The ongoing national debate about the future direction of the labor movement may seem far removed from the lives of rank and file union members. Who's left the national AFL-CIO, who remains, and what the two sides are arguing about may seem remote indeed.
But the debate ? and the break-away of four unions (so far) from the AFL-CIO ? will have profound consequences for all workers. Members of local unions expect that their union will be able to bargain good contracts to secure good wages, benefits and working conditions, operate in a democratic manner, and raise a forceful voice for the interests of working families in local, state and national politics. Solidarity among all unions makes all those things possible.
The split in the House of Labor at the national level, regrettably, also threatens to produce cracks in union solidarity at the local and state level. The AFL-CIO constitution says that the AFL-CIO's local central labor councils and state federations may not accept as affiliates local unions whose international unions are not part of the national AFL-CIO.
Here at the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council, that means we stand to lose about 25-30 percent of our members and our budget. Those projected losses are important because they risk impairing the local labor movement's ability to act together in solidarity through the CLUC in contract campaigns and strikes and to wield clout in the political arena.
We can't allow the split in the national labor movement to weaken our local labor movement. And we won't.
We've made too much progress over the past few years to let those gains slip away now. We've created a year-round political program, we've built new community alliances, we've improved our ability to communicate with and mobilize local union members, we've grown in numbers, and we've won important political victories. We're poised to keep winning.
Since the national AFL-CIO convention, I've been meeting with local leaders of unions who disaffiliated nationally to begin discussions about how we can work together at the local level despite the national split. They all say they want to continue to work together, although we don?t yet know what form our new relationship will take.
One hopeful development: the AFL-CIO executive committee will consider a proposal for "Solidarity Charters" that would allow central labor councils and state federations to continue formal relationships with locals of disaffiliated unions ? under certain terms.
More importantly, we're going to be working to increase affiliation with the CLUC from AFL-CIO unions currently unaffiliated locally or who aren't participating 100 percent.
From crisis comes opportunity. The current crisis may create the opportunity for our local labor movement to become stronger than ever before.
Bill McCarthy is president of the Minneapolis Central Labor UNion Council, AFL-CIO. Reprinted from the Minneapolis Labor Review newspaper.
For more information
See the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor's Future
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The ongoing national debate about the future direction of the labor movement may seem far removed from the lives of rank and file union members. Who’s left the national AFL-CIO, who remains, and what the two sides are arguing about may seem remote indeed.
But the debate ? and the break-away of four unions (so far) from the AFL-CIO ? will have profound consequences for all workers. Members of local unions expect that their union will be able to bargain good contracts to secure good wages, benefits and working conditions, operate in a democratic manner, and raise a forceful voice for the interests of working families in local, state and national politics. Solidarity among all unions makes all those things possible.
The split in the House of Labor at the national level, regrettably, also threatens to produce cracks in union solidarity at the local and state level. The AFL-CIO constitution says that the AFL-CIO’s local central labor councils and state federations may not accept as affiliates local unions whose international unions are not part of the national AFL-CIO.
Here at the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council, that means we stand to lose about 25-30 percent of our members and our budget. Those projected losses are important because they risk impairing the local labor movement’s ability to act together in solidarity through the CLUC in contract campaigns and strikes and to wield clout in the political arena.
We can’t allow the split in the national labor movement to weaken our local labor movement. And we won’t.
We’ve made too much progress over the past few years to let those gains slip away now. We’ve created a year-round political program, we’ve built new community alliances, we’ve improved our ability to communicate with and mobilize local union members, we’ve grown in numbers, and we’ve won important political victories. We’re poised to keep winning.
Since the national AFL-CIO convention, I’ve been meeting with local leaders of unions who disaffiliated nationally to begin discussions about how we can work together at the local level despite the national split. They all say they want to continue to work together, although we don?t yet know what form our new relationship will take.
One hopeful development: the AFL-CIO executive committee will consider a proposal for “Solidarity Charters” that would allow central labor councils and state federations to continue formal relationships with locals of disaffiliated unions ? under certain terms.
More importantly, we’re going to be working to increase affiliation with the CLUC from AFL-CIO unions currently unaffiliated locally or who aren’t participating 100 percent.
From crisis comes opportunity. The current crisis may create the opportunity for our local labor movement to become stronger than ever before.
Bill McCarthy is president of the Minneapolis Central Labor UNion Council, AFL-CIO. Reprinted from the Minneapolis Labor Review newspaper.
For more information
See the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor’s Future