Scabs

The Bush administration, never one to pass up on a chance to kick a weaker foe when he's down, has plans to go after organized Labor.

A shoe that I (and others) have been waiting to drop since November. The FT reports (sub required) that the US administration is planning to “toughen its regulation of organised labour, in what critics see as the latest in a series of pro-business policies sweeping Washington.” It’s invoking powers that haven’t been used in decades to force unions to file detailed financial statements and increase “accountability and transparency.” This isn’t an effort to further the interests of union members; it’s the beginning of a quite deliberate attempt to cripple unions as political actors. As the FT reports:

Privately, one senior figure in the administration said it was concerned about the power of unions, arguing that some campaigns against big business were not always in the interests of members. There is also concern about moves to scrap secret ballots for some union votes, which the administration fears would further entrench the power of union leaders.

The administration and its array of paid journalists will portray this as an effort to create more transperency in how (corrupt) union officials misuse (steal) their members' dues. What it is in reality is an effort to cow unions into silence and to further weaken unions' ability to get out the vote for Democrats.