The 2.5 million-member AFL-CIO has opted not to endorse two members of the New York delegation: Reps. Mike McMahon (NY-13) and Greg Meeks (NY-6), according to a source attending the federation’s convention at the Desmond in Colonie.

The McMahon decision comes as no big surprise. Labor soured on the Staten Island Democrat in a big way after he refused to change his “no” vote on the health care reform bill.

UPDATE: AFL-CIO spokesman Mario Cilento e-mailed to inform me that McMahon is not being endorsed “at this time”, which means the question is likely to be revisited at a later date and this is more of an effort to send a message of displeasure than anything else. Meeks is a definite “no endorsement”, and that’s final.

Meeks didn’t get the AFL nod in 2008, either, and has been at odds with labor since his “yes” vote on CAFTA. in 2005 (Another NY Democrat, Brooklyn Rep. Ed Towns, also voted “yes”, but has not been similarly treated).

McMahon’s health care vote caused SEIU 1199 to pull its endorsement of him. Ditto for the labor-backed Working Families Party.

There was initially some talk of finding a primary challenger to the congressman to teach him a lesson, although that was more likely in NY-24 where McMahon’s fellow Democrat, Rep. Mike Arcuri, also voted “no”.

That never materialized, however, as it became increasingly apparent that the Democrats were in real danger of losing control of the House and this was not time for, as one labor insider put it, a “demonstration project.”

Nevertheless, while labor is not longer interested in actively opposing McMahon, it’s clearly not interested in actively helping him, either.

This robs him of GOTV assistance that could prove crucial in a low-turnout year, but his race isn’t nearly as hot as it once was, either, largely due to the lack of consensus on the GOP side, where two candidates – Michael Allegretti and Michael Grimm – are duking it out for Row B.

As for Meeks, he has been in hot water for some time now, with a spate of negative stories – the most recent of deals with a $40,000 personal loan he received from a Queens businessman that is now the subject of an FBI investigation.

Meeks and McMahon were the only two members of the delegation to lose AFL support this year, according to my source. (That is with the exception of the two Republicans – Chris Lee and Pete King – who I don’t believe were in the running for the federation’s nod in the first place).

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