Hypocrisy: DNC Chose State That Bans Public Employee Collective Bargaining for 2012 Convention

The DNC selected Charlotte, NC for their 2012 convention. North Carolina is one of only two states that ban public employee collective bargaining. After the contentious public employee union battle in Wisconsin, the DNC probably wishes they had that decision back. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker  and GOP legislators are trying to limit public employee bargaining in a battle that has caused 14 Democrats to flee the state.

"I think the Democratic Party is in crisis and they're trying to figure out who are they really going to represent," said Angaza Laughinghouse, president of the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union.

Workers around the nation have rallied in solidarity with union brethren fighting Republican efforts to curtail collective bargaining rights for public employees in Wisconsin and Ohio. But the issue is a moot point in North Carolina, one of two states where all public workers are prohibited by law from engaging in collective bargaining.

When Democrats chose Charlotte, they were thinking of trying to keep a southern state that Obama narrowly won in 2008. That strategy doesn't look so smart now. Does it?