All eyes were on the Republican National Convention in Tampa last week, as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney officially accepted his party's nomination for president. Along with the convention, of course, was the unveiling of the party's 2012 platform, which contains several labor-related items that haven't gotten as much attention as some of the platform's other planks.

As we reported in Daily Labor Report, the latest statement of party policy did not say anything about whether workers should be free to choose whether or not to join a union and bargain collectively. In 2008, by contrast, the party affirmed the right of workers to unionize, as well as the right of states to enact right-to-work laws.

But the 2012 platform not only encouraged the enactment of right-to-work laws at the state level, it advocated for such a law at the national level, the first time that proposal has surfaced from the GOP. Right-to-work laws make it illegal to require the payment of union dues or fees as a condition of employment, and have been supported by many GOP governors and members of Congress.

In addition, the platform said the Obama administration had "antiquated notions of confrontation and concentrating power in the Washington offices of union elites," specifically citing the administration's support for the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, which failed in Congress two years ago and would have made it easier for unions to organize. The GOP also disapproved of the administration's encouragement of the use of project labor agreements on federal construction projects.

As many observers have pointed out, there are various differences between the party's platform and Gov. Romney's positions, so it's still unclear what stances a Romney administration would take on labor issues. But it's probably safe to assume a Romney Labor Department wouldn't have as close a relationship with unions as the current one - Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, the daughter of an International Brotherhood of Teamsters member, frequently praises the role of unions in a healthy economy.

As the Democratic convention gets underway this week in Charlotte, labor likely will play something of a more understated role than it has at past Democratic conclaves. Many union officials have been less than thrilled that the convention is being held in a right-to-work state, in a city with no unionized hotels. But at least a few union leaders will be there as active participants: James P. Hoffa, Teamsters president, is a convention delegate from Michigan, and both United Auto Workers President Bob King and Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry are scheduled to address delegates tonight.