ALBANY—It's not quite a Planet of the Apes rant, but a large coalition of labor interests says it will be take into account this mess in Albany when it makes endorsements for the 2010 elections.
"Organized labor in this state has a unified sense that many of its traditional 'friends' have taken the support of the labor movement for granted," Denis Hughes, president of the AFL-CIO in New York, said in a statement issued yesterday. "Let me make this clear: The labor movement in this state will not tolerate another legislative session as the one we have just been through."
The statement came after a meeting last week of the AFL-CIO's executive council, when the heads of major unions around the state expressed disgust with the current situation in the Senate and inaction on any bills that had previously been a priority. Expectations were high with Democrats now controlling both houses of the Legislature, but some measures championed by labor constituencies that were previously carried by Democrats now languish.
"We're going to go way past the voting record. We're going to see what a legislator's position on other issues beyond labor," said Alan Lubin, the executive vice president of New York State United Teachers, a powerful lobbying group.
NYSUT has not endorsed any legislators as yet, but Lubin said union officials will look at how senators are acting amid the chaos in their house, and what they're saying to explain it. "It's more: what do they stand for as opposed to what are they voting for."
