The leaders of five of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO Wednesday announced the formation of the Change to Win Coalition, a new alliance devoted to creating a large-scale, coordinated campaign to rebuild the American labor movement.
The unions are the Laborers, Service Employees International Union, Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE-HERE. Together they represent about 40 percent of the 13 million members in AFL-CIO-affiliated unions.
Shortly after the announcement was made, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney issued a statement, saying he hoped the new coalition "will continue to join?and help lead?the rest of the union movement from within the AFL-CIO."
The formation of the new coalition comes about six weeks before leaders of all AFL-CIO union's meet in Chicago for the federation's national convention ? likely the most pivotal gathering since the AFL and CIO merged 50 years ago. For more than a year, officers and activists of many unions and labor organizations have issued proposals and debated the future of the U.S. labor movement and how the AFL-CIO should be structured to meet the needs of organized and unorganized workers.
At a meeting Wednesday with 50 top officials from the unions, the Change to Win Coalition approved a Constitution and Bylaws that would promote the coordination, cooperation and collective action of their affiliated organizations that they said would boost union strength and improve workers' lives.
"Our goal is to empower the tens of millions of American workers who face the daily challenge of making ends meet and whose voice has been silenced by the overwhelming power of large global corporations and their representatives in Washington," the presidents of the five unions said in a joint statement.
"The basic principle that brings us here today is that American workers cannot win a better life unless more workers belong to unions, and unless those unions have the focus, strategy, and resources to unite workers in their industry and raise standards for pay, health care, pensions, and working conditions," they continued.
The presidents issuing the statement were Terence O?Sullivan, Laborers? International Union of North America; Andrew Stern, President, Service Employees International Union; James P. Hoffa, International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Joseph Hansen, United Food and Commercial Workers Union; and Bruce Raynor, UNITE-HERE.
The five unions said they hope their proposals are passed by the delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention, but will put them into practice immediately through the structure and activities of the Change to Win Coalition. Regardless of the agenda adopted next month in Chicago by the AFL-CIO at its annual convention, the coalition will move forward with its reform program, they said. The union leaders said they welcome other labor organizations into the new coalition. "In the Constitution and Bylaws we adopted today, we pledged mutual support and solidarity, no raiding, and no retaliation for those who may choose to leave the AFL-CIO. We seek to change the face not only of what organized labor does, but how it does it."
The five unions, which have pioneered new organizing techniques, said each member union is contributing funds to the coalition to take those techniques to a new level by cooperatively organizing non-union workers in key areas of the private sector. The coalition also launched a website, www.changetowin.org
As he has done before during the debate over the AFL-CIO's future, Sweeney issued a call for unity.
"Workers are under the biggest assault in 80 years?now more than ever we need a united labor movement," he said in a statement published on the AFL-CIO's website, www.aflcio.org The clearest path to growing the union movement and helping more workers form unions is by exercising our greatest strength?solidarity. Now is the time to use our unity to build real worker power, not create a real divide that serves the corporations and the anti-worker politicians.
"After broad input from the union movement, we have proposed a plan which we believe produces the greatest investment in organizing?it could result in $500 million a year for organizing, or $2.5 billion over five years, and that's from the national union level alone. Organizing capacity and political power are intertwined?workers need a union movement that succeeds on both fronts.
"I sincerely hope that the unions forming this coalition outside the AFL-CIO will continue to join?and help lead?the rest of the union movement from within the AFL-CIO. United together, we can best continue to pursue change and help working people meet these urgent challenges. Democracy is always challenging, but it is essential to hear all voices to realize real, far-reaching change. Disunity only plays into the hands of workers? worst enemies at a time when working families are already under attack."
For more information
Visit the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor's Future
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The leaders of five of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO Wednesday announced the formation of the Change to Win Coalition, a new alliance devoted to creating a large-scale, coordinated campaign to rebuild the American labor movement.
The unions are the Laborers, Service Employees International Union, Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE-HERE. Together they represent about 40 percent of the 13 million members in AFL-CIO-affiliated unions.
Shortly after the announcement was made, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney issued a statement, saying he hoped the new coalition “will continue to join?and help lead?the rest of the union movement from within the AFL-CIO.”
The formation of the new coalition comes about six weeks before leaders of all AFL-CIO union’s meet in Chicago for the federation’s national convention ? likely the most pivotal gathering since the AFL and CIO merged 50 years ago. For more than a year, officers and activists of many unions and labor organizations have issued proposals and debated the future of the U.S. labor movement and how the AFL-CIO should be structured to meet the needs of organized and unorganized workers.
At a meeting Wednesday with 50 top officials from the unions, the Change to Win Coalition approved a Constitution and Bylaws that would promote the coordination, cooperation and collective action of their affiliated organizations that they said would boost union strength and improve workers’ lives.
“Our goal is to empower the tens of millions of American workers who face the daily challenge of making ends meet and whose voice has been silenced by the overwhelming power of large global corporations and their representatives in Washington,” the presidents of the five unions said in a joint statement.
“The basic principle that brings us here today is that American workers cannot win a better life unless more workers belong to unions, and unless those unions have the focus, strategy, and resources to unite workers in their industry and raise standards for pay, health care, pensions, and working conditions,” they continued.
The presidents issuing the statement were Terence O?Sullivan, Laborers? International Union of North America; Andrew Stern, President, Service Employees International Union; James P. Hoffa, International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Joseph Hansen, United Food and Commercial Workers Union; and Bruce Raynor, UNITE-HERE.
The five unions said they hope their proposals are passed by the delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention, but will put them into practice immediately through the structure and activities of the Change to Win Coalition. Regardless of the agenda adopted next month in Chicago by the AFL-CIO at its annual convention, the coalition will move forward with its reform program, they said. The union leaders said they welcome other labor organizations into the new coalition. “In the Constitution and Bylaws we adopted today, we pledged mutual support and solidarity, no raiding, and no retaliation for those who may choose to leave the AFL-CIO. We seek to change the face not only of what organized labor does, but how it does it.”
The five unions, which have pioneered new organizing techniques, said each member union is contributing funds to the coalition to take those techniques to a new level by cooperatively organizing non-union workers in key areas of the private sector. The coalition also launched a website, www.changetowin.org
As he has done before during the debate over the AFL-CIO’s future, Sweeney issued a call for unity.
“Workers are under the biggest assault in 80 years?now more than ever we need a united labor movement,” he said in a statement published on the AFL-CIO’s website, www.aflcio.org The clearest path to growing the union movement and helping more workers form unions is by exercising our greatest strength?solidarity. Now is the time to use our unity to build real worker power, not create a real divide that serves the corporations and the anti-worker politicians.
“After broad input from the union movement, we have proposed a plan which we believe produces the greatest investment in organizing?it could result in $500 million a year for organizing, or $2.5 billion over five years, and that’s from the national union level alone. Organizing capacity and political power are intertwined?workers need a union movement that succeeds on both fronts.
“I sincerely hope that the unions forming this coalition outside the AFL-CIO will continue to join?and help lead?the rest of the union movement from within the AFL-CIO. United together, we can best continue to pursue change and help working people meet these urgent challenges. Democracy is always challenging, but it is essential to hear all voices to realize real, far-reaching change. Disunity only plays into the hands of workers? worst enemies at a time when working families are already under attack.”
For more information
Visit the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor’s Future