Misguided Union Leaders

What's the #1 priority of every union leader? I always thought it was to increase the wages & benefits of their union members. Did this change and no one told me?

Ken Lewenza has succeeded the incompetent Buzz Hargrove as head of the Canadian Auto Workers Union, the largest private sector union in Canada with 260,000 members.

The traditional North American auto manufacturing industry is in desperate trouble, with plant after plant after plant being shut down. There are many reasons for this, which include: high gas prices slowing down sales, uncompetitive wages, and poor productivity.

In the [expected] upcoming Canadian federal election there are only two political parties that have any realistic chance of forming the government: The Liberals and The Conservatives. Stephane Dion's Liberals are focusing much of their campaign on a Green Shift plan. Every realistic examination of this plan concludes that it will amount to a tax on every household, estimated at $6,000 per family in energy producing provinces and $1,300 per family elsewhere.

With more money going to the government there will be less money to buy things like . . . automobiles and gasoline! So, from the perspective of a CAW member, is it in their personal best interest to support a political party in favour of such a plan or one opposed to it?

Would someone please explain to me why Mr. Lewenza would say the following in his first speech as president of the CAW: "I will do everything in my power to defeat The Conservatives in the upcoming federal election!"

Politics often boggles the mind.