Howard Dean's Denver Convention Choice Irks Unions

In announcing Denver as the site of his party's August 2008 convention, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean hailed the West as critical for the "the future of the Democratic Party." But the choice has irked a group that is struggling to avoid being associated with the party's past--organized labor.

Labor leaders have protested the choice to hold the convention at the nonunion Pepsi Center and have lamented the Denver metropolitan area's dearth of unionized hotels. Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter angered labor leaders when he vetoed labor-friendly changes to state law in February.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and other union leaders continue to discuss compromises with DNC and Denver officials, but the dispute threatens to tarnish the celebration of the party's eventual nominee, with Teamsters national President James Hoffa Jr. going so far as to say that protests could "blow up" convention week. Based on recent Democratic conventions, about a third of the delegates can be expected to be members of organized labor. The Denver convention runs from August 25 to 28.

"From the beginning, we knew there would be issues," said DNC spokesman Karen Finney. "We're confident that they will be resolved by the time we get to the convention."

If history is any indication, it could come down to the wire. In 2000, days before the Los Angeles convention to nominate Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee moved its headquarters from a hotel that was in the midst of a heated labor dispute to a unionized hostelry. In 2004, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino signed last-minute contracts with city employees that narrowly averted union picketing of some convention events.

The protest threats show the power unions can still wield in the Democratic Party, especially when the cameras are on. But those who have studied the labor movement say it also shows the movement's increasingly tenuous position. Unionized workers now make up only 7.4 percent of the private sector workforce, and Democrats are looking outside heavily unionized areas for the voters needed to capture the reins of power--voters in growing regions like Colorado.

"[Unions] are desperately trying to show that they have some teeth," said Charles Craver, a labor and employment professor at George Washington University. "I think that if the union movement isn't careful, the Democrats might decide that they'll get more votes by standing up to them than by caving."

Union leaders are publicly optimistic about resolving their concerns about the convention. Mark Schwane, the executive director of the Colorado chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, says unions should be optimistic about the West, where states like Nevada are already heavily unionized. But Schwane said union leaders should be careful about the pressure they apply concerning the convention.

"If we sit around and beat our chests over what's going to happen in the next year and a half without having a much more strategic vision past the convention, then I think we're missing an opportunity," he said.

By Will Sullivan