AFGE Intensifies Political Attacks

AFGE is increasing its political exposure with a series of political ads for the 2004 presidential election

Federal employee unions have become increasingly active in presidential politics. The time and money spent campaigning for for Vice President Al Gore probably did not help strengthen the unions’ position in recent legislative action in Congress to create the Department of Homeland Security or modify the Department of Defense human resources system.

But while the resources spent during the last presidential election apparently didn’t yield the results they were seeking, it hasn’t deterred the underlying philosophy and actions of some unions representing federal employees. We don’t know whether this intense political activity will improve the work environment for federal employees but the trend is certainly continuing.

Some federal employee unions are not shy about ferociously attacking the Bush administration. The political activities have been raised to a new level with ads produced by AFGE for showing on television stations with stations in states with upcoming presidential primaries.

You can download the video showing one of the new union ads here.

About the Author

Ralph Smith has several decades of experience working with federal human resources issues. He has written extensively on a full range of human resources topics in books and newsletters and is a co-founder of two companies and several newsletters on federal human resources. Follow Ralph on Twitter: @RalphSmith47