Originally Posted by
notEnuf
This is true. The Ds have been traditionally more pro labor than the Rs, that can't be disputed. The PRO act was a perfect example of who fell on each side of the issue. The RLA is the biggest issue, not the president. The president chooses the new board member and that appointment sets a tone. No party is directly helping our negotiations but the Ds appoint labor side people more than the Rs.
Perhaps a decent equvilent to small/overpaid (*) but still powerful as a private sector union would be the International Longshoreman's Association which went on strike for three days last October.
While I'd argue that the Ds are now catering primarily to groups other than private sector unions (but won't argue it here), the Pres at the time refused to intervene.
A big deal, because the ILA ran 36 ports and nearly half of all US imports.
At the end of the day, unions aren't about being nice. They're about leveraging niche, hard to replace workers and bargining hard.
(*) - overpaid compared to pilots at other airlines all over the planet. We're extremely well compensated. Longshoremen are the same way. It's a great gig.