The Unions’ Man?

By David Moberg

John Edwards does more than talk the talk on workers' but will he walk away with labor's endorsement?

"My view is not that complicated," Edwards told the charter convention of Iowa's Change to Win labor federation in his polished but folksy manner. "If we want to strengthen and grow the middle class in this country, if we want to grow America economically, if we want to see millions of people lifted out of poverty, the organized labor movement is a critical component of that. That's the reason that wherever I am, I talk about making it easier to organize in the workplace, why that's important for lifting people out of poverty and to strengthen the middle class."

Politicians often praise unions at union halls, though rarely so effusively. But as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Edwards' rhetoric goes a couple of steps farther.

In many ways, Edwards is swimming against the stream, fighting the preconceptions of the mainstream American political media, with his talk about alleviating poverty and building stronger unions. Yet that message is important for the Democrats and the country, whatever happens with the messenger's candidacy.

"I think the American people need to be reminded that organized labor--unions--helped build the middle class in this country," Edwards told the Change to Win crowd in Iowa. "We love to talk about the jobs that we're all worried are leaving the country, but those jobs weren't good jobs before the unions. The unions made them good jobs with good pay and good benefits and helped build the middle class that made America great and literally made it the country of the 20th century. Now the question is how to make America the country of the 21st century, and you play a crucial role in that."

Edwards clearly hopes they will help him play a leading role as well.

In These Times. Features July 23, 2007