DNC organizers move closer to union solution

Labor officials will have voice on host panel

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, April 13, 2007

Organizers of the Democratic National Convention made progress Thursday in resolving labor disputes that threatened to overshadow the event.

Labor officials were granted a seat on the Denver 2008 host committee that they had sought since last summer. The leader of one of the state's largest unions said it was time to "move on," and national AFL-CIO President John Sweeney flew into Denver to "tone down the rhetoric" that has surrounded the debate over labor issues in Colorado.

Other issues - such as the unionization of more downtown hotels - remain on the table.

This came on a day when hundreds of people gave Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean the rock star treatment, wildly applauding Dean during a celebration of Denver's selection to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Dean made it clear that he chose Denver to highlight the Democrats' push into the Rocky Mountain states. Democratic candidates have made strong gains in the interior West in the past two elections, and Colorado and several neighboring states will be targeted by the Democrats' presidential nominee.

"We believe that the road to the White House leads through the West," Dean told the crowd at the Colorado Convention Center.

In an interview with the Rocky, Dean said the success that Colorado Democrats have had in winning new support in rural areas has become a national model for the party.

"What Colorado has done well is to move the campaign into areas where Democrats haven't shown up before," said Dean.

Dean met privately with Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and several national and local union officials to discuss labor concerns. Sweeney's flight from Washington was delayed and he was not present at that meeting as scheduled.

Several sources said the atmosphere at the meeting was cordial. Much of the discussion involved the contract local unions have been asked to sign promising not to picket or disrupt the convention. The Pepsi Center is normally a nonunion facility, but during the convention only union labor will be used.

The local stagehands union has objected to working in a non- union facility and had refused to sign the contract. National representatives from that union, as well as from the construction trades, the communication workers and Unite Here - which organizes hotel workers - all met with Dean and Hickenlooper.

At the meeting, labor was promised a seat on the Denver 2008 Host committee. The unions also asked for Hickenlooper's help in organizing downtown hotels. About one-third of the 6,000 delegates are expected to be union members, and they prefer to stay at a union hotel. However, the new convention center Hyatt Regency is currently the only hotel that's been organized.

Katherine Archuleta, senior adviser on policy and initiatives for Hickenlooper, called it "a really constructive meeting."

"They focused on matters that were directly related to the contract between the host committee and the DNC," she said. "My impression at the end of the meeting was that everyone agreed and wanted to work together to solve the concerns that labor had."

Labor was also angered when Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed a bill in February that would have made it easier to win "closed shop" agreements. Sweeney is planning to return to Denver April 23 to meet with Ritter and discuss that veto.

Dean pointed out that labor issues arose before previous conventions in Boston and Los Angeles. In Boston in 2004, the police union threatened to picket almost until the eve of the convention.

"This isn't anything new," said Dean, who declined to discuss his meeting with Hickenlooper and the labor leaders.

Several union officials said Sweeney hoped to smooth things out in Denver and establish better relations with Ritter and Hickenlooper. The bad feelings reached a peak this month when Teamsters Union president James Hoffa publicly scolded Ritter over the veto at a dinner in Washington and warned him that labor's dissatisfaction could "blow up" during the convention.

"A lot of us want to move on," said Mitch Ackerman, Colorado president of the Service Employees International Union.

At the Democrats' rally, Dean announced that Leah Daughtry will be CEO of the convention, based in Washington, D.C. She held a similar post for the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York.

Colorado Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams said having the Democratic convention in Denver raised the state's political profile, but he also predicted it would help the GOP.

"We will win Colorado," said Wadhams. "Having the national Democratic Party come to Colorado will drive home just how far left and out of touch the national Democratic Party is with Colorado."

But Dean insisted it was the GOP that has lost touch with voters. He drew a roar from the crowd when he said Democrats would challenge President Bush on Iraq.

"We were elected in 2006 to change the course in Iraq, and we intend to change that course," he said. "We used to have the moral high ground all over the world. We will restore America with moral greatness and it will start here in Denver in 2008."

Speaking up for the convention

• "It's absolutely critical to the future of the party - the Rocky Mountain West and the Western states represent an untapped field for us."

Leah Daughtry, chief executive officer of the Democratic National Convention

• "I've been involved in politics for 20 years and wanted to be here. The convention will be good for the West. The Democrats haven't taken the West seriously."

Sally Shafroth, whose great-grandfather, John Shafroth, was a prominent Democratic politician in Colorado at the time of the 1908 Democratic National Convention in Denver. He was elected governor that year.

• "A couple of my friends who live in New York and Washington, D.C., were ribbing me about the convention being held here because we're seen as a conservative Republican state. I said, 'Maybe we're doing something different here now.' I see a lot of promise in what is happening now. Things are ripe for change."

Ahmed Stowers, of Denver

• "I think there's a lot of energy in the West. We're going to have a lot of wins in Denver and Colorado in 2008."

Wilma Webb, former first lady of Denver

• "This is, I think, a once-in-a-lifetime event, and exciting, and I wanted to come down and see what it was all about."

Brian Strain, who had his picture taken with Howard Dean after the celebration

steerss@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2282. Staff writers Joanne Kelley, Kevin Vaughan and Daniel Chacón contributed to this story.