Politico: Many Unions Tell Dems No On Convention Cash

Good for them:

The Democrats are hitting up unions — their go-to cash cows — for last-minute donations to help pay for next month’s convention in Charlotte.

The response from some big unions? Tough.

Union leaders insisted from the start that they wouldn’t help fill the piggy bank for this year’s Democratic National Convention after the party picked a labor-hostile location and at the same time made fundraising tougher by banning corporate contributions and capping individual donations. And with the event less than a month away, they’re sticking to their guns.

Labor unions aren’t slated to sponsor any official convention events, according to a recent convention itinerary obtained by POLITICO. Unions are also refusing to put up the money to back get-out-the-vote efforts they’ve funded in the past.

Heavy hitters like the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers’ International Union of North America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers say they won’t be making big money contributions this year.

Other unions are toning down their convention involvement with many opting to send a few staffers to engage with union delegates. And some, like the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, have said they are sitting out entirely.

“[T]here was a general disappointment in the selection because of the non-union hotels, the non-union accommodations in North Carolina,” said Chuck Rocha, president of the union consulting firm Solidarity Strategies and former political director of the United Steelworkers union.

You can bet that if unions starve the cash-begging Dems this time around, they won't be taken for granted next time around.

This is still a lesson the AFT and the NEA have yet to learn.

That's why the NEA said yes to the anti-union Dems and gave $1.2 million for this convention.

What a disgrace.

Oh Mr. Obama, do you want our endorsement three years out and our hard earned cash for your convention, even though you've pushed a pro-privatization, pro-charter, pro-testing agenda that hurts our members and you're holding your convention in a right-to-work state that pisses on unionized workers?

Please please please can we give you cash as you abuse us!

Ugh.

But many of the other unions have learned their lesson - you abandon us, we abandon you:

One Democratic lobbyist said the reason unions aren’t reacting to the arm twisting is that the Democratic National Committee and the Obama administration haven’t laid the foundation for a good relationship.

“One of the greatest frustrations with this administration is how they treat members and everyone else. It’s sort of this attitude that they’ll come because they are Democrats,” the lobbyist said.

Indeed.

Now if only the co-dependents running the teachers unions could learn this lesson.