Unions Still Hold Appeal for Democrats

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a town hall meeting, Monday, June 18, 2007, in Newton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall - AP)

WASHINGTON -- They can be found rallying union workers, walking picket lines or helping sign up new members. Democrats running for president are after something else this time of year: the endorsements of the oh-so-important labor unions.

When organized labor calls, the Democratic candidates are there.

"You take politics seriously," Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton told the green-shirted American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union at a candidates forum Tuesday morning. "You understand that we have to organize in order to change the direction of this country."

Clinton isn't alone in courting labor to get a push in the early primary states.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, begins union speeches with "Solidarity Forever!" Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., relocated an important Chicago fundraiser because it had been booked in a nonunion locale. Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., wrote letters urging R.J. Reynolds Co. employees in his state to unionize.

"We think that it's really important for candidates not only to talk the right talk but actually walk the right talk," said Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, which has nearly 2 million members nationwide and a large membership in the early voting states of Iowa and Nevada.

More than for any other interest groups, Democratic candidates line up to participate in union presidential forums, like the AFSCME one on Tuesday, or the 10-million member AFL-CIO's candidate forums, in which candidates speak in town hall-style formats in different cities, to curry favor.

Unions place a high value on that face time.

"If someone says, 'I don't care enough about your organization to come and talk to you,' that might knock them out," said Edward J. McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, whose executive council held private interviews with five of the Democratic candidates in May and plans to do more in July.

National Education Association President Reg Weaver points out even today that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry didn't come to their representative assembly. Kerry had a good reason, though. It was the same day he announced that Edwards would be his running mate, Weaver said.

Still, it "really, really did not sit well with people," said Weaver, who expects six or seven candidates to show up at the meeting in Philadelphia the first week in July.

Despite their shrinking numbers, union support is still vital for Democrats.