Conventional Wisdom and the ISO

Ryan O'Donnell / February 27, 2009

As conventional wisdom reminds us: You are known by the company you keep.

So what is one to make of the AFL-CIO and Jobs with Justice, two labor-movement heavyweights, allying themselves with the International Socialist Organization (ISO)? According to the ISO’s North Texas branch, last night, the AFL-CIO and Jobs with Justice met with the ISO tonight to discuss “why we need the [Employee Free Choice Act] and how we can win it.”

After all, the ISO hardly seems like the type of group Big Labor would want to have in charge of marketing its support for the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Avowed socialist agenda aside, this image of a Communist Christ, taken directly from the North Texas ISO social-networking site, probably won’t play well with rank-and-file union members.

Then again, considering these recent poll numbers indicating that public opinion has turned resoundingly against EFCA, maybe socialists are the only contingency left for the unions to court.