Big Business vs. Not So Big Labor

marjorie says...

Here are the top donors for each party in the California governor's race, reprinted from the San Francisco Chronical:

Schwarzenegger (R) total: $113.4 million.
Top donors:

• Alex Spanos, Stockton developer and San Diego Chargers owner, $2.5 million
• William Robinson, founder of DLH courier service, $2.4 million.
• Jerry Perenchio, owner of the Univision television network, $2.3 million.
• Henry Nicholas, president, NS Holdings LLC, $1.5 million.
• Ameriquest Capital Corp., $1.2 million.
• California Republican Party, $1 million.
• B. Wayne Hughes, chairman of Public Storage Inc., $1 million.
• Lawrence K. Dodge, chief executive officer, American Sterling Corp., $965,900.
• New Majority Political Action Committee, a moderate Republican group composed largely of businesses and business executives, $869,600.
• T. Gary Rogers, chief executive officer of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, $579,600.

Angelides (D) total: $32.9 million.
Top donors:

• Democratic State Central Committee, $1.8 million.
• Laborers union, various locals: $334,900.
• United Food and Commercial Workers, various locals, $311,500.
• Hollywood producer Stephen Bing, $311,200.
• Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, $283,000.
• Service Employees International Union, various locals, $256,000.
• Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters, various locals, $206,800.
• Sheet Metal Workers, various locals, $154,900.
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, various locals, $130,600.
• Carpenters union, various locals, $94,600.

(Tsakopoulos also made $6.1 million in independent expenditures to support Angelides' campaign for governor this year.)

I find these lists interesting for a couple of reasons. The obvious one is how well they show the money difference between Republicans and Democrats. Nothing new there. But they also bluntly show how little unions give *compared* to big business...and why Republican rhetoric about "Big Labor" is, frankly, a bunch of BS. When Republican politicos try to change the rules to limit union political campaign contributions, we should remember a couple of things:

1. Labor unions almost always give to Democrats. Why? Because as ridiculous as I feel while saying this, it's the Democrats who will support pro-worker legislation by and large...such as minimum wage increases, health coverage expansion, safety regulations on the worksites...etc. All you had to do was follow the minimum wage debate in Albuquerque and then statewide last year to realize this.
   
2. The Republicans are beholden to Big Business much more than Democrats, simply because Democrats are also beholden to labor. Sure, Democrats get plenty from Big Business, but if this list shows us anything...its that the Republicans are tucked the most in the business pocket. It's in their best interest for Republicans to oppose labor because that's what their corporate sponsors want.
   

The declining numbers of unionized workers in this country result from a complicated set of factors, the biggest of which is the simple elimination of our manufacturing base. It's a big problem for the future of the working classes, in my mind. Organized labor, as problematic as it may be, has always been a strong advocate for the rights of workers as a whole. If organized labor ceases to exist...who will hold the line against the inevitable rolling back of benefits, wage levels, and rights that we all take for granted today? For a serious answer to that question, you probably don't want to ask the Republican party...which is almost entirely on board with the Big Business objective to eliminate organized labor.