Aren't union people usually Democratic? Reason I ask is because

[raccoon]

a friend was telling me about a mutual acquaintance, a retiree couple who moved here from New York. She's a retired teacher, and he--I'm not sure what he was, but he's retired too. Anyway, my friend said they are both rabid Republicans.

I said I bet he belonged to a union, and probably has a good pension--thanks to his union. My friend didn't know about this one way or the other.

[Statistical]

1. Old trumps Union.

The single most effective factor in determining political leanings is age.

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. My brother-in-law only votes Republican and is a union member

for one of the big three automakers. They don't always vote Democratic.

[w8liftinglady]

4. i was going to say the same thing. Quite a few UAW members here are R's

in....Texas.

[msongs]

3. we have a few union haters in our union but the never resign for some reason nt

[Brickbat]

5. I'm starting to ask myself, why should we be anymore?

We're always the ones candidates come running to for money and volunteers and call centers, and we knock ourselves out, getting very little in return anymore. Remember EFCA? I, for one, am sick of it.

[Exultant Democracy]

6. I know the police officers union's in the North East often endorse th republican in a race

I can't think of any other union that does that.

[jschurchin]

7. Actually, you would be surprised

how many union members are Republicans. One thing I have descovered about the majority of them though is, although they are very nice people, they lack the ability to think for themselves.

This is why from the local level on up, none of them become involved in union leadership. It is beyond their capability.

[pintobean]

8. In '04, two thirds of union households voted Dem

as I remember. I haven't seen any numbers since, but they're probably available.

[Shrek]

9. Even the ones who are Democrats aren't necessarily very liberal

A few years ago I went to my neighbor's super bowl party and some of the other guests were his co-workers in the machinists union.

I was shocked by the some of the bigoted comments that they were quite comfortable making in public.

[LynneSin]

10. Alot of union members are also rabid gun owners

go figure

[Statistical]

13. So maybe Democratic party should start respecting gun owners?

Gun control is an albatross around the neck of the party and has done nothing but lose votes.

Luckily many members of the party have woken up. In 2010 NRA gave more Democratic candidates an A+ rating than any prior election.

[SheilaT]

11. Many of those who feel themselves

embattled and in danger of losing their income or pension or healthcare seem to move in the Republican direction. There's also a huge amnesia about what the unions have done for average working people, mainly because hardly anyone is still alive who remembers the battles to unionize in the 1930's, let alone the even worse battles in earlier decades.

What I'll call management rhetoric has been very effective since at least the 1970's to convince workers that management will look out for them, while unions are corrupt and only want their dues and give nothing in return. It's certainly true that many unions have had their share of corruption, and there was a huge problem that I can recall in the 50's and 60's of union rules about pensions being such that a lot of union members in that period never got their pensions. I'm recalling instances of a requirement that the worker be in the same local for a specific period of years, and then suddenly being transferred to a different local six months before retiring, completely negating any pension. Those kinds of practices have disappeared, but the claim that management will look out for workers hasn't gone away.

The real thing to ask is why is there a Nightly Business Report and a Business page in the newspapers, but no corresponding Nightly Labor Report or Labor page.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. Social issues like abortion and gun control has caused many union members to vote GOP

Just look at western Pennsylvania for example. The area is strongly union, but is is a sea of red with the exception of Pittsburgh.

[ctaylors6]

22. I've also found this to be the case

I remember in particular working on campaign in Detroit area in 2000. Abortion (esp catholic voters) and gun control seemed to be issues that trumped all other issues in a much higher percentage than I would have thought for union members.

[tinkerbell41]

14. Being a 20 yr member

Of the IBEW i can tell you without a doubt that the majority of the people I work with think and value Republican ideals. They honestly do not "get" when you say smaller govt. it just means less regulation and protection for themselves. I cannot describe the bewilderment in voting against putting food on your table, in favor of making sure your gay neighbor can't marry. I see it everyday most of their thinking is very conservative. Like another poster said something about being uneducated about real issues, or being uninvolved, it is true.
I used to think a long time ago, that I was among my own but the shit I heard during the Bush years
along with the last election I realize I am not.

[michreject]

15. I worked at GM Tech Center, Local 160 for 30 years

It was, at one time, the largest skilled trade local in the world. this is a SWAG but I would bet I'm close when I say that 3/4 of the union members were republican.

The President of the local was a repug until he got elected. He then started talking pro union/Democrat policies. I would say it was just lip service and secretly voted the way he always voted.

[Edweird]

16. My trade is deeply involved with the IBEW - and filled with RW'ers.

I've noticed a lot of Blue collar jobs tend to be filled with conservatives.

[Oilwellian]

17. It was the unions from the North

that voted in Reagan. The repubs tapped in to their bigotry.

[brendan120678]

18. My in-laws are both...

very actively involved in their teachers unions, and also both "conservative Democrats."

[Xithras]

19. The politics of union members generally mirror the area they're in

A conservative doesn't magically become a liberal just because he landed a job in a unionized company. While the union brass are overwhelmingly Democratic, the union workers are all over the map.

[TexasProgresive]

20. The r'PUKEs craftily used various wedge issues

to split chips of of the once mighty Democratic Party Block of voters. Race, Guns, Abortion and others were at one time non-partisan issues.

[brooklynite]

21. The Reagan victory was built on a lot of conservative Democratic union members...

who voted for him and then stayed with the party.