This Time, Labor's Ready.

• Author: Moberg, David
• Position: Republican administration will attempt to weaken labor movement

The last transfer of power from a Democratic to a Republican Administration from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan--precipitated a disaster for the American labor movement. It was a time of widespread union-busting and contract concessions. Now, disappointed as unions are with Bush's victory, they do not expect a replay: Bush is no Reagan, and the labor movement itself has changed a lot since the 1980s.

Republicans will certainly try to weaken the labor movement, both through legislation and administrative actions. Even though his first nominee for Labor Secretary, Linda Chavez, was forced to withdraw, Bush made it clear with his choice of that darling of the radical right that his Administration will be actively unfriendly toward unions. While union strategists think they can beat back most legislative attacks, given Bush's dubious victory and the narrow Republican margin in Congress, they are also determined to go beyond defense and to continue fighting for the same goals as they did under--and at times against--the Clinton Administration.

"We still have to work on the key issues that matter to working Americans," says Communications Workers executive vice president Larry Cohen. "The strategy doesn't change, but the tactics do."

Tactically, with Republicans now in control across the board, labor needs to mobilize its members and the general public to demonstrate, both to Bush and to conservative Democrats hoping to strike a bipartisan compromise, that the popular majority backs labor's "working families agenda," not the proposals of the question-mark President selected by a conservative Supreme Court. Looking at polling data and the majority vote for center-left candidates (Gore and Nader combined), union leaders have good reason to believe that most Americans do support a moderate economic populism--universal and comprehensive health care, better education, higher wages, workers' rights to organize, global economic fairness, campaign finance reform, and tax equity.

Unions also plan to hold Bush to his compassionate conservative pledges. During the campaign, he successfully muddied distinctions between Gore and himself on Social Security, prescription drug coverage, a patients' bill of rights, and other issues. If labor and its allies take the initiative and stake out clear positions, for example, for universal, comprehensive health care, they may be able to frame the debate around progressive values, not just the details of narrowly drafted...