obama. We control the money..most of Obama’s supporters are takers like welfare and unions. Fight back take you savings out of the bank before Obama does.
  
  Report this comment
- ccprotect
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 10:32pm
  VOX
  i am a maint manager and I control who I hire to perform the out sourced work at the factory I am employed at and I chose not to hire union biased contactors because they are slow and you cannot negotiate with them if there is a problem, (they do not wrong). how is that for control?
  FYI; I was a shop Stuart for AFL-CIO at one time and seen the misuse of power and quit.
  
  Report this comment
- vox_populi
  Posted on November 14, 2012 at 2:49am
  “I control who I hire to perform the out sourced work at the factory I am employed at”
  
  Let me know how that goes once the workers seize the factories.
  
  Report this comment
Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:11pm
The desperation to ‘win’ this election in the face of a virtually all or nothing proposition? Suspicious doesn’t even begin to describe the irregularities that bucked the National trends in key battleground Corridors. Nor can the 15% loss in support for obama was magically overcome so easily. All polls showed undecideds that voted obama last time moved solidly Romney. And we are expected to believe they all stayed home? BS As well as Obama winning States that selected Republican majorities?
BS BS BS

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ClaudeRains
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:08pm
It means more cream rising to the top of the union food chain and more jobs going overseas due to crappy union labor.

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jessieH
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:06pm
Well, the way things are going, only the union workers will have jobs, which means only the union workers will be paying taxes. They will be supporting about, what, 75 percent of us? That’s going to take most of every union workers paychecks. Good luck with that, unions.

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- Git-R-Done
  Posted on November 14, 2012 at 2:16am
  And more government workers belong to unions than private sector workers. And government workers get paid by the taxpayers.
  
  Report this comment
Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:04pm
Especially because they were handling and transporting electronic polling booths to and fro…… Polling booths that were unsecured and now in serious question as they were unable to tally votes for anything but obama.. Found in major corridors that decided at least 3 States.
Polling booths that magically overcame a decline of 15% in obama’s 2008 support without any of it moving to Romney.. This despite polls showing an easy 10% shift AND an independent vote moving to Romney!

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- PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
  Posted on November 14, 2012 at 12:03am
  @Ghandi – Lord of the Rings threatened tyranny over the people through centralized power and evil. Gandolf the Grey said “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” http://www.gulagboud.com/36056/patriots-delcare-we-shall-not-let-vote-fraud-stand/ At the very bottom of the screen is a list of every State and/or person you can contact and put pressure on because if we don’t we will NEVER come out of this grip of Marxist control.
  
  Report this comment
DEFCON4
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:00pm
As the democratic voting machine keeps “marching on”………

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RANGER1965
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:52pm
Obama will pay his debt to the Labor Unions. He will also pay his debt to the media. And he will especially payback those politicians, and citizens that opposed his rise to power.

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DadRocked
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:45pm
Glad to be in a Right To Work State (VA) and lately you have seen other union members striking. i.e., CA Grocery Chain 137 stores (Workers Strike at Raley’s Supermarket Chain – Hostess (So Long Twinkies? Hostess On Brink Of Closing Amid Strike) – Aircraft (Bombardier Learjet Workers Strike). Just three within the past couple of days that I remember. Go ahead and strike… Force the businesses out… then blame BUSH… Will they ever learn.

Oh and didn’t Chicago Teachers accept a 37% pay increase over 4yrs.

You know… Strike over things like unsafe work conditions, etc. But come ‘on!

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quangdog
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:40pm
Unions need to go away. In my eyes they are just bullies pushing their own agenda with no regard for the consequences.

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ares338
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:40pm
Hey friends….Let’s form a Citizns Union and then go on strike over taxes.

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ares338
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:35pm
Legalize extortion….nothing more. Creeping Socialism is now sprinting.

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thibx
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:23pm
corrupt politians and unions destroy and they need to be with jimmy hoffa in the end zone.

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kalli
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:22pm
Stop the war on private business who are workers also and pay wages without without bailouts from taxpayers! You poor fools in big labor don’t see that when gov’t runs out of spending other people’s money, you will be part of the “have nots.”. This country will fall because of men’s pride, corruption, and greed.

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SquidVetOhio
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:21pm
Let’s fight fire with fire. Where does Trumpka live? How about the SEIU clowns? They want a war on “workers”? I say give it to them. You bring a bully down by punching him in his fat nose.

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- Cavallo
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:23pm
  Trumpka is an accessory to murder, and a living breathing example of why you should carry a gun if you ever have to deal with Unions.
  
  Report this comment
- SquidVetOhio
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:32pm
  Unions are the final resting place of displace communists. Aka the people I was told was my mortal enemies in the military. Apparently, they still are.
  
  Report this comment
- BigPaul
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 6:53pm
  give and address
  
  Report this comment
djn1313
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:18pm
Of course obama will give the lazy union thugs what they want. They are communists, marxists, and socialists like him. No big fat union thug would tell me what to do with my business, I would close the doors before putting up with their unreasonable demands. Unions never created ONE JOB, they are the TAKERS like those on cradle-to-grave welfare bums. Unions are the cancer destroying our nation.

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vox_populi
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:09pm
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the Union makes us strong!

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- BODYBAG
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:18pm
  Trumpka is waiting for you in room #339 at the Super 8 with a supersize tube of KY
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:25pm
  Your rotting corpses will litter the landscape and do you know what that will smell like you communist heathen? FREEDOM.
  
  Report this comment
- vox_populi
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:46pm
  “Your rotting corpses will litter the landscape and do you know what that will smell like you communist heathen? FREEDOM.”
  
  Freedom sounds like it smells terrible. At any rate, I sincerely doubt it.The People are on our side.
  
  Report this comment
- LakeHartwellSailor
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 5:43pm
  You are a self-serving idiot.
  
  Report this comment
- Ms.Independence
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 7:17pm
  It’s apparent that nowhere in the world where communism rules are the workers wealthy, neither are they happy (working whatever hours the government demands). It’s shared misery. BUT the government leadership in communist countries is wealthy. Everyone I’ve ever met who came from a communist country hated it and wanted the freedom of the United States…Unions are not necessary with companies that are good stewards of their wealth in balance with the environment, workers, and the community.
  
  Report this comment
00100111
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:05pm
Employee Free Choice Act, which makes it easier to organize unions. Gee, how wonderful. Sounds like a great “choice”. What if I choose not to be part of your union? Do I get a “choice”, or is it only a choice when you toe the Democrat party line?

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barber2
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:05pm
I see nothing good in four more years of the Obama Administration. Instead I see more union bullying, OWS Occupations, ACORN/SEIU mobs with bull horns, riots, trials by the MSM, strikes, more riots, MIC checks, Glitter bombings, atheists demanding ever more rights, a worsening economy, higher taxes , higher spending and an ever-worsening economy. How this man was ever-re-elected is a sign of many things : none of them good for America.

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- vox_populi
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:11pm
  Your country is dead. Our country has just been born.
  
  Welcome to the New America, comrade.
- Cavallo
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:12pm
  If you own a business get ready for bankruptcy. Unions will drain you dry like a parasite. Plan to liquidate at a moment’s notice. Although they will want to target businesses that are just enough on the ropes that they can’t shut down. Alternatively, sell the business and let someone else go under, take your profit from the sale and open in a business friendly environment even if that is not in the USSA.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:16pm
  And we’re all going to pay even obamazombies because their gravy train is getting derailed and soon.
  Taxmageddon on Jan 1st and Obama care will destroy millions of jobs. Barry now has to appease the parasites by raising taxes to make the simpletons believe he’s looking out for the ‘little guy’. The idiots that voted for that bastard are helping to destroy this country and we’re all going down.
  
  Report this comment
- Chet Hempstead
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:17pm
  Hooray, four more years! Four more yours of reason! Four more years of moderation! Four more years of truth, justice and the American way! Thank God we won!
  
  Report this comment
- Cavallo
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:41pm
  Four more years of 8+% and increasing unemployment. Four more years of endless soul crushing regulation. Four more years of fascism, fiat executive orders, increasing energy prices, massive inflation, world wide radical muslim extremism. Yay for you. Gotta have a party for increased poverty, decreased freedom, and massive public dependency.
  
  Report this comment
- DEFCON4
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:06pm
  @Chet, Four more years of “trickle-up poverty”…….
  Hoo-ray Indeed !!!
  
  Report this comment
doomytram
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:04pm
Who is Big Obozo meeting with all day today? Richard Trumpka and is Jimmy Hoffa in the meeting too. Big Labor wants Big Obozo to go Big Goverment Socialist NOW. Big Obozo is destroying the country and his only Ally is Big Labor. Two Peas in lying pod. You two Bozo’s lie like a rug.

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MrSunshine
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:01pm
I like Richard Trumpka….in a body bag!

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- BODYBAG
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:20pm
  hey
  
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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:31pm
  BAG Sunny meant it in a different way.
  
  Report this comment
- 2MINUTESTOMIDNIGHT
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 4:45pm
  Now the KY reference above makes sense. (Sorry BodyBag, I couldn’t resist)
  
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- TelepromoterNChief
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 5:35pm
  Many of us would.
  Sadly, there are no such body bags available at this time to accomodate him.
  
  A circus tent will suffice to contain his FAT FAT FAT FAT frame and mustache.
  
  Report this comment
progressiveslayer
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:01pm
Just think when Barry and his union pigs get done destroying millions of jobs in America we’ll all be equally poor,sounds like a skinny Marxist POS plan huh? Prop 2 failed here in union controlled Michigan so the pigs were held off a bit,not to worry the pigs never stop and they’ll keep fighting to destroy jobs in communist controlled Michigan and AmeriKa.

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- Cavallo
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:21pm
  Soon the only Unions left will be those that suck blood from the taxpayer, the public sector unions. Private sector unions will have destroyed any and all businesses, and killed themselves. The public sector Unions will not last much longer than that as the businesses that fund the public sector slowly die off.
  
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- GuardianoftheWolves
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:58pm
  @Cavallo ,,, and when we all get to sit on the curb enjoying our lunch from the local soup kitchen we can thank the union people properly, seeing that they will be right there beside us !
  
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Bluefish49
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:00pm
Wait until he goes after unionizing one of the largest UN-tapped industries….the home builder companies of America…….if you think the new home market is in the hole now just wait.

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- copatriots
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:08pm
  Excellent observation, BLUEFISH. The illegals in the home building trades are about to become legal through the unions.
  
  The progressive movement is unleashed and we’re only one week into their agenda relatively undisguised.
  
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- barber2
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:08pm
  Is that before or after he gains political control of the police and the military ??
  
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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:12pm
  Exactly, via the unions and his goal of nationalizing them he will gain absolute control over the economy once and for all.
  
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- copatriots
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:16pm
  That ship has sailed, BARBER. Clinton laid the framework for weakening and politicizing the military. Zer0 just nailed the coffin. The unions own the police.
  
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- Micmac
  Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:21pm
  That won’t happen. They go after the non-union subcontractor shops, but most of them are small and not worth it. If someone tried to unionize my company I just wouldn’t take on anymore contracts and through attrition everyone working would lose their jobs, and they know it to be true. Then I’d start another company under a new name, with all of my clients knowing damn well what was going on. If I was forced union I’d not be competitive. I personally know of union shops that form non-union shops in adjacent counties to stay competitive in non-govt or institutional jobs.
  
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