This is kind of sad:

In the wake of criticism that Obama and the administration haven't done much for labor, a defender of Obama (in a Huffington Post comment) pointed proudly to this: (emp add)

SEIU Chief: Obama ‘Has Stepped Up’ in State Labor Fights

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports:

With organized labor under attack in the states, the president of the Service Employees International Union today praised President Obama’s role in the fight, saying the administration “has stepped up” to offer the full weight of their support.

“Our members in Wisconsin and Ohio were incredibly proud when the president spoke out about the real agenda in Wisconsin and Ohio being about eliminating workers' voice and busting unions,” SEIU President Mary Kay Henry told us on ABC’s “Top Line” today.

“And that was a huge step forward. We then saw the Secretary of Labor issue a statement and then an op-ed and then do a speech that said union is in her family -- that we have to have a way to solve problems at the collective bargaining table.”

“So we think the administration has stepped up in this moment. And that it's up to us, the people all across this country, to hold our government accountable and get the private sector to reinvest in America.”

The state-level pushes to reduce the clout of organizing labor, she said, could have the opposite effect, with labor leaders hopeful that it will be easier for them to mobilize for political purposes moving forward.

“It allows for us to stand with all working people in this country,” Henry said. “It has allowed the American labor movement to join hands with the Sierra Club, with the high school students, with the college students, and say we want to be able to have a future in this country where I kids can do better than we have.”

That's not a whole hell of a lot of support. The president and secretary of labor make a few remarks, but that "it's up to us" to fix the problem. And the part about joining hands with high school students shows that the spokeswoman is trying to make the best of a very bad situation. (NOTE: The ABC story is dated March 8, before the Wisconsin legislature dropped the bomb on labor.)


posted by Quiddity at 3/15/2011 01:51:00 AM