Two Partners, One Purpose

By DON ROLLINS

“We are going to build a younger, darker, hipper, fresher, sneaker-wearing labor movement, A movement that is going to be more inclusive and built for the middle class. And we are going to end poverty-wage work once and for all.” — April Verrett, President, Service Employees International Union, at the 2024 Democratic National Convention

Although a mere month and 90 miles apart, the now completed 2024 national party conventions were light years apart by way of substance. Not that the Democrats were above the nonsense, hype and style-point distractions that characterize the modern political era; but unlike the GOP with their universal, indiscriminate loathing of federal spending, Dems (largely) held the line on government as a critical partner for betterment.

This elemental contradiction in governing philosophy was the true star of the platform, first in Milwaukee then in Chicago. From the late afternoon warmups to the primetime headliners, few if any bypassed the proper role of central government, for or against. Change the era and the players, and it could have been a 1780s throwdown between Alexander Hamilton’s Federalists, and Thomas Jefferson’s burgeoning Republicans.

But there was nothing remotely nostalgic about GOP attacks on federal economic programs designed to enhance the workforce they presume to support. Trump sycophant and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien broke political ranks long enough to deliver a bootstrap economics homily, but an applause meter would’ve barely registered. Not even the assembled faithful seemed to buy it.

Contrast this tepid nod to workers with that of the six leaders from the nation’s largest labor unions who spoke at the DNC. Each was animated and focused, calling out the Republicans for years of anti-union policies. The house felt the vibe, and gave it up for all six.

The moment was real, maybe even sustaining for the long haul.

The only passing cloud was the relative mute praise for President Biden’s unflagging support for labor rights. Using executive orders designed to bypass inevitable Republican opposition, Biden’s labor policies included better working conditions for federal employees, preferred status for federal construction projects, and federal apprenticeship programs based on skills and abilities, not previous education alone. And in 2023 he became the first sitting president to walk a picket line, bolstering an effective strike on alongside United Auto Workers.

Uncle Joe deserved a little more love.

That oversight notwithstanding, the contrast between the two conventions speaks volumes about the parties’ differences in priorities and personalities, especially as applied to the workers’ rights. Wild applause and appeals for unity don’t guarantee much in the harsh tumble of presidential elections, but something happened on the floor of one convention and not the other. Two partners renewed their vows, declared for one purpose.

Don Rollins is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister in Jackson, Ohio. Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, September 15, 2024

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