Democrats want open borders because their future electoral prospects depend on the massive demographic changes caused by mass immigration from third world countries. To their dismay, the #SchumerShutdown fight has whined because the public doesn’t want more immigration. This path to increasing their voter base is closing in on them.
Democrats are ignoring another dwindling base of support for their grievance: organized labor. For decades, unions have provided victory. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer won the Senate election because unions believed he crushed his Republican opponent in 1998. Unfortunately, Despite two major options for long-term pro-worker reforms, unions have found that Democrats are taking them for grantedNow support for unions is fading away.
Why is the Democratic Party losing its once devoted political allies?
First, rank-and-file members despised Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s opposition to mining and manufacturing while pursuing progressive social goals like flooding the market with economical labor and putting the environment ahead of the economy. Forbes collaborator Matt Patterson, who has described forced unionization across the country, he explained, “Their union leaders gave their dues to Democratic politicians who passed TPP, NAFTA, and other job-killing legislation. The union leaders did them no favors.” The union leaders became another out-of-touch elite, and workers woke up.
More importantly, Democrats are losing huge unions as unions lose power, staff, and influence. Once an necessary part of ensuring fairness and safety in the workplace, they are now an age-old oddity out of sync with the creative sharing economy. They have struggled to codify their agenda into federal law and have ironically deepened their irrelevance. Right-to-work and collective bargaining reforms have accelerated their demise, often under the radar of the national media. In addition to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s two-pronged attack on forced unionization and dues, which has attracted legendary and infamous supporters, Indiana and Michigan have followed suit. Illinois, Kentucky, and West Virginia have enacted reforms soon after.
Democrats should pay attention to this, especially before the 2016 election. Details about the nation how Democratic voter turnout fell an average of 3.5% after right-to-work legislation was passed in key Rust Belt states. Not only Hillary Clinton’s epic unpopularity, but the massive drop in union membership hindered Democratic voter turnout and gave Donald the edge he needed to win.
After the 2016 election, other collective bargaining reforms should have worried Democrats nationally, but those moves have failed to grab their attention either. The GOP-controlled Iowa state legislature has passed sweeping collective bargaining reforms.as are Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 reforms. Iowa is already a right-to-work state, but the burden of public-sector unions on taxpayers required more stringent legal measures, which were passed broadly. In Maine, Outgoing Gov. Paul LePage has worked out a fresh contract with the state’s largest workers’ union. Maine public employees agreed to a 6 percent pay raise in exchange for a comprehensive right-to-work provision in their fresh contract, an unprecedented move that helped the governor achieve something like a right-to-work initiative at home in the Democratic-leaning state.
What about other deep blue states? Can Democrats rely on their union allies to stay in power? Patterson criticized the idea, noting that Kentucky as a state went straight to work after 12 counties passed their own local laws. “State legislators who wouldn’t have voted for this in the past had a safety net because the program was working in their districts, so they voted for right-to-work,” Patterson said.
Sussex County, Delaware, flirted with reform, but threats from organized labor killed the proposal. That defeat did not discourage the town of Seaford from leaving moving forward with its own ordinance. Empty manufacturing centers are coming back to life in southern Delaware. Sandoval County, New Mexico just passed a right-to-work law. What about future legal challenges to local right-to-work ordinances? Those challenges have fallen through. Patterson shared, “The unions haven’t learned anything. They’re using the same arguments they used 40 years ago.” Now other blue states join the RTW column.
Declining unions mean less money for Democrats. Their fundraising has fallen since Trump’s inauguration. One wonders whether DNC Chairman Tom Perez wants to keep his job! What about red states without right-to-work laws? Ohio Gov. John Kasich tried to pass Walker’s reforms in 2011, but organized labor overturned those efforts with the initiative. This year, Republicans in Columbus have renewed their right-to-work efforts, but voters can decide this issue In 2020, Pennsylvania will return to the issue after the 2018 election if state Sen. Scott Wagner defeats liberal Gov. Tom Wolf.
Democrats have failed to stem Big Labor’s challenges at the federal level. President Trump has appointed a pro-worker, right-to-work majority to the National Labor Relations Board. Renewed interest in a national right-to-work law has encouraged lawmakers, including libertarian Republican Rand Paul, to introduce their own bills. The Democratic minority has failed to resist that pressure.
Following the favorable ruling in Janus v. AFSCMEfederal legislation would be irrelevant. In Janusz, An Illinois health care worker challenged the right of a local union (which he did not join) to withhold agency fees. If the Supreme Court invalidates such legalized theft, the ruling would establish a de facto right-to-work law among public-sector unions (imagine the Walker 10 reforms enacted nationally). States would still need right-to-work laws for private-sector unions, but Janusz would set a precedent.
Democratic candidates have tried to discourage right-to-work proposals, but workers are already enjoying the benefits of reform, freeing themselves from forced membership and dues. Moreover, pro-worker policies have forced unions to serve their members rather than themselves and their quest for crude but elitist political power.
In general, unions that cannot compel membership and dues for employment will lose their coercive revenue stream, which has benefited Democratic politicians for decades by reducing their numbers and political competitiveness. The Democratic Party’s fight to augment immigration continues, but Big Labor’s days as a DNC cash cow are numbered. The demise of Big Labor could ensure (as Grover Norquist has stated) that “the modern Democratic Party will cease to be a competitive force in American politics.”
Actually.
