A Powerful Union May Be Hedging Its Bets in Albany

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Source: NY Times

ALBANY — No group has been more loyal or financially helpful to state Republicans than the powerful hospital workers’ union, 1199 S.E.I.U. United Healthcare Workers East.

In recent years, the union, which was once a favorite of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has struck an unlikely but fruitful alliance with the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, pouring millions of dollars into the Senate Republican war chest to help the party retain its control.

In turn, Mr. Bruno has defended 1199 against cuts sought by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat.

But recent campaign finance filings raise an intriguing question: Is the politically astute union now quietly hedging its bets?

In recent weeks, 1199 has been shoveling money into the Working Families Party, a labor-backed organization that has been mobilizing support for the Democratic candidate in a crucial State Senate special election in upstate New York on Tuesday. At the same time, the union has not contributed to the central campaign account maintained by Mr. Bruno’s Senate Republican operation in about six months.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/nyregion/23union.html?ref=nyregion