In a movement whose anthem is ÿSolidarity Forever,ÿ Douglas J. McCarron, president of the carpenters' union, defiantly marches to a different drummer, so much so that some union leaders worry that he has marched into the enemy's camp. þþNot only has Mr. McCarron caused the biggest split in labor in 30 years by pulling the carpenters out of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., but he has emerged as President Bush's best friend in a union movement that often derides Mr. Bush as the worst president for workers in decades.þþLast Monday, for the second Labor Day in a row, Mr. McCarron played host to Mr. Bush, this time at a carpenters' picnic outside Pittsburgh, where he showered praise on the president, delighting White House strategists who are eager to woo union members. þþHe has flown twice on Air Force One with Mr. Bush, he was the only union president to speak at Mr. Bush's economic conference, and in June, Mr. Bush, who rarely speaks at union conventions, appeared at the carpenters' convention.þþIn labor circles, some fear that Mr. McCarron has become an unwitting accomplice in a White House's strategy to divide the largely Democratic labor movement and entice union members into the Republican fold. Some union leaders question how Mr. McCarron can ally himself with Mr. Bush after the president helped repeal new workplace safety rules and barred federal construction projects from giving preference to unionized workers. They say he has let the White House use him as a blue-collar show horse to attract workers' votes, without receiving much in return. þþÿWe're anxious to see any concrete results that the carpenters' relationship with President Bush might bring,ÿ said Edward Sullivan, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s Building and Construction Trades Department. ÿIf it benefits the carpenters, that will be good.ÿþþRichard Hurd, a labor relations professor at Cornell, expressed doubt. þþÿThe White House is trying to project an image of being friendlier to the unionized worker than it truly is, and McCarron certainly helps that,ÿ Professor Hurd said. ÿThe question you would ask is, `Is it worth it to the carpenters?' I don't know of any evidence yet that it is.ÿþþBut Mr. McCarron insists that his friendship with Mr. Bush is paying off. He said some Bush policies are benefiting carpenters, like a legislative change that boosts pensions for construction workers. He said carpenters would benefit from other Bush proposals, like oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and easing air pollution rules to speed renovations of power plants.þþÿI think we've got a better chance working with this administration than dissing it all the time,ÿ said Mr. McCarron, whose union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, with 538,000 members, is one of the biggest in the building trades. ÿHis views are not similar to my views on a lot of issues, but on a lot of issues he understands the needs of working families.ÿþþMr. McCarron said that when he flew on Air Force One on Labor Day, he told the president about the concerns of working people. He said that thanks to the carpenters' relationship with Mr. Bush, the president's selections to the National Labor Relations Board were friendlier to unions than they might have been.þþÿI am completely convinced in the integrity of George Bush,ÿ he said. þþRepublican strategists say Mr. McCarron played a pivotal role in making the White House rethink its one-time view that labor was a hostile monolith. Mr. McCarron helped persuade Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's political adviser, that while some unions would implacably oppose Mr. Bush, other unions could work with him to their mutual benefit. þþÿThere are a number of areas where the president's policies are consistent with the interests of members of the carpenters, the teamsters and some other unions,ÿ said Ken Mehlman, the White House political director. ÿWhen there's a nexus between the policy interests, it's natural that you'll work together in advancing those policy interests.ÿþþRepublican strategists say that if Mr. Bush could win slightly more of the union vote in 2004 — just 27 percent of union voters backed him in 2000 — he could easily win swing states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that he narrowly lost.þþMr. McCarron asserts that his union is taking a bipartisan approach, noting that the carpenters have contributed $1.2 million to Democratic senators to help the Democrats keep control of the Senate. þþÿWhether the guy has a D after his name or an R, if he cherishes the values of working people, I'm going to work with him,ÿ he said. þþHe said it would be dangerous if Republicans took control of the Senate because that would make it harder to block antilabor legislation. ÿTrent Lott and Don Nickels scare the living bejesus out of my members,ÿ he said, referring to the Republican Senate leader and to a Republican senator from Oklahoma. þþRich Bond, a former Republican National Committee chairman and a consultant to the carpenters, said, ÿDoug McCarron is one of the few individuals who can gain the mutual trust of George Bush and Teddy Kennedy.ÿþþSenator Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, praised Mr. McCarron's efforts for carpenters. þþÿI consider him to be a friend,ÿ Mr. Kennedy said, but then he questioned Mr. McCarron's ties to Mr. Bush. ÿHe feels he gets face time with the president, is able to talk about these issues. We'll see whether he is about to get anything out of it.ÿþþBy no means is politics the only area where Mr. McCarron has shaken things up. He has cut headquarters staff to 26 from 250. He demolished the union's majestic headquarters near Capitol Hill and erected a 10-story building, where the union uses half of one floor and rents out the rest for $20 million a year.þþHe has hired 700 full-time organizers, he said, to make the union grow after years of decline. He said the carpenters left the A.F.L.-C.I.O. because he disliked its large bureaucracy and the $4 million in dues the carpenters paid each year. þþÿHe has done more to change his union than anybody in the labor movement,ÿ said John Wilhelm, the president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union. ÿI don't quarrel with many of his criticisms of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., but I don't think leaving was helpful.ÿ þþþ
Source: NY Times
