Richard Trumka (AFL-CIO)
The AFL-CIO continues laying out its
revamped political approach, with Richard Trumka talking to the
Huffington Post:
"In the past we've spent a significant amount of resources on candidates and party structures, and the day after election, workers were no stronger then they were the day before," Trumka said, during a sit down at his Washington D.C. office slightly more than a week ago.
"What we are now focused on is doing a couple of things differently," Trumka said. "In the past, we would build our structure six to eight months before the election," he added. "Now we're not going to do that. We're going to focus our resources on building a structure that has total fidelity towards America's working people, both union and non-union working people. We'll do it 12 months a year, so they'll be able to transition from electoral politics, to advocacy, to accountability with no effort. And it will continue to build greater strength for workers after the election and in between elections."
The union federation is also adding a super PAC, which will influence how it can raise and spend money.
The AFL-CIO had been moving toward a constant mobilization model since Trumka became its president in 2009, but to what end that mobilization is directed is an open question: Is the AFL-CIO willing to withhold support from the legislative priorities of President Obama and other Democratic leaders or from the campaigns of Democratic politicians with poor records on the issues? If so, how assertively? And is there a point at which withholding support tips over into public opposition?
The recent spate of articles on the AFL-CIO's election plans really don't answer such questions in any decisive way. There are reasons to be a little cagey, of course, including not wanting to telegraph your moves too clearly to enemies as well as the fact that the AFL-CIO, as a federation of more than 50 unions of different sizes, types of work, and political approaches, has a pretty complex internal calculus to deal with. But for now, reporting on this subject is raising more questions than it's answering.
