Democrats on Beacon Hill are all about standing up for the little guy. Until they aren’t.

At the bidding of public employee unions and some car insurance providers, the party in power is doing its best to kill a pilot program that allows thousands of Massachusetts motorists to renew licenses and car registrations without waiting in endless Registry lines.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles has coped with the fiscal crisis by closing seven branches since July - doubling wait times - but has been operating a pilot program that allowed members of the American Automobile Association to conduct routine business at AAA offices in Newton and Worcester.

So in the same way an auto dealership is equipped to handle your new registration, those AAA branches are allowed to handle your renewal. Easier on the drivers and easier on overburdened Registry offices. Maine and Rhode Island have a similar arrangement, and the RMV had hoped to expand it beyond Newton and Worcester.

But fearful of losing government jobs, the unions have pressured their legislative allies to kill the program. And since AAA also happens to write auto insurance policies for a single provider, pressure also came from that company’s rivals.

The pilot program is to expire on March 31, and Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) and his Democratic colleagues last week spiked a Republican effort that would have made it permanent. So the special interests won out over the average harried motorist.

Yep, it’s all about the little guy. Until it isn’t