UFT, Other Union Leaders Threaten Working Families Party Over Cuomo Endorsement

You knew the union leaders wouldn't allow for Working Families Party to endorse anybody over Sheriff Andy Cuomo.

With the WFP convention this weekend and many rank-and-file calling for the party to endorse Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout over Andrew Cuomo, the union leaders made their move today and threatened the party with dissolution:

When Working Families Party state committee members gather at their convention tomorrow, far more than the endorsement for governor will be at stake.

The very future of the labor-backed party will be on the line, and according to one labor source, the damage done by the disagreement over whether or not to back Gov. Andrew Cuomo again may very well be irreparable.

“Regardless of what happens now, the way the party has conducted itself has done lasting damage to relationships with key (union) affiliates,” the source said. “It’s unclear if the party will ever be the same.”

Union leaders were burning up the phone lines this morning, discussing whether the time had finally come to pull their support of the party they helped create and have financially sustained since 1998.

According to another labor source involved in these talks, a number of the largest and most significant unions – including 1199 SEIU, HTC, the laborers, RWDSU, and the UFT – were prepared to call it quits with the WFP, knowing that their withdrawal could very well lead to the party’s “collapse.”

The Teamsters and TWU were also involved in these discussions, which were far enough along to warrant talk of drafting of a joint statement, although one was never actually released.

Just another example of union leadership looking to negotiate the terms of exploitation with the powers that be.

I'm surprised by none of this - these union leaders are all crooks and corporate cronies, and while they sometimes talk a good game for their members, mostly they care about maintaining their own power and privilege.

That means doing business with corporatists like Andrew M. Cuomo no matter the cost for the working people of New York State.