The Hill newspaper notes yesterday that “The Keystone pipeline has long been a source of friction between Democrats and labor unions.” Well one union this week sent a letter to Democrats who publicly oppose Keystone threatening retribution:
A top building trades union is launching a midterm-election assault on House Democrats who oppose construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
A letter distributed Friday by the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) to the districts of 27 House Democrats calls for union members to make sure their representative “feels the power and the fury of LIUNA this November.”
Their crime: signing a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last month urging him to reject Keystone, which would carry oil sands from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries.
“Your member of Congress is trying to destroy job opportunities for our LIUNA brothers and sisters,” said the letter signed by Terry O’Sullivan, the general president of LIUNA.
“For every action, there is a reaction, and our reaction to this frontal assault on our way of life needs to be loud and clear. If you do not stand with us, we sure as hell will not stand with you,” O’Sullivan wrote, noting the jobs Keystone would create for union members.
I’d say it is time for some clever Republicans to reach out more to private sector construction trade unions.
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