AFL-CIO, Breakaway Unions Discuss Reuniting
By KRIS MAHER Wall Street Journal
January 9, 2009 Leaders of the nation's biggest unions are in talks to reunite the labor movement after a breakaway group of unions left the AFL-CIO three years ago to form a rival federation.
While buoyed by recent political gains, labor has largely failed to reverse a longtime slide in union membership. A reunited movement could better coordinate efforts to work with the Obama administration to push for legislation and other political priorities at the national level on trade and regulatory issues.
David Bonior, a former Michigan congressman and a member of President-elect Barack Obama's economic-transition team, facilitated the meeting at the request of the unions. Mr. Bonior said that the leaders will meet several times in coming weeks, and that the Obama administration is playing no role in the talks.
The stakes are high for the AFL-CIO, which is nearing a change in leadership. President John Sweeney, 74 years old, is expected to step down this fall. Among those expected to vie for that title are Terry O'Sullivan, head of the Laborers International Union of North America, and Richard Trumka, secretary treasurer of the AFL-CIO.
Another issue to be worked out involves how much power big unions will have in the unified AFL-CIO in determining labor priorities.
The presidents of 12 unions representing most unionized workers in the country met Wednesday at the headquarters of the United Food and Commercial Workers in Washington to discuss how to bring back together the breakaway group, which consists of seven unions called Change to Win, with five million members, and the AFL-CIO, with 10 million members.
Mr. Sweeney strongly supports the return of the unions to the federation. Union leaders including Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, who led the revolt from the AFL-CIO in 2005, have said they want fundamental changes, including more federation resources devoted to organizing, before they will rejoin. Of all the major unions, the SEIU has been most successful in gaining members.
Other union presidents considering returning are James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Bruce Raynor, head of Unite Here; Mr. O'Sullivan; and Joe Hansen, who heads the UFCW.
Some labor experts said reconciliation would have little impact on union organizing, because much of those efforts are coordinated by individual unions. A greater potential impact, they say, is in bringing a unified front to the Obama administration.
"Political action on the national level may be enhanced," said Gary Chaison, a labor expert at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. But he said the personal ambitions of top officials, which helped drive the split, will likely be a big hurdle to reuniting. "There's a lot of political undercurrents and face-saving that has to be done."
The unions left the AFL-CIO arguing that they were hampered by the federation's bureaucratic structure, that major unions should have greater control, and that more resources should be devoted to organizing new members.
Mr. Raynor of Unite Here, which represents hotel and textile workers, said leadership issues never came up at Wednesday's meeting. He said the meeting was "constructive," but that the group is working on principles outlining what would amount to a new federation. "There is a strong mutual desire to have a united labor movement," he said. "There is no desire...to return to the federation we left."
Mr. Trumka, the second-highest-ranking officer at the AFL-CIO, has been a leading candidate to succeed Mr. Sweeney. But some labor officials noted that he didn't attend the Wednesday meeting and that it seemed more likely that a returning president would get the job. Mr. Trumka was traveling and couldn't immediately comment.
Unions Need Unity
Tuesday 13 January 2009
by: David Bacon, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Unions are at their lowest point in membership since the 1920s, representing less than 10 percent of the workforce. Obama's election, which they pulled out all the stops to achieve, promises some degree of change from federal policies that have accelerated that decline. The president-elect has appointed potentially the most pro-union labor secretary since the 1930s - Congresswoman Hilda Solis. A potential Congressional majority could pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make union organizing much easier and protect workers from retaliatory firings while they unionize. Obama has promised to sign the bill if Congress passes it. Read More...
Labor Calls for Unity After Years of Division
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
January 7, 2009 The New York Times
The presidents of 12 of the nation’s largest labor unions called Wednesday for reuniting the American labor movement, which split apart three and a half years ago when seven unions left the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and formed a rival federation.
The union presidents issued their joint call after the transition team for President-elect Barack Obama signaled that it would prefer dealing with a united movement, rather than a fractured one that often had two competing voices.
David E. Bonior, a member of Mr. Obama’s economic transition team who withdrew from consideration as labor secretary, helped arrange and oversee a meeting of the union presidents on Wednesday in Washington.
The leaders are hoping, by April 15, to approve a plan to reunify, one union official said. But some officials said they might fail to reach agreement.
Mr. Bonior, a former House majority whip, said he would organize meetings with labor leaders over the next few weeks in the hope of hammering out details about what form a reunified labor federation would take.
The 12 union presidents issued a statement, saying: “The goal of the meeting is to create a unified labor movement that can speak and act nationally on the critical issues facing working Americans. While we represent the largest labor unions, we recognize that unity requires broad participation.”
The call for reunification was something of an about-face for the presidents of the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters and several other unions that quit the A.F.L.-C.I.O., asserting that the federation was stodgy and had not done enough to reverse organized labor’s long decline. The breakaway unions formed a federation called Change to Win.
“There was a real sense of commitment to unifying our movement again,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said Wednesday. “It was clear that many of us felt that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and we really want to do things to help American workers get their rightful place in society.”
To bring about reunification, several labor leaders have called for revamping and modernizing the A.F.L.-C.I.O., traditionally the nation’s main federation, currently with 56 member unions. But several labor leaders have called for replacing the A.F.L.-C.I.O. with a new, more dynamic group.
There was general agreement that any future federation should focus on political and legislative matters, while also serving to encourage individual unions to do more to organize workers.
The leaders of several breakaway unions have called for changing the name of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. because they had vowed never to return to the same federation.
But many A.F.L.-C.I.O. officials argue that it would be silly to alter the name of such a well-known organization and replace it with a name that few Americans are familiar with.
Labor officials said they did not discuss on Wednesday who would succeed John J. Sweeney, 74, who is scheduled to step down this year after heading the A.F.L.-C.I.O. for 13 years.
Richard Trumka, the federation’s secretary-treasurer and former president of the United Mine Workers, has been lobbying among union presidents to succeed Mr. Sweeney. But some union leaders, especially those in the rival labor federation, say they want a fresh voice leading organized labor.
The reorganizing proposals that unions president have floated in recent days include a rotating presidency for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. or its successor federation, with the presidents of individual unions serving two-year terms as head of the parent federation.
One A.F.L.-C.I.O. official described that plan this way: “The dukes want to replace the king.”
But many officials oppose a rotating presidency, saying the parent federation needs a strong, visible president who, by dint of serving for several years, is recognized by Congress and the news media as the undisputed voice for labor.
Several presidents have also called for creating a strong executive director’s position, partly in the hope that the parent federation would have two strong voices rather than one.
Those at Wednesday’s meeting included Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees union, who led the walkout in 2005; as well as the presidents of the Teamsters, the United Steelworkers, United Auto Workers, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
One somewhat surprising attendee was Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, which, with 3.2 million members, is the nation’s largest labor union, but has traditionally remained outside any larger labor federations.
Officials from several Change to Win unions have said in recent months that they were seeing little advantage in maintaining a separate labor federation.
Labor leaders see chance for rebirth
By JEANNE CUMMINGS Politico.com
January 6, 2009 Could the Inauguration of Barack Obama launch a renewal of the labor movement?
That’s the hope of labor leaders who have been monitoring Cabinet appointments and delivering legislative and regulatory wish lists to the Obama transition teams.
Beyond the new president and his vice president, Joe Biden, they can count at least three new Cabinet secretaries — Hillary Rodham Clinton at State, Hilda L. Solis at Labor and Tom Vilsack at Agriculture — as longtime allies who have sought their support in presidential, congressional and gubernatorial races.
The condensed summary of AFL-CIO requests and recommendations fills nearly 16 full pages, including such targeted calls for action as ending a policy that allows Mexican trucks on U.S. highways and creating a friendlier National Labor Relations Board.
Labor’s ambitions, however, are much bigger than those specific requests. And to achieve them, it may need to put its own house in order before it can exert maximum influence on the new Democratic White House.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney’s term expires this year and he’s not seeking reelection, clearing the way for new leadership of the movement’s most recognizable brand name.
A dozen or so presidents of the federation’s biggest unions are scheduled to meet in Washington this week — without the AFL-CIO leadership — to deliberate on what new mission and set of priorities should be established for the labor movement and who is best suited to bring a fresh image to it.
Among their goals is to use the election to reunite the AFL-CIO with a set of unions that broke away from the federation after a dispute with Sweeney’s team and created an organization called Change to Win.
Reconciliation would consolidate labor’s resources and ensure that the movement speaks with one voice during this critical period.
Recent interviews with four labor leaders — Sweeney; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Gerald McEntee; Change to Win co-founder and Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern; and International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger — show a movement eager to secure a foothold in the wholesale economic changes that could come as Obama implements his aggressive recovery program.
“For American labor, 2009 will be a big year,” McEntee said. “We have a new administration. We have governors all across the country who are looking toward being able to organize more workers in red states that have become blue.”
A huge stimulus package rooted in massive spending on public infrastructure improvements would create ripe opportunities for union construction jobs, from laying asphalt to painting new school buildings to rebuilding firehouses.
Obama’s vision to stimulate a new green jobs sector of the economy offers a chance to attach labor-friendly strings to any grants or research projects and a prospective place to transfer the skills of imperiled, unionized steelworkers and autoworkers.
But several labor leaders noted that passage of the legislation in the Senate remains an uphill fight because Republicans have enough votes to block it. As a consequence, labor leaders may win legislation that toughens scrutiny of management but doesn’t guarantee the card check program they have sought.
The way Sweeney, McEntee, Stern and Schaitberger see it, the Democratic victories of 2008 are nothing less than a chance to usher in a new age for the nation’s once-enviable middle class — working-class families who could pay for homes and college tuitions on one or two household salaries, rather than being forced to take on multiple jobs or debilitating debt.
“Give us a government that will be fair and allow that middle class of America that built this country to grab a little piece of the dream again,” Schaitberger said.
Settled at the end of a conference table at the AFL-CIO headquarters near the White House the other day, Sweeney recalled a cold, drizzly day in 1944 that reminds him of the juncture that labor finds itself at today.
Sweeney was 10 years old, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt was winding up his reelection campaign with an October swing in his Bronx, N.Y., neighborhood. The crowd cheered wildly for the president who is largely credited with using government’s deep pockets and reach to push the nation toward economic recovery.
“I compare this time to the Depression. Barack Obama has the ability to turn this country around,” Sweeney said. “We won’t be shy about expressing ourselves and speaking out, loud and clear, about our core positions.”
Renovation of the nation’s health care system also could open up opportunities to unionize new workers, make homes for old ones and ease one of the biggest financial burdens for union workers and all families.
“We can’t get our economy back on track without changing how we do health care. Each moment we wait, the worse it gets,” Stern said. “Solving America’s health care crisis now will bring down costs, help stimulate the economy, create new jobs and make businesses more competitive.”
The new Congress provides other labor opportunities as well. Priority No. 1 is passage of labor’s long-sought ability to organize more easily by collecting signatures on cards rather than organizing an elaborate election, which can be monitored and checked by management.
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