LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Democratic Party head Howard Dean met with top union leaders to plot a campaign to thwart President Bush's Social Security reform plan.þþ``The fate of the Democratic Party and the fate of labor are intertwined,'' Dean said Tuesday after the meeting. ``It's in both of our interests to work together, and that's what we're going to do.''þþThe closed-door meeting between Dean and the AFL-CIO's Executive Council came even as two unions are threatening to break from the organization over the direction of the labor movement.þþThe AFL-CIO plans a massive campaign against privatization of Social Security, hoping to defeat the proposal and boost the union's political strength in future elections.þþBut with membership rates down, Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, has been leading the call for a major shake-up.þþStern, who heads the largest of the 60 unions under the AFL-CIO's umbrella, and Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists, have expressed frustration with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney's leadership.þþSweeney has said he will consider slashing member contributions by as much as half so that local unions would have more money to recruit. But Sweeney also is calling for an increase in the group's political expenditures.þþ``We know that we have to organize a response that is bigger and better to turn the unity and the participation of our 2004 political operation into a permanent culture of mobilization in local unions,'' Sweeney said.þþBush's Social Security plan allows workers under age 55 to divert 4 percent of their pay into personal accounts. Workers could then choose among a handful of investment choices, including government bonds, stock index and other mutual funds.þþThe AFL-CIO spent a record $45 million on the previous two-year election cycle only to see the White House remain in Republican control and Democrats lose seats in Congress. About 70 percent of union members voted, about the same as in 2000.þþSweeney called the Social Security campaign the labor movement's biggest mobilization ever over an issue. The group plans mass distribution of leaflets, direct mailers and phone calls to union members.þþMeanwhile, Republicans have been holding town hall meetings on Social Security and contacting supporters, said Danny Diaz, spokesman for the Republican National Committee.þþ``We're going to continue to talk about how we can work together to fix this program so America keeps its promise to its seniors,'' Diaz said. ``Social Security is not a Republican issue. It's not a Democratic issue. It affects all Americans.''þþ
Source: NY Times
