I would much prefer Ted Cruz as our next President but Donald is unsettling all the right people. From Huffington Post:
Donald Trump’s Working-Class Appeal Is Starting To Freak Out Labor Unions
Over the course of five weeks, Working America, the non-union affiliate of the AFL-CIO labor federation, did extensive canvassing in union-dense, blue-collar areas of Pittsburgh and Cleveland. They called it a “front porch focus group.” The idea was simply to listen — to let likely 2016 voters sound off about their thoughts and concerns headed into the presidential election.
What they discovered, among other things, was a lot of support for Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner. For months, this enthusiastic backing of the obnoxious billionaire had generally baffled the chattering class — not to mention the GOP and Democratic establishment. But to Working America canvassers, it made plenty of sense.
And of course, all the usual characters are acting up:
High-ranking labor officials are becoming increasingly outspoken in their warnings about the Republican front-runner. Earlier this week, Terry O’Sullivan, head of the powerful Laborers’ International Union of North America, attacked Trump as a “racist, sexist, prejudiced billionaire bully.” The members of O’Sullivan’s union tend to work in construction, the sort of demographic for which Trump’s economic message can resonate.
At an AFL-CIO executive council meeting last month, officials vowed to start digging in more aggressively on the records of the Republican field — and Trump in particular. The federation has since launched a digital ad campaign, while its president, Richard Trumka, has traveled across the country to deliver speeches in union halls and talk individually to union members. He has called Trump an anti-American “bigot” who’s full of “baloney and bluster.”
The Union hierarchy is afraid of losing its power - they collect dues from the workers and use this money to campaign for specific (progressive) candidates who, when elected, cut the unions sweetheart deals on taxes and overlook such illegalities as engaging in political activity (those pesky Federal Statutes again). They very much had their place in American history but they have failed to adapt to modern times and are now dinosaurs serving no other purpose except to keep their officers wealthy and politically powerful.
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