Labor takes hard look at political operations after defeat of two union-backed candidates
By LEIGH STROPE
The Associated Press
1/21/04 2:32 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Organized labor is taking a hard look at its political influence and voter turnout operations after the two union-backed candidates that were to dominate the Iowa caucuses sank instead.

Unions were to be the powerhouse in Iowa, with white-collars for Howard Dean and blue-collars for Dick Gephardt. But in a stunning upset, they emerged battered in third- and fourth-place behind Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards.

Leaders of industrial unions that formed a coalition supporting Gephardt, called Americans for Economic Justice, were to confer Wednesday to assess what happened in Iowa and map out a political future.

But already, union leaders say the lesson from Iowa is that organized labor remains split over which Democrat is best suited to challenge President Bush in November. Of the 64 unions in the AFL-CIO, less than half were committed to a candidate.

"I don't anticipate us arriving at another candidate," said Donald Kaniewski, political director of the Laborers' International Union of North America, a member of the coalition that backed Gephardt. "We've got plenty of work to do on jobs, health care and trade, and that work will continue."

Unions are looking ahead to contests in labor-dense states such as Missouri on Feb. 3, where more than 13 percent of the work force belongs to a union, and Michigan on Feb. 7, with more than 21 percent of its work force unionized. In Iowa, about 11 percent of workers are union members.