It's high time that union endorsements were decided (or at least ratified) by their members!

[reformist2]

Imagine a union made a labor agreement with management, and just TOLD the rank-and-file that was it?! It would be outrageous. Unthinkable. Against everything the unions stand for. So why do we let these totally un-democratic union endorsements for political candidates go unchallenged?

This latest board-member "we know better than our members" endorsement of Clinton by the NEA is just the latest in a line of increasingly obvious tit-for-tat endorsements, which have only a little to do with the actual merits of the candidate, and pretty much nothing to do with which candidate the members actually want.

Let the union members vote on it.

[MADem]

1. Huh? The members elect representatives to represent them--those people do the voting.

It is highly unlikely that a hundred percent of a union membership will agree on anything, but if the disagreers are one percent, or ten percent, even thirty percent of the membership, then the endorsement is valid.

If union members believe they aren't being properly represented to the national leadershp, they need to choose new representation.

[BlueWaveDem]

2. AKA representative democracy.

[reformist2]

22. There's a group for people who prefer this model - they're called Republicans!

[jwirr]

3. Yes, it is time that the establishment in Unions learn that

we want to run our own world. Enough. Union leadership over riding their members, super-delegates at the convention because the people cannot be trusted to select their own candidate, DWS ignoring DNC members and corporations ruling the world.

Enough. Bernie is right. Enough.

[BlueWaveDem]

4. Union leadership did not override their members.

Do you have any proof of that?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. It's on Facebook, lol./nt

[leftofcool]

6. LOl!

[jwirr]

7. I believe they did not poll the members.

[BlueWaveDem]

8. That's not how it works. Hillary won 82% of the votes on board.

[jwirr]

9. And THAT is my point. We have way to many boards etc.

making our decisions for us.

[BlueWaveDem]

10. They are elected by the members.

[jfern]

11. So you wish we didn't have primaries and just superdelegates?

[BlueWaveDem]

12. The election of officials are the primaries.

And officials go up for reelection.

[jfern]

13. That's not very democratic

I bet you wish we still had the system where state legislators chose the Presidential electors and the Senators.

[NonMetro]

14. Those Who Belong To The Union Should Address That?

But I think the NEA made a good choice. Chances are, Clinton will be out nominee, and president. I'm not nuts about charter schools, either, and the NEA might be shooting itself in the foot. But they wouldn't be better off with a Republican hell bent on destroying all unions!

[wyldwolf]

15. Because you don't like the choice

If Sanders had the endorsement you'd be fine with it.

[William769]

16. BINGO!

[LWolf]

17. The email I got

from Eskelsen García made me smack my monitor. The selective deafness is amazing.

[dsc]

18. Are you willing to write checks to pay for these elections you want them to have?

[PowerToThePeople]

19. My national Union is a pile of shit

that endorsed Clinton. I have not met a single person in my Union who supports her.

Very undemocratic.

All of these endorsements mean zero. Members will not vote based on some directive from above.

[kenn3d]

20. NYT - "Firefighters’ Union Backs Away From Endorsement of Hillary Clinton"

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/us/politics/firefighters-union-backs-away-from-endorsement-of-hillary-clinton.html?_r=0
The International Association of Fire Fighters, one of the country’s more politically powerful unions, has abandoned its initial plans to endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, according to union sources.

Harold A. Schaitberger, the union’s general president, informed Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, in a telephone call on Monday. According to a union official, Mr. Schaitberger told Mr. Mook that the executive board and rank-and-file members — the latter were recently polled — did not support a Clinton endorsement.

[reformist2]

21. Yep. The unions will change their top-down approach, but only when the rank-and-file make some noise