Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley Impress Labor Leaders

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

10 August 15

 

he Iowa Federation of Labor, the Hawkeye state’s leading labor coalition, held their annual presidential forum last week. Four of the five Democratic Party candidates participated, with Hillary Clinton unable to attend because of fundraisers already scheduled in California. Senator Bernie Sanders also was not able to attend in person, but he participated from Washington and received the most enthusiastic response from the hundreds of Iowa labor leaders who participated.

The format of the event included three-minute opening statements followed by eight questions from a panel of four labor leaders that included the president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka. Each candidate then gave a 10-minute closing statement. The candidates appeared one at a time in the order decided by a random draw. Each candidate was asked the same eight questions.

Lincoln Chafee

The first candidate introduced was former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee. Chafee, who was a Republican senator before being an Independent governor, seemed out of place. Richard Trumka praised his honesty, but clearly Chafee won’t be getting many if any endorsements from organized labor. Chafee missed the mark on both questions from Trumka. On the minimum wage, Chafee believes different communities should have different minimum wage levels based on the cost of living. On trade, Chafee awkwardly said he would support the TPP only because he doesn’t like to be a flip-flopper. Since he supported CAFTA he must be for the TPP. Huh?

The peacenik in me likes his focus on ending war, but I have not once seen Lincoln Chafee make a coherent case for why he is running for president.

 

Martin O’Malley

Martin O’Malley faired much better than Chaffee. O’Malley was quick to support raising the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour and opposed the TPP. He also showed a grasp of issues important to labor, unlike Chaffee, who didn’t seem to understand a couple of the questions. O’Malley has always reminded me of an old school labor candidate in the mold of Dick Gephardt. Trumka thanked O’Malley for his years of service to working people. He delivered a forceful speech that included programs that would create jobs, like transitioning the country to renewable, sustainable energy. In any other election cycle, O’Malley would be the type of candidate labor would back, but this time he has to overcome a longtime champion of labor issues, Bernie Sanders.

 

Jim Webb

Jim Webb was more comfortable addressing the union leaders than Chafee but his positions were not as strong as those of Sanders or O’Malley. Webb shared Chafee’s position on the minimum wage. Hillary Clinton has also said that $15 dollars an hour might not be appropriate everywhere. I would love to ask Webb, Chafee, and Hillary Clinton where they could raise their family on less than $15 an hour. Webb was better on the TPP; he wants the process delayed because of a lack of transparency. I again didn’t see much fire in the belly of Webb, but at least he has a coherent argument for why he should be president, something lacking from Lincoln Chafee.

 

Bernie Sanders

The room had three large-screen TV’s and since Bernie Sanders thought there might have been votes in Washington, he was streamed in. The crowd rose to its feet and cheered when Bernie was announced. Of all the candidates, Bernie and the panelists seemed to be old friends. Bernie called Richard Trumka “Rich” and Trumka called Bernie “Bern” and thanked him for being a warrior for working people his whole career. The panelists joked a few times that they were asking tough questions for Bernie, when in fact if Bernie had just given his stump speech he would have answered all eight questions. In fact in Bernie’s answer to the first question, he answered the second question as well. The crowd loved Bernie’s response to the panel and his closing statement. Bernie showed a deeper understanding of the issues important to labor than any of the other candidates. It was very clear that he has championed the issues of working people his whole career.

Following the event I spoke with Richard Trumka, who told me he thought it was conceivable that the National AFL-CIO would endorse a candidate before the primaries begin. Trumka wished that Hillary Clinton had attended, but did not rule out that she could get the endorsement. However, he said it would be difficult if she didn’t come out against the TPP and in support of $15 dollars an hour. When I pressed Trumka on her positions on the TPP and the minimum wage, he refused to say they would be a deal breaker. He said it was unfair to ask him the question because the decision is not his, that rank and file union members would be polled before any endorsement.

The million-dollar question is will labor stay on the fence to avoid losing a seat at the table with the eventual nominee, or will they take a stand and support the candidate who would make the president for labor? In 1992 labor stayed on the fence until Bill Clinton wrapped up the nomination. If you remember, we got NAFTA after that Clinton’s election. I think it would be smart for unions to help put a candidate over the top who will be a “warrior” for workers rather than worry about maintaining relations with a candidate who will give us the TPP.

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Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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