Meanwhile, at the Hennepin Co. office...

After a 3-day weekend in which workers' complaints were received and systematically ignored, tomorrow might be the most uncomfortable Tuesday morning in Hennepin County courthouse history.

In spite of Local 2938's objections, the AFSCME Council 5 once again endorsed Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar. Local 2938, which represents about half of the 400 employees in the Hennepin County attorney's office (including investigators and 112 non-management lawyers), was similarly snubbed four years ago when it asked Council 14 to withhold the endorsement from Klobuchar.

These recent events center on two of my favorite subjects - Democrats and unions - and more specifically why these two subjects have drawn ire and become less effective over the last two decades.

I believe that this slow downfall is mainly brought on by a disconnect and unresponsiveness between the organizations and the very people they attempt to serve. In short, they're no longer populist.

Some of this simply bad education and poor public relation efforts. Ironically, neo-conservatives have expertly misinformed and been responsive to the demographic groups liberals espouse to help. This is why you'll often hear party hacks moan, "why do people vote against their own best interests?" They're voting for the people who speak to them, not those who try to speak for them.

At the center of this is the political hack or organizer. Often the same person will bounce between working for unions and then Party, bringing with them their peculiar allegiances. This insider track leads to a cycle of endorsement recommendations for candidates who play ball with the party and candidates getting insider knowledge to get endorsements. But often left out of this loop is the membership. This is by no-way all encompassing, and the overwhelming majority of organizers want to see people enjoy a higher quality of life, but denial can't hide that it happens.

Having said all that, let's go to the dueling AFSCME letters, articles and some other statements made in the last 2 days. Then I'll give my final prognosis.

• However, [Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5] said, there are larger issues in a U.S. Senate race than any employer-employee relationship. - "Klobuchar's work with staff is focus of a union battle," by Patricia Lopez, Star Tribune February 19, 2006.

While this statement is arguably true, unions were founded on employer-employee relationships. As unions stray further away from representing the opinions of those employees who pay membership dues it shouldn't be shocking that fewer and fewer people join unions or organize. Reiterating my earlier point; unresponsive to those they serve.

• "With this settlement, Mr. Appleby has no reason to write such a mean-spirited and angry letter." Letter from Paul Scoggin Managing Attorney, Violent Crimes Division Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to AFSCME Council 5 President Michael Buseing.
• "But it seems to me that the letter is little more than politically motivated complaints of an employee who got a 15% pay raise instead of 22%." "BREAKING: AFSCME Endorses Klobuchar," Matt, MN Publius February 19, 2006 01:32 PM.
• "Clearly, Klobuchar deserves the AFSCME endorsement she received today despite the petty grudge of one employee that received a 15% wage increase instead of 22%." Ibid.

These statements are perhaps the most damaging, anti-union words I've heard not coming from the mouths of corporate public relations people. For years anti-labor proponents have focused on the idea that unions only care about money and thus eventually drive companies out of business. The spin on this subject is apparently complete, as two supposedly pro-labor sources destroy the unions from within by reinforcing the idea that the complaint is only motivated by financial greed. But the sources are dubious at best if not duplicitous:

1. This is pure speculation as I cannot ascertain if Mr. Scoggin is a union member of the Local, but as a Managing Attorney he could be in his position because Klobuchar's, "priority has been to choose candidates who support her ambitions."* Both Scoggin and Pete Cahill, Klobuchar's chief deputy attorney, would both seem to fall under this statement which would explain their Klobuchar-apologist quotes in Lopez's article. *Local 2938 President James Appleby on behalf of the Executive Board of Local 2938
2. MN Publius continually states that the letter is from one disgruntled employee, rather than the President of the county employees' Local, on behalf of the executive committee, responding to the concerns of their members. That's a lot more than one person! But MN Publius has consistently shown themselves to be the media arm of the Klobuchar campaign (like FOX is for the Republican Party), so they're just doing their job.
3. If the letter is only about the last pay-raise dispute, then why did the local oppose Klobuchar's endorsement 4 years ago? Maybe it actually has something to do with the next point...

• "only 'a couple of grievances a year' had made it to [Cahill's] level during the five years he had been Klobuchar's chief deputy." Lopez, Star Tribune, February 19, 2006.
• "If this had been about serious grievances one would expect there to have been some record of increased registered complaints in the office or a wider range of complaints levied against Klobuchar, but neither of these occurred." Matt, MN Publius, February 19, 2006 01:32 PM.
  

The second point above is so blatantly false it's staggering, but its inclusion is there only to solidify the earlier statement that MN Publius is shilling for Klobuchar's campaign.

Working conditions are overwhelming why unions were originally forged, despite resistance and bloodshed, in the early years of the 20th Century. And while no one at the county office is in danger of losing an arm (we hope) addressing complaints is the main reason people do choose to organize. So only "a couple" get to Cahill in a year? That is still more than the one grievance former County Attorney Mike Freeman had "during his 8 years as county attorney starting in 1991."*Lopez

In fact... let's see... 8 times 2 (couple)... 1 divided by 8 (years) ... if my math is correct that's 2 reported incidents a year versus .125 per year under the previous boss - a 1600% increase. And remember, these are only the complaints that got to Cahill's desk. This does not address what the letter, on behalf of the Local, says involved "informal disciplinary matters in which the union was asked to intervene on the employee’s behalf." Also...

1. Scoggin's letter does not address the grievances.
2. Seide said the council has met with members of Local 2938 and hopes to resolve any issues. "These attorneys have legitimate issues with their boss and we are working with the County Attorney to resolve them," he said. Asked if that was the case, Appleby said, "I sure hope so." "State AFSCME endorses Klobuchar in Senate race," Janet Moore, Star Tribune, February 20, 2006.
   

I sure hope so? Met with members? Obviously the council is not letting the elected Local 2938 representatives in on the proceedings. Kind of reminds me of President Bush saying he's meeting with members of congress on wiretapping concerns, but not with the ranking Democratic committee members... you know, the ones filing the complaints.

So wrapping it up, tomorrow should be uncomfortable at the county courthouse. The Republicans have laughabley issued a challenge for Klobuchar to "come clean about her 'Hostile Work Environment'." Sure thing, right after the President can think of any mistakes he's made while in office. Hopefully this would all be handled internally, but with Klobuchar out the door I don't see labor standards improving until the next County Attorney is sworn in. The Local 2938 members can breath a sigh of relief though, because win, lose or draw in the primary Klobuchar won't be the boss anymore.

Prognosis Boring - Members grumble and stay home during caucuses and primaries, wait for things to get better.
Prognosis Extreme - In retaliation toward being blown off a second strait time, Local members vote to reorganize, leaving Council 5, and work against Klobuchar every step of the way.
Prognosis Ludicrous - After the laborer uprising is put down, the survivors attend mandatory (and unpaid) re-education seminars - which will be on the schedule until moral improves.
Prognosis Progressive - AFSCME Council 5 internally withholds endorsement until, using its endorsement clout, the first steps toward improving conditions are taken.

Tags: Amy Klobuchar, Ford Bell, MN Senate 2006