Democrats Get Into a Big Mess With The Unions and Send Dean to The Rescue

The Democrats have decided on Denver for their convention, which has angered some of the unions usually involved in political conventions. Colorado is an unfriendly state to unions, and last month the Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed a bill making it easier to set up all-union workplaces. The Democrats really want this convention to go off looking good so Howard Dean is trying to negotiate some kind of settlement for the unions. If he doesn’t straighten this mess out the unions are promising picket lines. Teamsters President James Hoffa even threatened to “blow up” Denver with pickets and protests. The venue they are using, the Pepsi Center, is a non-union building. Dean is working on a deal to staff the Pepsi Center with union members, but the deal has yet to be sealed. What makes matters worse is the Republicans have chosen Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota which is a very union friendly place. Minnesota has more than twice the number of union members than Colorado. I know the Democrats didn’t cause this problem. Governor Ritter vetoed the bill two weeks after the Democrats picked Denver. That is what stirred most of this mess up, but Denver is not the most union friendly town in the first place. If Dean can negotiate the deals to get the unions involved in the political convention it will show the Democrats try to walk the talk. It will also assure them major endorsements from union leaders.
Alan Cosgrove