Unions and the election

With friends like these…

Republicans are getting tougher on unions. But so, too, are Democrats

Sep 22nd 2012 | CHICAGO, NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA | from the print edition

Piece by Rosemary Ward, with contributions from Chicago.

DELORES BOWIE and Audra Traynham, members of the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ, work as caretakers in office buildings in Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania, a pivotal swing state. But on this Tuesday, 50 days before the election, they are knocking on doors in South Philadelphia to register people to vote and to remind them, as they put it, why “we need to keep Obama”. A week before the election, the two women will send postcards to everyone they canvassed reminding them to vote. [More...]