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Labor-Chamber alliance hits brick wall

When the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce jointly announced support for President Barack Obama’s call for more infrastructure spending, the news turned heads and raised expectations. Here was a political power couple that could get it done — or so went the conventional wisdom.

But even with broad agreement across party lines that the nation’s crumbling roads, bridges and public transit must be updated, the powerhouse duo has so far been unable to pierce the anti-spending mood hanging over Washington.

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When House and Senate leaders release their transportation spending plans this summer, business and labor officials don’t expect the number to come anywhere near Obama’s $550 billion investment.

“Unfortunately, I think we’re up against a brick wall of a Congress and that’s the real challenge. You would think if you had business and labor united on the need to invest more in infrastructure, it would really move the ball,” said Janet Kavinoky, the Chamber’s lead transportation lobbyist.

Not even the one-two punch of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Chamber President Tom Donohue, who have become Capitol Hill’s most ubiquitous odd couple, has been able to reverse the anti-spending narrative.

In February, Trumka and Donohue were the only witnesses at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing entitled: “National Leaders’ Call to Action on Transportation.” In an unprecedented joint appearance before a congressional panel, the two were each given 15 minutes to speak — 10 minutes more than customary — and then field questions.

“The fact that Mr. Donohue and I appear before you today does not mean that hell has frozen over or unicorns are now roaming the land,” Trumka told the panel. “The fact is, while there are many policy areas where we have sharp differences, we both realize that our country needs to step up our ‘Investment in America’ for business as well as working Americans to succeed.”

A month later, Donohue and Trumka joined Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Mark Warner of Virginia and Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas at a news conference announcing legislation to create an infrastructure bank aimed at creating jobs and funding much needed projects.

“With a modest initial investment of $10 billion, a national infrastructure bank could leverage up to $600 billion in private investments to repair, modernize and expand our ailing infrastructure system,” Donohue said then.

But so far, the joint lobbying doesn’t extend much past the Donohue-Trumka show.

“Tom Donohue likes to take any opportunity for he and Richard Trumka to share the stage and push the message,” Kavinoky said.

Tom Trotter, Kavinoky’s counterpart at the AFL-CIO, said the two groups are “pre-positioning troops along the battle lines and trying to figure out where we can agree on things to fight for.”

During an interview, Trumka pushed back against the idea that his partnership with Donohue has not been a game-changer.

“The game’s still on and we’re making progress. Be like in a football game and we’re driving down to the 20-year-line and the conclusion is, ‘Well, you haven’t scored yet.’ No, but we’re moving in that direction,” the labor chief said.

Indeed, the debate has only begun. As yet, there isn’t a transportation reauthorization bill for either group to lobby for or against. But even this early on, the road ahead looks tough.

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The Republican 2012 budget plan calls for cutting $154 billion from transportation spending over the next five years. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) doesn’t sound as though he’s preparing to fight that, indicating that lawmakers will have to “do more with less.”

The House Republicans’ push to cut spending puts much of the lobbying onus on the Chamber, whose advocates are working to convince their allies that transportation and infrastructure should be exempt from tighter spending controls. But, as some industry insiders point out, the Chamber has little leverage over lawmakers who don’t vote their way because infrastructure funding is not a marquee issue.

“Transportation is just not one of those issues that whips people up into a frenzy where they get out the checkbook and say, ‘Oh my God, let’s go do this,’” said one business lobbyist.

But House Transportation Committee member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said the Chamber has never put hard pressure on GOP lawmakers and he blames it for helping to defeat Democrats friendly to the cause.

“The Chamber never put any juice behind it. They didn’t push the Republicans on the issue. In fact, as I said, they elected Republicans who are against investment ... . And they opposed Democrats who were for more investment, like [former House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim] Oberstar and others, and defeated them,” DeFazio said. “It’s good lip service, but they haven’t delivered.”

DeFazio was also critical of unions, saying there were certain factions that “made this a priority, but it was nowhere near enough to carry the day.”

“They could have put more pressure on the administration, and they could have certainly put more pressure on the Senate side,” he said.

Labor and business partnerships don’t guarantee success. For instance, an alliance of unions and business groups failed to open up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, said Matt Jeanneret, spokesman for the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, which represents the transportation construction industry.

“The reality is,” he said, “there’s only so much any of these groups can do.”

That said, supporters of more infrastructure spending are coming to town. Jeanneret’s group is flying in 400 people to the Mandarin Oriental on Tuesday to hear from Mica and Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia, the House Transportation Committee’s top Democrat. And on Wednesday, the group will hold a “rally for the roads” before fanning out on Capitol Hill to speak to lawmakers.

“It’s the grass roots that really has to make the difference here,” he said.

But a little paid media doesn’t hurt either. The road builders and the American Public Transportation Association have a six-figure radio and television ad campaign featuring Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton talking about the importance of investing in transportation.

“We’re going to step up here,” Jeanneret said. “That’s what we’re all about.”


Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC
1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Suite 705
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.com
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