Without the political leadership that existed then, under Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, these laws might never have been passed, and labor might never have the opportunity to bring about a society of rising and increasing social benefits, as America saw between the end of World War Two and the early 1970s.

We lost our political base in the 1970s. We quit being as active in politics as we had been. As a result, the era of steady wage increases ended, and was replaced by stagnation and decline. Congress resisted our weakening efforts to bring about labor law reform. And then in 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president, with his agenda to weaken and destroy unions.

He appointed anti-worker lawyers to the NLRB. He severely weakened federal OSHA enforcement. He destroyed the air traffic controllers union, and by firing strikers sent a message to the business community that permanent replacement of strikers was OK. Because we were weak, the decline continued, even after Reagan left office.

Then in 1994, in large part because many Democratic legislators had deserted workers and voted to approve NAFTA, the Republicans took over Congress. It was clear labor needed to look at new ways to make its voice heard. Because of this, in 1995, the AFL-CIO elected new leadership, and the Sweeney team committed itself to a new way of doing politics.

The grass-roots direction used in the striker replacement campaign was used to help blunt the right-wing attack in the 1996 elections. In 1998, similar efforts led to the defeat of President Clinton's Fast Track trade initiative, and to the emphatic defeat of the so-called Proposition 226 in California, which would have destroyed labor's ability to raise funds for political work in that state.

Labor resolved to pursue more independent politics, and to loosen its ties to the Democratic Party. Genuinely pro-labor Republicans would now be able to get national labor support. In the early 1990s a group of unions, led by the OCAW, agreed to work towards the formation of a labor party in the United States. The Labor Party is now well on its way, and PACE has taken up the OCAW commitment to it.

We have learned that a focus on party politics will no longer work for union members. PACE intends to focus on specific issues instead. We don't care to what party a politician who wants to support labor's views on Social Security, or any other crucial labor issue, belongs. We do care about their support for working people.

This new union is committed to a new approach in politics. PACE intends to be a major force in the political arena. We will work to bring the views and needs of grass-roots members directly to the attention of decision makers in Washington and the state capitals.

They need to hear your voice, and we will work to make that happen. In the end, politics is not about candidates, even though we must continue to identify and elect friendly leaders when we can. Politics is about issues, and labor politics is about issues of direct concern to union members and other workers.

The PACESetter, vol.1 no.1, March 1999