Labor in 2010

This week I've been focused on resuming employment with my Chicago job and the disaster in Haiti, as most folks have been. I started this post last week and, since, my perspective on labor's status in the US improved thanks to the health care morass. Who would have considered that anything positive could emerge from this contentious, ridiculous debate? Rich Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, assumed a prominent role in negotiating taxes on Cadillac health plans. Even though Haiti justly dominated the news cycle, Trumka and others worked closely with the executive and legislative in hammering out differences in order to speed a finalized bill. (The one name that's absent from these news stories is Andy Stern, especially considering the role of SEIU in electing President Obama.) It appears that working-class households and employees who have collectively bargained contracts stand to gain in the future when the tax is levied.

Who is Trumka? Thus far, outside of Stern, he's using his office and prominence to fight for the working-class. He's steeling the movement and giving it some spine, and the LAT credited him with retaining an activist's passion. He realizes that it's now or never on some key matters, such as health care or EFCA, and is urging Democrats to seize the moment and avoid squandering their position. In another sign of the AFL-CIO's augmented national role, the labor giant is preparing to join the on-line degree crowd with virtual classes for union families through the National Labor College. The curriculum focuses on a wide-variety of subjects and the degree-granting program will begin with BAs and, according to Steven Greenhouses's piece, build to Associates and Masters.

So is labor poised to arise from the ashes of the last thirty years of reversals and a shrinking base--both in human and economic terms? I wouldn't break out the booty wax just yet. The poor economic news, unemployment, and potential electoral setbacks for Democrats in the fall will make legislative and executive allies reticent to champion EFCA or measures that are seen to pander to "Big Labor," a favorite conservative cudgel. Considering the level of GOP intransigence and obstruction to the Democrats' legislative efforts, it seems unlikely that EFCA can appear and pass into law before November.

As Jeanne Cummings of Politico writes, for Labor, there's always next year. As of now, the Democrats' and President's legislative calendar and agenda are full. I guess EFCA could slip in should employment and the economy perk up in tandem with Obama's approval rating, but I won't hold my breath. Even the hotbed of labor radicalism and wild cat strikes of UAW Local 1112 at the GM Plant in Lordstown, Ohio, see their survival linked to corporate success. Captain Wendy Morse of United's pilot union is also approaching management with reserved demands, a marked difference from the past. In these economic times, to ensure survival, the course of radicalism is eschewed in favor of one that guarantees employment and safety. I think it's a little misplaced to presume that Americans and their elected representatives will authorize a bill that provides for sweeping alterations to organizing practices in this climate. The thrust for jobs, jobs, jobs may offer a window of opportunity for EFCA or a similar bill. However, considering the willingness of the administration to shed the public option, EFCA could fall victim to political exigencies.

Regardless, it's important to balance pessimism with appreciation of how labor, under the leadership of Trumka and Stern, is scrapping back into the corridors of power. Hilda Solis, labor's number one ally, is striking a definite tone to reverse former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao's lackluster enforcement and equitability for workers in regulation of workplace safety measures, contract bargaining, and wage disputes. The National Association of Manufacturers and the Chamber of Commerce, with little surprise, oppose the course Secretary Solis has plotted thus far and yearn for her predecessor's pro-business policies. Of course, as the final death throes of debates over health care demonstrate, President Obama recognizes labor's relevance to his own success and as members of a coalition to preserve his power. It's not all bad and there's reason to appreciate that the environment for labor dynamism in politics is improving. EFCA might have a shot. Maybe, just maybe.