The first day of the Texas State Democratic Party Convention gave voters important insights on the party’s relationship with organized labor and the implications in has for the Lone Star State. Texas Democrats gathered in Dallas with the stated objective of “Turning Texas Blue.” Though Democrats are said to have an uphill climb in this objective, they’ve been very upfront about a major component of their ground game.
In the Labor caucus of the first convention day, Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa pumped-up the crowd of union members by saying, “We are so proud of this relationship we have between the Democratic Party and Labor. We are joined at the hip with Labor.” Another leadership figure of the party, executive director Will Hailer even went so far as to off-handedly describe the Democrats as the “Texas Labor Party” reminiscent of the major political parties of many socialist countries.
The high volume of union sponsors and labor-oriented events for the convention schedule, it would be easy to mistaken the weekend for a union convention. At numerous times during Friday’s “issue caucuses,” virtually every candidate admonished union organizers to “get out the vote for the straight D ticket.” Candidates also lamented Texas’ pro-growth Right to Work laws and lack of a strong union presence.
If Texans can take any lesson from the track record of organized labor in other states, it is certain that an increased union presence would spell the end of the Texas Miracle of economic dynamism. Entrepreneurs and corporate investors looking to Texas to create jobs are right to be cautious of union recidivism in the Lone Star State.
With the economic decline of heavily unionized states, there can be no doubt that modern labor organizations disrupt job creation. The labor agenda of public-sector growth and involuntary collectivism are antithetical to our Texas tradition of economic freedom and individualism.
Conservatives in Texas are riding a wave of enthusiasm following major primary wins and the promise of new leadership, committed to the growth agenda of limited government. Texans have a clear choice in November. Emboldened conservative leadership or Blue state backwardness embodied by the Texas Labor Party-the Democrats.
