Over a dozen unions to sit out Democratic convention over choice of NC

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Associated Press

More than a dozen trade unions plan to sit out the 2012 Democratic convention because of their anger over the site of the meeting in a right-to-work state and their frustration over Democrats' struggles to create jobs.

If unions don't participate, it would deprive the party of millions of dollars that would have been spent on sky boxes and other sponsorships that usually help underwrite the convention. The move could pose a larger problem for President Barack Obama next year if an increasingly dispirited base of labor activists becomes so discouraged that it doesn't get the rank-and-file to the polls in its usual strong numbers.

The unions _ all part of the AFL-CIO's building and construction trades unit _ told party officials this week they are gravely disappointed that labor was not consulted before Democrats settled on Charlotte, N.C., where there are no unionized hotels.

"We find it troubling that the party so closely associated with basic human rights would choose a state with the lowest unionization rate in the country due to regressive policies aimed at diluting the power of workers," Mark Ayers, president of the building trades unit, wrote in a letter to Democratic Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Read more: http://www.newser.com/article/d9p2mjlg0/apnewsbreak-over-a-dozen-unions-to-sit-out-democratic-convention-over-choice-of-nc.html