A partnership at risk

If America's voters promote George W. Bush from governor of Texas to boss of the federal workforce, he'd better be prepared for a sharp change of climate on the labormanagement front. As President, of course, he won't owe many debts to organized labor. (According to a campaign spokesman, no unions

While organized labor's clout in the private sector has declined over the past 15 years, it has enjoyed steady growth in the federal workplace. According to Robert M. Tobias, retired president of the National Treasury Employees Union, 80 percent of federal employees now work in sectors represented by unions, compared with only 9.4 percent of workers in private business.

This is a far cry from Bush's experience in Texas, where state right-to-work statutes have limited unionization. "Organizing is a tough job here," observes Greg Powell, business manager of a Texas local of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which is struggling to gain a foothold among state corrections workers. "Our governor proclaims to be inclusive, but organized labor certainly isn't part of his constituency as he sees it," Powell contends.