Why Labor Unions Have State House Influence

Intro: For those of you who were wondering why labor unions have a strong presence at the State House, WRNI political analyst Scott MacKay has an answer business leaders may not want to hear.

One of the huge complaints of Rhode Island’s business community is that the General Assembly is in thrall to union interests.

The business community laments this endlessly on talk radio, on the Providence Journal op-ed pages, at the Chamber of Commerce business roundtables, between the salad and chicken at the Rotary Club luncheons.

The answer to labor’s influence came in last Tuesday’s primaries. It’s called Democracy.

Union activists and their allies in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party won some big victories. The legislature that takes office in January is likely to be more liberal that the one that adjourned in June.

There is no secret as to why this happens; forget the peddlers of arcane conspiracies. The liberals and labor union members take elections seriously. While the business leaders squawk, labor leaders walk, as in door-to-door campaigning in districts across the state.

The number one target of the labor community, was Bristol Democrat Doug Gablinske, who called unionized teachers “pigs at the trough.’’ Gablinbske went down because labor leaders aggressively opposed him.

In Warwick, the unions pushed out votes for David Bennett, a nurse, who defeated veteran Rep. Al Gemma. Representative Mary Ann Shallcross Smith of Lincoln is history due to union electoral activism. Labor did not target incumbent David Caprio of Narragansett, but union members, upset with the anti-union stances of his brother, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio, helped seal David Caprio’s defeat.

Labor activism is not the only reason for these losses, of course. A big factor for a legislative upset in parochial Rhode Island is an entrenched incumbent who has lost touch with voters. The guy you used to share pint with at the Portuguese Club doesn’t stop in any more. And he didn’t show up at dad’s wake; didn’t even send a Mass card.

When you do bump into this lawmaker he always says he is busy with State House business, but you notice he always has time for Smith Hill fundraisers and a drink at the Capital Grille with a lobbyist.

In Bristol, for example, Gablinske got out-campaigned by newcomer Richard Morrison, a lawyer who knocked on door after door  and had far more effective  direct mail. There was virtually no Gablinske visibility effort at the polling places on Tuesday at Rockwell School and Benjamin Church Manor.

As John Stuart Mill famously asked, “Was there ever any domination which did not appear natural to those who possessed it?’’

Surely the business community feels that way. And in recent years this unelected elite has worked, often successfully, to change the rules of the political game. The state has moved to 4-year terms for governors, cut the size of the General Assembly, ended strikers unemployment benefits, cut state worker pension benefits, and approved separation of powers.

The latest crusade of the business crowd is to get rid of the so-called master lever that promotes straight-party voting. Of course, there is no master lever in primaries, so don’t be fooled by that excuse.

But there is a solution to the State House labor-business imbalance. Business advocates should leave their boats on the moorings some weekends and try selling their case to door to door to average voters.