Division in the union ranks: Union members unhappy DNC held in right-to-work state North Carolina

Looks like Obama’s got some union problems:

SEATTLE TIMES — Unions and Democrats go together like bread and butter, right? The Democratic Party and unions have had a reciprocal relationship for years: Unions provide the party with both financial and political support, while the party supports them in national legislation.

But the choice of holding the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina — a right-to-work state that does not allow employees to collectively bargain — has ruffled some feathers among unions in North Carolina and around the country. Unions like the AFL-CIO have curtailed their involvement this year, and the United Mine Workers, a strong supporter of Barack Obama in 2008, are still deciding whether to officially endorse him this time around.

Chris Cecil, a shop steward with Teamsters Local 391 in Greensboro, NC, is dissatisfied with the convention location and Obama in general.

“Just look at where he’s giving his acceptance speech,” he said as he hands out leaflets to passersby: “Bank of America Stadium.” …

Cecil, a lifelong Democrat, campaigned for Obama in 2008.

“I remember how elated people were, and thinking things were going to change,” he said. “And really and truly, things haven’t changed. When Obama was on the campaign trail in 2008, he said that he would walk the picket lines with labor and we haven’t seen it. He’s unwilling to stand with us.”

Tensions among unions that officially endorse Obama at the DNC and other workers’ rights groups ran high at the Labor Day march in Charlotte yesterday morning. The march ended at Frazier Park, where Occupy Charlotte was camping out. While members of SEIU were chanting pro-Obama slogans, Occupy protestors shouted anti-Obama slogans, until some SEIU members decided to leave the rally.


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