A Fight Worth Having

Labourstart has a story up from the Chicago Tribune. The story is about how the Democratic nominee for governor isn't getting the kind of support from unions that she should at this point due to in fighting. I get it. SEIU backed her (Thompson) and the UAW backed her opponent...Thompson won. Either support her or get the kind of crap you've gotten out of Daniels, like the loss of collective bargaining rights for public sector employees in Indiana.

After reading the article and feeling that the UAW and the local AFL-CIO just don't get it, I found this little ditty tucked into the end of the story:

Daniels, meanwhile, has garnered some union support of his own, including individual leaders in various building trades, the Professional Firefighters Union of Indiana and the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police.

Cam Savage, spokesman for Daniels' campaign, said the biggest reason behind their union success is that people see Daniels is creating jobs.

"There is plenty of room in this movement for anyone who wants Indiana to get on track and succeed," Savage said.

The unions that would get the most out of collective bargaining, Police and Firefighters are supporting a Republican, again. Reminds me of the fight in 2006 to get Sherrod Brown elected to the Senate in Ohio. The locals and firefighters all over the state were supporting Sherrod, campaigning for him, holding fundraisers, and just getting out and getting the vote out. But the national leadership who'd cultivated a "relationship" with DeWine wanted IAFF to support DeWine, so they did, despite what their membership wanted.

So, I'm curious, are firefighters and police supporting Daniels in this race, or is it their leadership? And if that answer is leadership, then isn't it time to change the leadership? I'm just saying, maybe first responders should take a look at who the union's been supporting lately and think about how that works for and against them.

Oh, and UAW, grow up. Support Thompson now. Pissing contests with SEIU serve no one's agenda, except maybe people like Daniels.