This week the Teamsters, the Service Employees International, and two other disaffected unions began to split from the AFL-CIO, saying too much dues money (and staff labor) had been spent helping to elect Democrats, and too little on grass-roots organizing. According to the AP, the move spooked Democratic Party leaders, many of whom spoke at this week's AFL-CIO convention, where they nevertheless asserted to the remaining AFL-CIO stalwarts that all was well.
The AP reports, however, that the Teamsters and the Service Workers alone account for more tan $20 million of an estimated $120 million AFL-CIO budget, and that "much of the money goes to Democratic candidates and to political operations that benefit the Democratic Party." As Teamsters leader James Hoffa complained, "Their idea is to keep throwing money at politicians."
During the 2004 election, the lion's share of funds collected by the Human Rights Campaign, and most of its staff time, was spent on behalf of Democratic candidates rather than in organizing grass-roots efforts to fight state anti-gay initiatives (some of which were supported by the very candidates HRC was financially backing). On Nov. 2, anti-gay marriage bans bulldozed to victory in all 11 states that voted on them. Amendments banning same-sex marriage were passed earlier last year in two other states. 13 defeats by wide margins; no ballot victories.
Maybe more donors should take a cue from what happened this week
to the AFL-CIO.