By Rafael Ceja, Rank and File Union Member

Recently I saw an interview with former Florida Governor, Charlie Christ.  Years ago I would have called Mr. Christ a flip-flop or pancake, referring to his changing of parties so many times. But I believe that interview enlightened me in two ways:

#1 Mr. Christ is an unapologetic jerk. I believe he should have informed Mr. Romney of his change of endorsement in 2008 or at the very least displayed some form of regret for not doing so.

#2  It is tough to go Independent because of a lack of infrastructure like there is for the Democrats and the GOP.  And that is the part of the interview I would like to touch on.  The fact that in this country we have to choose between one party that is in bed with Corporate America and the other that is constantly climbing out of bed just long enough to convince the rest of America that they are here to help us. We need more political parties in America.

When the Republicans do something we don’t like we vote in the Democrats, then the Democrats proceed to do the same thing the Republicans were going to do.  The reason is that both parties realize more than ever that we only have two choices (for the most part), and that if they lose this time they will always have a 50% percent chance of winning the next time.

Mr. Christ did go Independent for a short period of time. However, one of his biggest complaints was that there was no infrastructure for Independents, and that made it difficult to run as one.  But there is one group that does have the infrastructure, the money, and the people to start a third party in this country:  UNIONS.  Most unions have political delegates at each local.  They also have people who are experienced in campaigning.  They also know how politics work on a local level and in Washington.

Now the problem. It is both sad and hard for me to face this fact, but unions are drawn to Democrats like a moth to a flame.  They know they are going to get burnt, but they don’t care because their line of crap sounds oh so good.  But if the Democrats had been defending Labor with the same vigor that the GOP has been destroying it, we would not be at less than 7% membership in the private sector.

It seems to me Organized Labor wants the Democrats to fight their fight. But one thing I have learned is no one is going to argue your points the way you are.  It’s like Organized Labor has been sitting around and waiting for a Superman to come out of the Democratic Party when they really should have been creating their own Superman or Superwoman.

I do want to make one point as I do believe there have been pockets of real help from the Democrats. However the two-party system only works for the two parties, and workers will never get properly represented by a system that only focuses on perpetuating itself.  This is not only a call for just a Labor party, we need closer to four or five different parties, but organized labor is the only group that I know of that could potentially start their own party and succeed.  I think it is time for Organized Labor to stop depending on those who are there to serve the interests of others.

Finally, I will leave you with this.  UAW President Bob King said at a conference the UAW has no future without the South.  I respectfully disagree with Mr. King. I don’t think organized labor has a future with its continued dependence on the Democratic Party and without creating a political party of its own.