On Jan 30, 2012, at 1:21 PM, Billy O'Connor wrote:
> Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Why would AFL-CIO engage in all that on
>> behalf of the USG? What is their payback?
>
> Cashy money.
Not just that. It's what's expected of junior partners. It assures that invitations to the White House will be forthcoming. And there's ideological affinity too. I recall a WSJ article from the late 1980s or early 1990s, during some serious labor unrest in S Korea, that quoted an AFL-CIO advisor on the scene as saying, "The problem with Korean unions is that they don't know how to control their rank and file." The AFL-CIO (remember when George H.W. slipped and said AFL-CIA?) has always been anti-communist, and you don't need to have communists around to be anti-communist.
Doug