Gephardt himself didn't have anything to do with this, but aide Joyce Aboussie
threatened to undermine Missouri state workers' collective bargaining rights if AFSCME and SEIU campaign for Dean in Missouri.
Obviously there's going to be tension when different unions stump for different candidates, particularly on a candidates' home turf. But it appears that Aboussie crossed way over the line with what essentially amounts to blackmail -- and a pretty ugly form of it, too.
In a letter to Gephardt, D-Mo., Andrew Stern and Gerald McEntee accused Joyce Aboussie of promising to seek the reversal of an executive order that granted [Missouri state] employees collective bargaining rights. The union officials urged Gephardt to fire the St. Louis-based Aboussie from the campaign and issue a written retraction of her threats.
In their letter, Stern and McEntee said Aboussie warned them that if they worked for Dean in Missouri, she would prod at least 22 state legislators to write Republican leaders calling for repeal of the collective bargaining order. Republican state legislative leaders have tried and failed to challenge Holden's order in the courts and in the legislature.
Unfortunately, Gephardt refused to comment beyond saying that he supports collective bargaining. I hope he disavows such sentiments and listens to Gov. Holden, a supporter of Gephardt, who said, "It is my hope that all my friends who believe in the rights of workers can resolve their differences."