Working the South

Roaming the Southern delegations on Monday and talking with my homefolk, I heard tell a few times that former Senator Gary Hart was running around on the first convention day spouting more of his gibberish about how Democrats must look West for new votes and abandon the South. So for the sake of my sanity, I had to seek out somebody sensible on the subject (is that enough sibilance for you?) -- a Yankee who's taken the time and trouble to understand the South. Bruce Raynor, general president of UNITE HERE, has organized in Dixie since the early 1970s (y'all remember Norma Rae, from his J.P. Stevens campaign), and he's seen firsthand part of the devastation left in the region by the Democrats' steady withdrawal from the South from Nixon forward.

"There's no question that it made the South more conservative, the Democrats not contesting the South," Raynor says. "You know, when I came to Georgia in the 1980s, overwhelmingly the Georgia congressional delegation was Democratic, the governor was Democratic, and the legislature was Democratic. And they were not right-wing Democrats. Some of them were very progressive. I think what happened is when the Republicans played their race card in the South, the Democrats abandoned the South. And as a result, the South became more and more conservative because the Democrats were not contesting the South. That was and is a terrible mistake."

Organized labor compounded that mistake. "The other thing that happened is that unions pulled out of the South, basically concluding you could not win," Raynor says. "That was not our experience. In the '80s and '90s, unions started putting their resources into places that were easier. So, the result is that half the union membership in America is concentrated in six states. That's not a good situation, because it really corrals our effect on American society."

Sort of like the effect on a party that writes off one-third of the country.

Raynor thinks the "anti-labor" image of the Southern worker has always been a misconception. "In the early '70s, when I went there, the South was a place where the perception, or label, was that you could not organize was not what I found. We organized thousands of workers and built a big union. It was tough going. There was employer opposition, a very hostile press. The white churches were almost universally anti-union, and some of the black churches were anti-union.

"But workers are not anti-union in the South. Employers in the South are -- the press, politicians, and employers, but not workers. I found that workers, if they felt like there was a way to win, that they would fight."

As in politics, in labor the obstacles to progressivism are lower now in the South -- in large part because of the massive migrations of Northerners and Latinos, as well as the re-migration of millions of blacks back South. And things are tougher for the former conservative masters of the region. "Southern employers in the '70s, '80s and even '90s were more willing to divide workers by playing the race card than they were in the North," says Raynor.

"Life's more complicated now in the South. I think people are less susceptible to that. You've got immigrants, you've got Latinos, you've got Asians; in our plant in Atlanta, you've got all kinds of African and Asian immigrants. It's not as simple for the companies to divide the workers."

Raynor has had his frustrations with the Democrats, calling for organized labor to stop being "too close" to the party a few years back. Like many of his Southern friends, he's now feeling optimistic but wary about the current nominee's embrace of labor and the South. "I'm comfortable being close to Barack Obama," he says. "He's contesting North Carolina, we're going to carry Virginia, I think Georgia's within reach. Mississippi? You know, people talk about Mississippi as a backwater state. I've worked in Mississippi my whole career. Democrats have always done well there. And Mississippi has a progressive tradition.

"Obama brings a very different perspective. Obama views the South not as a place that is different or special, and as a place where we could win in. It's key that the Democratic Party not write off the South. And it's key that labor unions not write the South off."

Comments (26)

1. [By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Writer Mon Aug 25, 6:00 PM ET

   LAUREL, Miss. - Federal immigration agents said they uncovered 350 suspected undocumented workers in a raid on a Mississippi electrical equipment plant Monday, hours after sealing all entrances amid reports their sweep had idled normal operations.

   Barbara Gonzalez, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, confirmed the raid and said it targeted Howard Industries Inc. of Laurel.

   She declined to say how many federal agents were involved, but said they acted on a tip provided by a union worker.

   Howard Industries was founded in the 1960s. In 2002, state lawmakers approved a $31.5 million, taxpayer-backed incentive plan aimed at helping to expand its operations.]

   Posted by crabwalk at 08/26/2008 @ 07:06am

2. Well, Mr Moser, as Robert Heinlein said "Sure the game is rigged. But you can't win, if you don't play."

   Might as well try I suppose, though don't go thinking you're going to get a lot of pro-gun control, serious pro-choice, or any kind of socially liberal Democrats elected.

   Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 08:40am

3. While I agree with trying to make inroads in the South, the "Democrats" -meaning I suppose the national party - did not "abandon" the South. The South abandoned them. I lived in Oklahoma (a border state but still Red) in the 1980s when they had a great Congressman named Mike Synar (the first politician to take on big tobacco) and others who were moderate like Dave McCurdy (who took on Reagan over war in Central America) and James Jones but they all lost elections to nutjob Republicans. They didn't lose because the national party left them high and dry - it was the voters who put them out thanks to a Pravda-like local media, lack of education, and fear based on many factors including fundamentalist religion. Sorry, Bob, but Gary Hart is right. The Dems ARE better off going after the West. The ony reason the Dems are even competitive in some Southern states is becasue of a huge black turnout for Obama, Bob Barr and anti-Republican feelings. Those factors won't always be there.

   Posted by Steve1us at 08/26/2008 @ 11:35am

4. Dems will not carry 1 southern state.--------Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/26/2008 @ 10:57am

   There's another saver, JOHN.

   Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 11:45am

5. What a sad message. I believe that labor needs to reinvent itself. McCain will not make things better for the South. Anyone who believes that ''the company'' will take care of you, you need to put ''Sheep'' after your name. Wake up. Labor unions have made a difference. Union members have not. No one wants to take responsibility for their own actions. Apathy and ignorance flourish. No one wants to get involved in assuring their own security. I agree with Andy Stern; unions should not put all their faith and money in the Democratic party. Unions need to rebuild and make the rank-and-file members's voices heard. I am a SEIU 1199W member as well as a nurse. I am deeply disturbed that nurses have been unable to shape politics. Nurses have a solid reputation, respect in the community I live in. I deal daily with people who are deeply affected by poor or no health care coverage, struggling with a system that can't &/or won't help individuals. This country has lost its' ability to call itself a great nation because of the healthcare crisis. In response to those millions of jobs that blossomed in the south, how many of those jobs had health care benefits, retirement benefits, and good pay? I guess the South doesn't want to live the American Dream after all.

   Posted by bubbleshdrn at 08/26/2008 @ 11:53am

6. So who is going to take care of me? I welcome your response. I did not state that I believed that Obama or the Dems will take care of me. I believe I need to take care of myself, by making sound decisions after weighing both sides. I have heard too many times, ''I can't make a difference.'' I'm sick of that. I am only asking that people open their eyes and ears before making a choice. I am sorry if I offended you with the ''sheep'' comment but I stand by it.

   Posted by bubbleshdrn at 08/26/2008 @ 12:04pm

7. Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/26/2008 @ 11:54am

   I'll bet Obama wins ONE Southern state.

   Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 12:11pm

8. Sorry, should have said "ATLEAST ONE"

   Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 12:14pm

9. You miss the point. I don't need you to take care of me. My family and I have made good choices; we aren't in danger of losing our home. I have great health insurance. Unfortunately, I don't have balls. I lived in the south in '92 and have since travelled south. I got to see a depressed economy there. We aren't doing much better up here. That is the point. My company is playing hard ball with my union right now. Years of services mean nothing to my company. They would prefer to hire new grads that they can train in management's ways. There is dissent in my union. There is minimal involvement. I am unwilling at this time to give up. I believe that we as a people can create change. I thought this well before Obama used that as his slogan. I was not an Obama supporter.

   Small differences add up. Quit ignoring your neighbor, your co-worker, the disabled person who needs help opening the door, the elderly person who can't afford to heat their home. Have some social conscious. This isn't directed just at you; this is about everyone. The next generation might like to have some quality of life too.

   Posted by bubbleshdrn at 08/26/2008 @ 12:20pm

10. Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/26/2008 @ 12:17pm

    Likely?...Virginia. (I exclude the "technical" Southern states like Maryland (south of the Mason-Dixon)...so that we don't get into a "geography" argument).

    Warner will speak tonight and he's looking pretty solid for his Senate seat bid...if he and Obama work VA, they can win it.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 12:23pm

11. Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/26/2008 @ 12:48pm

    From that one excerpt above, and the rest of your comments, what I did NOT detect, is any appreciation for the * employees who have labored* to give you and your family, the means to have a decent live.

    Probably better than your employees.

    Being an employer (I am one) means all kinds of insecurity, but when times are good, all kinds of profit.

    Being an employee means a certain amount of job security and a static paycheck, that one gets, whether I turned a profit this month or not.

    I appreciate the labor and interests of the folks who turn the work and I hope they appreciate the benifits of working for me.

    If I closed the doors tomorrow, they would be screwed. But, also, if they all quit on me, I would be screwed. It is sopposed to be a productive relationship, like any good relationship.

    Any other scenario, would be unacceptable to me.

    Eric

    Posted by Malcontent at 08/26/2008 @ 1:10pm

12. So, the labor unions abandoned the South and what happened? Jobs by the millions blossomed.....

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/26/2008 @ 11:09am

    Wrong-O Happytobeignorant...

    Those jobs did not "blossom". Many were good paying jobs in the Northern states that are now less well paying jobs in the south. Guess what happens when workers make less, they spend less or in your vernacular "they have less in their pockets". You guys keep telling us you want the gubment to leave you more in YOUR pocket, but you do not want corporations to do the same. what's up with that?

    and, I understand you are afraid of illegal immigrants, note the article I started with, and many others you can find on the internets. Mississppi is SOUTH, as are most of the large immigration raids and most of the illegal immigration. THAT is a result of people like you requiring corproations you "invest" in to keep profits high, costs way low.

    so what is it going to be HAP, good wages, low illegal immigration or your HAPPYLAND of low wages, high illegal immigration and high returns on stock?

    JOMMAMA, Germany has unions. They have socialized (or what you would consider socialized), near universal, medicine and schools. My friends that work over there say they never pay a doctors bill. It comes from their taxes and employer, along with money collected from wages by ...the Gubment!.Tax rates approach 50%. I would think a person of your ideology would be more interested in boning up on his Arabic, so that he could move his family to the free market zone called Iraq.

    Posted by crabwalk at 08/26/2008 @ 1:17pm

13. the only `growth', is on the relatively lower-wage service side....and of course, bigger Gov't!

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/26/2008 @ 12:48pm | ign

    But HAPPY, your ilk wants a "service economy". that is the idea behind NAFTA etc. Manufacturing requires large labor forces with usually good paying jobs. You want to ship these jobs overseas seeking lower labor costs, replacing those jobs with service industry jobs. That is what I heard all through the 90's at least. That is why there is an increase in unionization in the service industry, that is where you are pushing the labor force.

    Posted by crabwalk at 08/26/2008 @ 1:23pm

14. Perhaps, Southerners are the vanguard of the country! Guess what else? Seems those union-friendly Northern companies, are heading South......Facts, sorry! Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/26/2008 @ 11:09am

    Weird that the North has a smaller rate of poverty than the South. I guess those blossoming jobs don't pay much.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/26/2008 @ 1:43pm

15. Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/26/2008 @ 12:40pm

    Well, however you want to spin it, MAASCH...

    but it WOULD BE a Southern state and Obama can win it, which means your prognostication on nothing Suth'ren for Obama isn't built on a strong foundation, right?

    Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 1:43pm

16. Obama could and should win Virginia..given the numbers...---Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/26/2008 @ 1:51pm

    MAASCH are you having these revelations of yours, on an hour-by-hour basis?!??!?!?

    Dems will not carry 1 southern state.--------Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/26/2008 @ 10:57am

    Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 3:02pm

17. Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/26/2008 @ 3:32pm

    I just wanted to clear it up.

    BTW, I think McCain COULD win a "Blue State"...though not sure which one right now.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 4:07pm

18. In response to 2Happy's comment re: years of employment mean nothing to me, I couldn't disagree more. I have been a strong advocate as a nurse for my patients. I have worked both in the inpatient and outpatient side of the business. My company has literally doubled in size in approx. 9 years. When I worked inpatient, I had to continually apologize for the inconveniences, delays to care due to poor staffing. I have never been one to sit around. As a senior nurse, I hear other senior nurses complaining about the new grads, younger nurses who seems or appear to them to have less commitment to their patients and more to themselves. I can honestly say that I work harder in my home health position than I did in the clinical setting due to the fact that I don't care to waste my own time or my employer's. It is very hard to stomach my employer telling me that I am very lucky to have my benefits when I see the yearly profit report. It is all about building, profit, and prestige. I understand that it is difficult to employee 6000+ employees but there is an extremely large HR department. You do not make a very good case for me to defend my own employer.

    Posted by bubbleshdrn at 08/26/2008 @ 4:26pm

19. Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/26/2008 @ 4:23pm

    Possibly...but depends on how "Maverick" he can go without losing HAPP/LVLIB/PONTI....but given they're driven by fear of "Half & Half" or the "most liberal Senator in the Senate"...that may be a lot.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 4:29pm

20. Discussion about labor organizing the south again degenerates into Obama/McCain shouting match, as if the poles of our political life can only revolve around handicapping the present election. Stupid.

    The Labor Party right now has a strong organization in South Carolina. The history of the South, including the civil war, the first General Strike in US history in New Orleans, and governors like Huey Long, show that poor and working class whites will unionize, fight the state and vote progressively - if they are not abandoned. We already know that black and Latino people will do so. The abandonment of the South by the national AFL-CIO was a crime. As was the abandonment strategy pursued by the fake friends of labor in the Democratic Party.

    But that is changing, and none too soon. The South has been used for 25 years as a cheap wage colony right here in the US. Why go to Mexico or China when you can bust unions and pay peanuts right here at home?

    Populism will work in the South. It is the people that are afraid of populism in the AFLCIO and the Democratic Party who are the hidden enemies of labor.

    Posted by ElyDog at 08/26/2008 @ 4:31pm

21. Posted by ElyDog at 08/26/2008 @ 4:31pm

    Ely, if half the South Carolina Democrats vote "Labor" and half the South Carolina Democrats vote "Democrat"...

    and ALL the Republicans in SC vote "Republican"...

    who wins?

    Posted by Maskdelta at 08/26/2008 @ 4:39pm

22. 2Happy, You haven't got a clue. You obviously have not experienced any difficulty w/ your healthcare. As for your telling me my job is to follow the prescribed treatment and give comfort, you again haven't a clue. If you believe that every physician safely prescribes treatment, I've got beach front property for you in Arizona. Physicians are overworked and heavily depend on nurses as well as other allied medical staff to ensure that a safe plan of care is in place. I am liable for malpractice, even with a MD order. I have to practice with a license.

    I have worked as a independent nurse-for-hire. I was a traveling RN in the 1990's. I received better pay but minimal benefits. I was young and had major medical coverage. As for my not having any earthly reason to complain, again, you do not have a clue. You do not know my life situation. I would also like to inform you that I have worked with undocumented workers that I have had great respect for and do not agree with the way the Bush administration has dealt with immigration issues. I do not believe that you have any love for labor or its many issues.

    Posted by bubbleshdrn at 08/26/2008 @ 8:04pm

23. and walk out the door w/NO consequences.

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/26/2008 @ 6:49pm

    Funny that you think someone can just quit a job with no consequences. When you have a mortgage, kids. insurance, loans and many other things to pay I don't think you can just walk out without consequences.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/26/2008 @ 8:19pm

24. Thank you, CccomF01.

    Posted by bubbleshdrn at 08/26/2008 @ 8:25pm

25. Posted by bubbleshdrn at 08/26/2008 @ 8:25pm

    No problem. Happy just needs to be reminded that not all of us in this country can do that. In fact 95% of us in this country can't do that.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/26/2008 @ 9:02pm

26. I get it! Both you and bubblenurse are slaves to your jobs and that no one else in your respective industries will hire you EXCEPT your current employer.

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/26/2008 @ 10:19pm

    My God you act much dumber than you are sometimes. I'm not talking about me. I never said me. I am not 95% of the US. I am one person. When did I say I, me, my?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/27/2008 @ 01:14am