A plan to revamp the AFL-CIO, issued by its top three leaders, calls for more money for organizing and mobilizing, year-round issues campaigns, more coordinated strategic organizing and voluntary union mergers. But some top union officers say the plan fails to devote enough resources to organizing.
The 27-page plan, released April 28, will go to federation leaders at the Executive Council in June, spokeswoman Suzanne Ffolkes said. It has no change in that body's large size.
The plan keeps the council but lodges more power over daily AFL-CIO operations in a smaller Executive Committee of 18: leaders of the 15 largest unions, the president and two others.
And the new plan also reiterates a prior federation standard that each union should spend at least 30 percent of its budget on organizing. That would produce spending of $500 million per year by international unions alone, it said.
The plan builds on debates that began last June after Service Employees President Andrew Stern called the AFL-CIO outmoded and too loose. He said it should be revamped or junked.
The new plan is designed to revamp the federation and counter current anti-worker political realities, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in its introduction.
"The narrow losses of Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 made it plain the labor movement's growing political effectiveness could not compensate for its loss of membership density," Sweeney and his two fellow officers added.
"These are areas where we do have agreement and we're moving forward," Sweeney told a telephone press conference. But Stern later said in a statement that the new plan has holes.
Stern and his allies wanted more than Sweeney offered. They lost a bid for more radical change--including rebates of half of any union's AFL-CIO dues to those unions that conduct strategic organizing--at the council meeting in Las Vegas in early March. They also wanted forced union mergers.
Stern and his allies--Presidents James Hoffa of the Teamsters, Joe Hansen of UFCW, Terry O'Sullivan of the Laborers and Bruce Raynor and John Wilhelm of UNITE HERE--were not satisfied with the latest plan, either. Stern's union, the federation's largest, has a committee studying disaffiliation.
"Uniting workers who are not yet in unions must be at the top of labor's agenda and is the key to once again realizing a vital union movement," Stern's group said in a statement, continuing their push to put organizing ahead of politics.
But Sweeney responded at the press conference that "we have managed to rearrange some programs and expenses to provide more resources for organizing and field mobilization."
AFL-CIO-alone organizing money would rise by $10 million, to $22.5 million. Two-thirds would be rebated to unions that create strategic organizing drives. The rest would be for national cam-paigns against large anti-union employers, "such as Wal-Mart, Comcast, FedEx, Toyota and a major public employer," it said.
Field mobilization, on political issues, would get $30 million, again a $7.5 million increase. Neither increase includes salaries and expenses for staffers, just the campaigns.
Sweeney repeatedly refused to say how many of the AFL-CIO's 420 staffers would be let go, how the budget would be rearranged and which fed functions would be downgraded or dumped. He said the budget is not finalized.
Stern and his allies, whose unions--including SEIU--have 39 percent of all AFL-CIO members, said that wasn't good enough.
"In light of today's recommendations from officers of the AFL-CIO, there remain many unanswered questions. We continue to call on the Sweeney administration to provide complete information regarding its programming and operational budget," they said. Hoffa previously said the federation has a $176 million budget, and the 50 percent rebate would cut it in half.
A key point in the federation's blueprint is to mobilize members year-round around political issues, such as the current campaign to defeat GOP President George W. Bush's Social Security privatization plan. Political member mobilization is the reason for the increase, Sweeney said. The plan has no dues hike.
The fed also wants to install full-time political directors in key states, and target "consolidating and expanding our strength in union-dense states." Sweeney said other initiatives would be tried in the overwhelmingly non-union South, but the plan is silent on that point.
"We can't just be waiting for the active political campaigns. We have to be mobilizing in the field all year and work on activating our members on issues as well as candidates for public office," Sweeney explained.
Other key points of the leaders' revamp plan include:
* Creating industry coordinating committees "in employment sectors where AFL-CIO unions have significant membership, with participation required. The committees will develop and implement global industry strategies to support organizing and bargaining." They include joint strategic growth plans, joint bargaining and joint political programs.
* "Encourage and actively facilitate voluntary mergers of unions, especially those with common core jurisdictions, that will increase union bargaining power." The plan did not say how the federation would do that.
* Expanding the Voice@Work campaign, to train 100,000 worksite stewards by 2008, "educate elected officials and other opinion leaders about pervasive violations of this fundamental right and gain their support for collective bargaining rights in general and the Employee Free Choice Act in particular."
* A "major campaign" to expose Wal-Mart's greed, "stop the Wal-Marting of good jobs" and help UFCW's organizing drive in the million-worker viciously anti-union retailer. Stern had demanded earmarking $25 million for the Wal-Mart drive.
* "Working together with our constituency groups, assisting and strengthening efforts to mobilize people of color, especially in southern states, and to build stronger coalitions with the Latino community."
* Expanding Working America--the federation's new arm for workers who want to participate but have no union to join--from its present 900,000 members to 2 million by the end of next year. The revamp plan also calls for involving them more in the political issues mobilization.
* Restructuring state feds and central labor councils (CLCs) with integrated budgets and planning and consolidation into larger, regional bodies. The plan also says the AFL-CIO would "set performance benchmarks and standards for state and local labor movements, and step in to enforce these standards as needed to ensure effective performance." It did not say how.
In response to concerns from federation constituency groups that the revamp would freeze out or hamper minorities and women, the leaders' plan set several specific goals. One would "require women and people of color be represented at AFL-CIO conventions at least in proportion to their representation in the membership of their affiliated unions." Another demands the Executive Council, state feds and CLCs "develop plans to achieve targeted levels of diversity by the 2009 convention."
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
For more information
Visit the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor's Future
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A plan to revamp the AFL-CIO, issued by its top three leaders, calls for more money for organizing and mobilizing, year-round issues campaigns, more coordinated strategic organizing and voluntary union mergers. But some top union officers say the plan fails to devote enough resources to organizing.
The 27-page plan, released April 28, will go to federation leaders at the Executive Council in June, spokeswoman Suzanne Ffolkes said. It has no change in that body’s large size.
The plan keeps the council but lodges more power over daily AFL-CIO operations in a smaller Executive Committee of 18: leaders of the 15 largest unions, the president and two others.
And the new plan also reiterates a prior federation standard that each union should spend at least 30 percent of its budget on organizing. That would produce spending of $500 million per year by international unions alone, it said.
The plan builds on debates that began last June after Service Employees President Andrew Stern called the AFL-CIO outmoded and too loose. He said it should be revamped or junked.
The new plan is designed to revamp the federation and counter current anti-worker political realities, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in its introduction.
“The narrow losses of Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 made it plain the labor movement’s growing political effectiveness could not compensate for its loss of membership density,” Sweeney and his two fellow officers added.
“These are areas where we do have agreement and we’re moving forward,” Sweeney told a telephone press conference. But Stern later said in a statement that the new plan has holes.
Stern and his allies wanted more than Sweeney offered. They lost a bid for more radical change–including rebates of half of any union’s AFL-CIO dues to those unions that conduct strategic organizing–at the council meeting in Las Vegas in early March. They also wanted forced union mergers.
Stern and his allies–Presidents James Hoffa of the Teamsters, Joe Hansen of UFCW, Terry O’Sullivan of the Laborers and Bruce Raynor and John Wilhelm of UNITE HERE–were not satisfied with the latest plan, either. Stern’s union, the federation’s largest, has a committee studying disaffiliation.
“Uniting workers who are not yet in unions must be at the top of labor’s agenda and is the key to once again realizing a vital union movement,” Stern’s group said in a statement, continuing their push to put organizing ahead of politics.
But Sweeney responded at the press conference that “we have managed to rearrange some programs and expenses to provide more resources for organizing and field mobilization.”
AFL-CIO-alone organizing money would rise by $10 million, to $22.5 million. Two-thirds would be rebated to unions that create strategic organizing drives. The rest would be for national cam-paigns against large anti-union employers, “such as Wal-Mart, Comcast, FedEx, Toyota and a major public employer,” it said.
Field mobilization, on political issues, would get $30 million, again a $7.5 million increase. Neither increase includes salaries and expenses for staffers, just the campaigns.
Sweeney repeatedly refused to say how many of the AFL-CIO’s 420 staffers would be let go, how the budget would be rearranged and which fed functions would be downgraded or dumped. He said the budget is not finalized.
Stern and his allies, whose unions–including SEIU–have 39 percent of all AFL-CIO members, said that wasn’t good enough.
“In light of today’s recommendations from officers of the AFL-CIO, there remain many unanswered questions. We continue to call on the Sweeney administration to provide complete information regarding its programming and operational budget,” they said. Hoffa previously said the federation has a $176 million budget, and the 50 percent rebate would cut it in half.
A key point in the federation’s blueprint is to mobilize members year-round around political issues, such as the current campaign to defeat GOP President George W. Bush’s Social Security privatization plan. Political member mobilization is the reason for the increase, Sweeney said. The plan has no dues hike.
The fed also wants to install full-time political directors in key states, and target “consolidating and expanding our strength in union-dense states.” Sweeney said other initiatives would be tried in the overwhelmingly non-union South, but the plan is silent on that point.
“We can’t just be waiting for the active political campaigns. We have to be mobilizing in the field all year and work on activating our members on issues as well as candidates for public office,” Sweeney explained.
Other key points of the leaders’ revamp plan include:
* Creating industry coordinating committees “in employment sectors where AFL-CIO unions have significant membership, with participation required. The committees will develop and implement global industry strategies to support organizing and bargaining.” They include joint strategic growth plans, joint bargaining and joint political programs.
* “Encourage and actively facilitate voluntary mergers of unions, especially those with common core jurisdictions, that will increase union bargaining power.” The plan did not say how the federation would do that.
* Expanding the Voice@Work campaign, to train 100,000 worksite stewards by 2008, “educate elected officials and other opinion leaders about pervasive violations of this fundamental right and gain their support for collective bargaining rights in general and the Employee Free Choice Act in particular.”
* A “major campaign” to expose Wal-Mart’s greed, “stop the Wal-Marting of good jobs” and help UFCW’s organizing drive in the million-worker viciously anti-union retailer. Stern had demanded earmarking $25 million for the Wal-Mart drive.
* “Working together with our constituency groups, assisting and strengthening efforts to mobilize people of color, especially in southern states, and to build stronger coalitions with the Latino community.”
* Expanding Working America–the federation’s new arm for workers who want to participate but have no union to join–from its present 900,000 members to 2 million by the end of next year. The revamp plan also calls for involving them more in the political issues mobilization.
* Restructuring state feds and central labor councils (CLCs) with integrated budgets and planning and consolidation into larger, regional bodies. The plan also says the AFL-CIO would “set performance benchmarks and standards for state and local labor movements, and step in to enforce these standards as needed to ensure effective performance.” It did not say how.
In response to concerns from federation constituency groups that the revamp would freeze out or hamper minorities and women, the leaders’ plan set several specific goals. One would “require women and people of color be represented at AFL-CIO conventions at least in proportion to their representation in the membership of their affiliated unions.” Another demands the Executive Council, state feds and CLCs “develop plans to achieve targeted levels of diversity by the 2009 convention.”
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
For more information
Visit the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor’s Future