Really Laboring To Beat Bush
The nation's largest union will shell out $65 million to campaign against the reelection of President George Bush. On June 23, the 1.6 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced at its annual convention that $40 million will go to pay for 2,000 union members to work full-time as political organizers until November. Thousands of union members volunteer in every national political election -- the SEIU expects 50,000 members will do so by the fall -- but most do it nights and weekends and only take off a few days or a week right before the vote.
The rest of the money will go to more traditional activities, such as registering members to vote and educating them about campaign issues. The union's anti-Bush war chest is a huge sum, given that the AFL-CIO will spend only $44 million. SEIU President Andy Stern's ambitious plan will give a big boost to likely Democratic nominee John Kerry, whom the union endorsed -- but only after first supporting former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. "We're going to build the strongest grassroots political voice in North America," Stern told his members. Well, if money talks...
(Business Week, July 12, 2004)