The Hill News

The new chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) appealed to labor supporters who might not be as willing to commit as many financial resources to politics in 2012.

Amid worries that unions could shift their resources from political activity to organizing, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the new chairwoman of the DNC, said she would be concerned if the labor community views Democrats as unsupportive of their agenda.

"I think that across the country, you've had widespread grassroots and particularly Democratic support pushing back against these radical proposals that are anti-union and anti-worker," Wasserman Schultz said Tuesday evening on MSNBC. "I'm concerned if the perception is, by labor, that the Democrats aren't supportive."

Indeed, there have been major labor battles throughout the country this year after a number of Republican governors have sought collective bargaining reforms. The changes to collective barg! aining rights in Wisconsin, in particular, prompted major protests by labor groups, and Democrats pounced.

But labor leaders have made statements to suggest they might be less inclined now to invest in electing Democrats. "You'll see us giving less to party structure, and more to our own structure," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told Salon.com last week. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) also said it'd suspend its federal campaign contributions.
Wasserman Schultz boasted of being able to kill Flori! da Gov. Rick Scott's (R) labor reforms in Florida, and said that Democrats would be supportive of labor in the fights to come. 

"I think that Democrats have been very supportive," she said. "Democratic elected leaders and Democratic activists have been very supportive of workers' rights and pro-labor, the natural home for labor's members is the Democratic Party, there's no question."