Unions crucial to Democratic candidate

What happens if we elect a Democratic governor for the first time in decades and the new governor has to seek the help of the state’s employees and their unions in dealing with a deficit as high as $3.9 billion?

Will the governor have the courage to go to the unions that helped elect him or her and ask for significant concessions in wages and benefits? If things get really bad, will a Democratic governor and Legislature turn to layoffs, as they do in the private sector?

When Gov. Rell suggested talking about some not unreasonable concessions, 14 state union leaders responded with an extremely nasty letter accusing her of showing “a cynical disrespect for not just Connecticut’s 45,000 public service workers but for all of Connecticut’s struggling working families.†How union concessions would disrespect other working families was unclear.

Of course, the out-of-touch unions have a rather strange view of the makeup of Connecticut’s “struggling working families,†as they see a state population composed of 5 percent who are super-rich and “95 percent who are suffering.â€

Front-runners Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy are seeking union endorsements now and after the May convention, when one of them, probably Lamont, will become the party-endorsed candidate and the other is certain to receive enough support to force a primary.

Lamont and Malloy have already promised to oppose changes in binding arbitration and collective bargaining rules as have the unannounced candidates, Juan Figueroa, Mary Glassman and Rudy Marconi.

At a love-in with state employee union activists on the first day of spring, the five portrayed themselves as the unions’ last bastion against a deficit reduction program like the one being pursued in deficit-ridden New Jersey, where a new Republican governor is seeking massive layoffs of state workers.

“I’m going to be fighting for each and every one of your jobs,†Lamont promised the union members, as did Malloy, who said a Democrat wouldn’t necessarily give the unions everything they want, but a Republican governor “would give you everything you don’t want,†The Connecticut Mirror reported.

“Winning the Democratic primary could take fewer than 135,000 votes,†The Mirror’s Mark Pazniokas noted, “and unions can reach nearly 100,000 active and retired state employees.â€

Lamont has taken a slightly more independent stance on one issue with strong union support, legislation that would make Connecticut the first and only state to mandate paid sick days for private employees. He has sensibly pointed out that this isn’t exactly the right time for a state that hasn’t added a single job since 1989 to be sending a hostile message to businesses that already consider Connecticut to be less than business friendly. But Malloy has said anyone opposed to paid sick leave does not deserve labor’s support.

Malloy is not only facing the unpleasant prospect of running in a primary against Lamont’s millions. Four years ago, he emerged from the Democratic convention with the party’s endorsement for governor, only to be defeated in the primary by John DeStefano, who had won the hearts and the formidable support of the unions. He has surely promised himself that won’t happen again. Lamont, who also lost a primary four years ago for U.S. senator to Joe Lieberman after winning the party’s endorsement for his opposition to the war in Iraq, should also have learned something from that sad experience.

It will be interesting to see which of them can win labor support without losing his soul, how the victor in a primary makes the transition from the union’s guy to the would-be governor of all the people in the general election. The unions’ defender-in-chief will play well in getting the nomination, but the general election is quite another thing.

Dick Ahles is a retired journalist from Simsbury. E-mail him at dahles@hotmail.com.