CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Unions, traditionally a force at Democratic National Conventions, are largely skipping this year's quadrennial festivities.
Many of Charlotte's local unions are still marching, but their ranks won't be fleshed out by brethren from across the country, who typically converge on Democratic convention cities to volunteer, rally and host policy briefings.
National labor leaders are angry that the Democrats chose to have their convention in a right-to-work state and in a city they say has too few unionized workers.
"There are plenty of other places this convention could have been held where union members would have been involved from start to finish in the preparation, the planning, the work, the set-up, the operation, the tear-down and every aspect of dealing with this convention," said Phil Smith, spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America.
The AFL-CIO is bowing out, too. "We won't be buying skyboxes, hosting events other than the labor delegates meeting or bringing a big staff to the convention," union President Richard Trumka wrote last month in a letter to his union's local leaders.
But, labor leaders say, don't confuse the message of the boycott. Unions still support President Obama and Democratic policy.
"Does that mean unions will abandon Obama in November? Don't bet on it," said Phillip Wilson, president of the Labor Relations Institute, a human resources consulting firm in Broken Arrow, Okla. "Unions will be around, especially in state and local elections, where they feel they have more control over the politicians they help elect."
Some union members, though, are disenchanted with Obama for blocking the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought thousands of new construction jobs.
