Democrats' rift with unions erupts as shutdown pain worsens

Democrats' already fraying alliance with organized labor is coming under new strain as a growing list of union leaders calls on the party to accept a Republican bill that would reopen the government.Why it matters: Once it would have been virtually unthinkable for so many unions to break so decisively with their long-time Democratic compatriots in such a highly charged national fight. Not anymore.Trump has made major inroads for Republicans with rank-and-file union members, even getting the Teamsters to stay neutral in last year's presidential election.Despite Trump's generally anti-union record, he picked a labor secretary supported by the Teamsters president Sean O'Brien and has gotten union backing for some of his trade policies.Driving the news: The White House on Thursday night released a video to social media in which the presidents of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Allied Pilots Association and National Air Traffic Controllers Association endorse Republicans' stopgap government funding bill."The biggest way to ensure the safety, security and reliability of our national air traffic control system is to pass a clean continuing resolution," said Jody Reven, president of the SAPA.The union leaders said a month of missed paychecks is distracting and stressful for Transportation Security Administration workers and air traffic controllers and will ultimately disrupt airport operations.Inside the West Wing, White House officials note that the union messaging for a "clean CR" has been Trump's position since the shutdown started Oct. 1."The longer the Democrats keep the govt shutdown the worse it gets for them," a White House official told Axios."Airlines, unions, small businesses, and organizations from all different backgrounds have the same message: stop holding us hostage and reopen the government."Zoom out: O'Brien, speaking outside the White House on Thursday, also called for Democrats to "pass a clean CR" and "not put working people in the middle of a problem."The American Federation of Government Employees, the country's largest union of federal workers and a typically reliable ally to Democrats, called to pass a clean CR earlier this week as well."I represent Democrats, and I represent Republicans. I represent independents," AFGE president Everett Kelley told Politico. "I don't feel like I owe anybody."Yes, but: Union pressure has so far proven ineffective at getting the Democrats to relent and drop their demands for language in the spending bill to renew expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits.House and Senate Democrats largely shrugged off the AFGE's statement, with several lawmakers telling Axios they believe it was misguided and that the union's rank-and-file are behind them.Axios reached out to more than a dozen House Democrats and their offices about the latest bevy of union statements Thursday night, but none immediately offered comment on the record.Still, the Senate showed signs of progress on Thursday, with senators in both parties saying negotiations have picked up after weeks of stalemate.

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