Latest Scare Tactic
Kenneth R. "Ken" Plum
 
        The use of fear as a motivator in political campaigns is nothing new.  All political parties have attempted at times to scare the electorate into supporting their candidate or issue.  The most recent health care debate has seen numerous attempts at scare tactics:  death panels, higher taxes, loss of benefits, the government being between you and your doctor, and others.  Sometimes the scare is great enough and the fear is strong enough that the approach does influence people's thinking.  Other times the scare tactic taken from a national playbook and applied to local situations can seem silly.
 
        Republican Party leaders in Virginia switched from their anti-immigrant rhetoric when it backfired on them in recent elections.  The latest big scare from them seems to be the supposed influence of labor unions.  When attempted in Virginia, the tactic comes across as ridiculous.  The notion that somehow big labor could cause the economy of the Commonwealth to collapse and send big companies fleeing the state is absurd.
 
        This year's annual debate sponsored by the Reston Citizen's Association provided an opportunity for me as the incumbent delegate in the 36th district to debate my Republican challenger.  Questions were posed by members of the local media except that each candidate was given the opportunity to ask the other a single question.  With all the concern about traffic congestion in our region, the needs in education at all levels, the budget reductions in vital services brought on by the recession, and the challenges brought on by continued growth, my opponent went directly to the Republican playbook for his question and asked me about the influence of labor unions on my campaign, the right to work law, and the potential of companies leaving the area because of unionization.  It was the latest scare tactic at work to suggest that Democrats are controlled by unions.
 
        A minimal amount of advanced preparation before the debate would have revealed to him that in my 30 years in the House of Delegates I have never introduced a bill to repeal the right to work law nor has anyone else as I can recall.  Likewise, I am not aware of any campaign on the part of unions to repeal the law.  Unions would have no self-interest as far as I can detect on having companies leave the state and take their jobs with them.  My talks with union bosses have been about raising the minimum wage that has not been done in Virginia in ten years, improving schools for their children and workforce training for their members, and eliminating predatory lending companies that prey on the poor.
 
        Organized labor union members make up only about 4.1 percent of the Virginia labor force (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members in 2008, Jan. 28, 2009) and a lesser percent than that in the Dulles Corridor.  I am pleased to have union endorsements for my re-election as I have also  been endorsed by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, and the Northern Virginia/Realtors Political Action Committee.  Our region faces many challenges, but organized labor is not one that we need to fear.  We need to join their efforts to help working men and women.