In Albany yesterday, Gov. George E. Pataki was basking in the benevolent gaze of union leaders who usually have eyes only for Democrats.þþRandi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers; Bruce Raynor, president of Unite, the garment, textile and laundry workers' union: and Roger Benson, president of the Public Employees Federation, waved ceremonial pens in the air after the governor used them to sign a law to prevent employers from spending state funds to fight union organizers.þþIn part because of his support for such union-friendly laws, Mr. Pataki has won the endorsements of Democratic bastions like UNITE and 1199/S.E.I.U., the 220,000-member health care union.þþBut even as Mr. Pataki courts union leaders, some of their members are balking.þþThe teachers' union, expected to make a decision on Oct. 9, has been engaged in a heated internal debate over the possibility of endorsing a Republican governor who has supported a court decision that accepts the current level of funding for city schools — but who also came through with $200 million for teachers' raises this year.þþMembers of the Public Employees Federation are sponsoring an unusual resolution to overturn the executive board's endorsement of Mr. Pataki, in favor of his Democratic opponent, H. Carl McCall.þþHealth care workers, in an internal poll, have told their union leaders that they support Mr. McCall over Mr. Pataki, people working on both campaigns said. And in interviews, several members insisted that the union cannot dictate how they vote.þþThe disconnection is seen by some in politics as more evidence of the unmooring of American political loyalties.þþÿThe days are waning when the union gave an endorsement and the members said `Yes, that's who we're supporting,' ÿ said Michael Shulman, an opposition leader in the teacher's union.þþFor union officers, the problem of how to persuade members to vote for Mr. Pataki is compounded by his loss in the Independence Party primary. Without the Independence line, workers would have to pull the Republican or Conservative Party lever, defying tradition and habit, said Dan Cantor, head of the Working Families Party and a McCall supporter.þþÿThis is a very unique situation in which you have many unions with a long history of social unionism that have not endorsed Carl McCall,ÿ Mr. Cantor said. ÿI think in the end, many of their members, in the privacy of the ballot booth, are going to move toward Carl McCall.ÿþþSome leaders have been trying to make Governor Pataki more palatable to their members. Ms. Weingarten stood behind him at Pace University on Sept. 12 as he announced that he disagreed with a judge's ruling that an eighth-grade education is sufficient. Mr. Pataki, a defendant in a lawsuit challenging the state funding formula, had supported the court's conclusion that the formula is fair.þþAsked if he had denounced the ruling at her urging, Ms. Weingarten demurred, saying only that she told him, ÿWell, you may have said it to me, but nobody's heard it out there.ÿþþStill, some teachers weren't satisfied. After the event, they congratulated reporters for grilling Mr. Pataki on his education record.þþSeveral union leaders said they believed their recommendations would sway members. Jennifer Cunningham, the executive director of the New York State Council of S.E.I.U., the parent union of 1199, said that in an internal survey last year, 75 percent of their members said they might change their vote in response to a union endorsement. She said that the 1199 membership, 70 percent black and Latino, would be willing to vote against Mr. McCall, a black Democrat.þþBut the union may come up against the attitude expressed by Selena Malloy, a 30-year-old nurse assistant at New York Presbyterian Hospital.þþÿWhoever the union says we should support 100 percent, that's who I will vote for,ÿ she said during a recent lunch break. þþWould it matter, she was asked, if the union endorsed a Republican?þþA look of incredulity passed over Ms. Malloy's face.þþÿThat matters a lot,ÿ she said. ÿI would have to question why, what have they done for us? They have to give me good enough reasons.ÿþþThe union may be able to supply such reasons: in January, the governor announced a $1.8 billion increase in funds to be used for health care raises.þþYet much depends on the enthusiasm of union stewards in conveying the union's endorsement to members, political strategists said. þþAt New York Presbyterian, a young technician, asked about the governor's race, said she would not discuss it or give her name. As an 1199 delegate, she said, she was bound to publicly support the governor. But, she added, ÿYou can always preach one thing and do whatever you want to do.ÿþþA survey of about 1,200 members of 1199, taken shortly after the Sept. 10 primary, showed strong support for Mr. McCall, particularly among blacks and Latinos, according to a person familiar with the results. Ms. Cunningham denied that such a survey existed.þþStill, the benefit to Mr. Pataki is not what the union will do for him but what it won't do for Mr. McCall.þþÿReally, these are the ground troops in much of New York State for the other side,ÿ Kieran Mahoney, a Pataki adviser, said. ÿAnd they're our ground troops this time.ÿþþSome workers say their union did not have as much incentive as 1199 to endorse Governor Pataki.þþÿWe sold out cheap,ÿ said Wayne Bayer, a member of PEF, a group of 55,000 scientific and technical state employees. Mr. Bayer is one sponsor of a resolution, expected to come to a vote early this month, to change the union's endorsement, which came after Governor Pataki agreed to restore three sick days that the union lost in contract negotiations in 1982 and promised there would be no layoffs next year, said Mr. Benson, the union president.þþBut Mr. Bayer said that Governor Pataki had had two previous chances to restore the sick days, and that Mr. McCall, the state comptroller who invests the state pension fund, had fought for pension increases.þþSome members say a raise or contract adjustment is a shortsighted reason to endorse. In a letter published in a recent 1199 newsletter, one member, Marilyn Albert, wrote, ÿThe problem is, how do we separate what is good for health care workers from what is good for health care workers' children?ÿþþSeveral labor experts said union leaders back up their endorsements with varied levels of organizational support. ÿThey might not be crushed if these candidates lose,ÿ said Prof. Josh Freeman, a labor historian at Queens College.þþBut an endorsement can be worth more than votes. ÿGovernor Pataki wants the teacher's union not only for the votes, but he wants the imprimatur,ÿ said Jefrey Pollock, a Democratic pollster. ÿIn an election where education is a major issue, he gets to be the candidate approved by teachers.ÿþþþ
Source: NY Times
