America's largest labor union organization is licking its wounds this Labor Day, having suffered the embarrassing defection of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).  Robert McEllrath, president of the ILWU quietly sent a letter to AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka on August 29, laying out the reasons for the splintering.  They are complicated, but "going along to get along" with Obama and Obamacare was mentioned. McEllrath wrote: President Obama ran on a platform that he would not tax medical plans and at the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention you [Trumka] stated that labor would not stand for a tax on our benefits. Yet the federation later lobbied affiliates to support a bill that taxed our health care plans. The ILWU mainly represents West Coast and Hawaii workers, and has a long and colorful history as a left wing-dominated union. These days, in the wake of containerization and increasing automation, it is struggling to survive. The letter was first leaked to the...(Read Full Post)