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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDonald Trump’s Working-Class Appeal Is Starting To Freak Out Labor Unions
Over the course of five weeks, Working America, the non-union affiliate of the AFL-CIO labor federation, did extensive canvassing in union-dense, blue-collar areas of Pittsburgh and Cleveland. They called it a front porch focus group. The idea was simply to listen to let likely 2016 voters sound off about their thoughts and concerns headed into the presidential election.
noWhat they discovered, among other things, was a lot of support for Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner. For months, this enthusiastic backing of the obnoxious billionaire had generally baffled the chattering class not to mention the GOP and Democratic establishment. But to Working America canvassers, it made plenty of sense.
We hear the same refrains all the time, said Karen Nussbaum, executive director of Working America, which has high membership in the Rust Belt. That people are fed up and theyre hurting. That their families have not recovered from the recession. That every family is harboring someone still not back at work. That someone is paying rent for their brother-in-law.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-working-class-unions_us_56ead51fe4b03a640a69c58d
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)LiberalArkie
(15,686 posts)then a lot of those Trump supporters would have been Bernie supporters.
PeteSelman
(1,508 posts)I try to explain that Drumpf is an anti-labor scab but they love his America First and racist, xenophobic rhetoric.
It's not like the Clintons are friends of labor either.
Bernie was our last, best hope.
ananda
(28,781 posts)The only one even interested in making their lives
better is Sanders.
dogman
(6,073 posts)They think all they need is the Union leadership. Unions are pretty much like the two parties, leadership is the establishment and the rules favor the incumbents.
hollowdweller
(4,229 posts)I'm retired now. 30+ year history of AFSCME member.
In my opinion the unions give their votes to the democrats without asking anything in return.
For instance we had one GOP governor who gave us an unprecedented 3 year raise. I mean he gave us as much in 4 years as the last 4 democratic governors had given us together. When he came up for re election they supported the democrat even though in 4 years he gave us NOTHING and raised our insurance contributions.
There are a LOT of union members and working class people who will NEVER vote democrat because of gun issue, and brainwashing. Then there are others whose experience is like mine....unions supported dems and dems sold them out to NAFTA, or big companies, or just didn't get them SHIT for their montly dues even though that dues gets to be a larger % age of their check the more their salaries stagnate and the more they have to pay for benefits.
When I see an issue affecting state employees in the paper here, do you know how many times I get an email in the mail from my union telling me to do something about it? NEVER. Do you know how many times I see the union quoted in the article opposing it? Maybe 5%.
A LOT of those people have given up supporting dems, and if a GOP comes along that will actually address trade and the screwing of the US worker they will give them a try.
I really worry without specific proposals and with a history of being a free trader that Hillary may lose votes to Trump over it. I KNOW she will around here because people will vote for somebody who SAYS they will protect their jobs w/o "taking their guns" I think Trump will sweep the rust belt.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)We bet wrong.
I doubt that Trump will win, but we are going to lose downticket.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)hollowdweller
(4,229 posts)Broward
(1,976 posts)Newkularblue
(130 posts)edhopper
(33,176 posts)have been voting against their own interest since Nixon. And racism is a big part of that.
pampango
(24,692 posts)I'll give you scapegoats. You want solutions to problems? You're looking at the wrong guy. Trump is the 21st century version Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. Let's be kind and say that unions and the middle class did not fare very well under that decade of republican rule.
People in progressive countries may not fear foreigners, immigration and trade but RW demagogues make a living off that fear.