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35 Lab. Stud. J. 5 (2010)

handle is hein.journals/labstuj35 and id is 1 raw text is: Introduction to Special IssueLao qdcJurl \oAnnw ', Numnber 1 \arch 010 5-7 c 2010 UALE Unions, the Working Class,55584 hiosted at and Politics hosted at http:/online agpub.com Jn the two-year interim period prior to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, organ- ized labor anticipated a political rebirth. The congressional biannual elections in 2006 saw a significant number of labor-friendly Democrats elected, and with a very unpopular incumbent president damaging the Republican brand, labor prepared to once again have influence in the nation's capitol. As it turned out Barack Obama won, Democrats extended their control over both houses of Congress, and the chance to produce real labor law reform among other progressive policy changes shifted from mere aspiration to possible. At the same time, north of the border Canadian trade unionists were confronted with an evolving relationship with the New Democratic Party (NDP) that brought about political success but an ambiguous expectation of policy outcomes. All of this political maneuvering provided labor academics in Canada and the United States with a chance to reflect back on past elections and to assess the meaning of union political activity in 2008. At the United Association for Labor Education conference in 2009, papers were presented on two panels dedicated to the labor movement and politics. In this special issue, six of those manuscripts are presented, and they represent a rich diversity of authors (e.g., tenured faculty and graduate students), disciplines (e.g., psychology and political science), methodological approaches (e.g., theoretical, quantitative, case study), and levels of analysis (e.g., institutional, individual, group, county and state populations). Collectively, the thesis of the articles is constructed on an eclectic mix of original survey data, statistical mining of census and voting records, the application of behavioral theory to voter issue preference, an analysis of institutional behavior and intention, and a community-level case of personal transformation through political awareness. Two of the articles are strikingly similar in their focus on Canadian union-party relations, while arriving at contrary conclusions. Larry Savage argues in Contemporary Party-Union Relations in Canada that the longstanding political alliance between the Canadian labor movement and the NDP has experienced seri- ous stresses that have weakened union-party relations. Rooted in larger macroeco- nomic and political transformations, these developments, according to Savage, have frayed the tenuous political link among labor, the NDP, and working people. But in Changing Union-Party Relations in Canada: The Rise of the Working Families Coalition, Bradley Walchuk identifies a new political development that he believes offers potential gain to working Canadians. Walchuk examines the Working Families Coalition (WFC) and its effects on union-party relations. Unlike Savage, Walchuk suggests that the WFC's defensive stand against the worst excesses of neoliberalism is a move toward a more productive quid pro quo relationship. 5

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