An ?open letter? circulated by the presidents of 12 AFL-CIO central labor councils ? including Shar Knutson of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly ? warns that changes in the AFL-CIO at the national level will not work without significant changes that build powerful local union movements as well.
The statement joins the emerging discussion, being led by SEIU, about how the American labor movement should change to expand the economic and political power of union members and expand the influence of unions in the economy. AFL-CIO president John Sweeney says the organization?s executive council will hash out proposals for change in March, in time for a decision at the national convention in July.
The Teamsters? general executive board and top officers of the Oregon AFL-CIO and of the Communication Workers of America are among others tossing their two cents into the debate.
?Pathetic? lack of resources
Of the more than 500 central labor bodies chartered by the AFL-CIO, only 44 have full-time staff or officers, the letter by central labor council leaders notes. Only 32 have budgets of more than $100,000. (St. Paul and Minneapolis are among that group.)
This ?pathetic? lack of resources, the local leaders say, leaves many labor councils as nothing more than ?weak quasi-fraternal organizations engaged in charity work, social activities and honorable support for lost causes.?
The local leaders recommend merging central bodies into ?regional labor federations? in the nation?s 75 largest metro areas, to better reflect ?where workers live, work and vote.?
Membership in the federations would be open not only to union locals, but to like-minded community organizations and to non-AFL-CIO unions. ?Exclusivity is a luxury union members can no longer afford,? the letter states.
These regional federations would be required to build staff and to implement specific plans for political, workplace and community organizing activities. In exchange, local unions ? and the national AFL-CIO, if necessary ? would be required to support the federations financially.
The letter criticizes current membership affiliation in central labor bodies ? in which many local unions join or leave labor councils at will, or pay affiliation fees on only a portion of their membership. The council leaders condemn this practice as no different from ?right to work? laws, in which anti-union workers freeload by enjoying the protections and benefits of union contracts without paying union dues.
Councils signing the letter include Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Seattle, Denver, San Diego, San Jose and Madison.
No time to waste
The top two officers of the Oregon AFL-CIO ? president Tim Nesbitt and secretary-treasurer Brad Witt ? also focus on overhauling, mobilizing and deploying state and local labor organizations, though in less detail. They argue that the labor movement must act immediately and consistently for the next two years to fight back against ?the radical-right, anti-union movement that confronts us . . .
?If we dither or resist change, we face the decimation, if not outright extinction, of our labor movement during the next four years,? they say. Nesbitt and Witt essentially sidestep the debate on how to structure the union movement on the national level. Instead they highlight what works in labor?s election, New Alliance and Working America initiatives, and say unions must commit to doing even more in those areas.
Unions can?t scale back, they say, but must continue to collaborate across jurisdictions; to provide high levels of staffing and funding for organizing, legislative and electoral efforts at the state and local levels; and to strengthen alliances with like-minded individuals and organizations that aren?t unionized.
Similarly, Larry Cohen, executive vice president of CWA, states a number of principles, rather than specific actions, in a 10-point statement he calls ?American Labor ? Working Together.? In trying to define where unions have common ground, he encourages unified campaigns for affordable and accessible health care, retirement security, and collective bargaining rights. Cohen also recommends developing national strike insurance, and urges unions to involve shop stewards more actively in union governance and initiatives outside the workplace.
The Teamsters? General Executive Board approved a position paper Dec. 8, joining SEIU in saying that per capita payments to the AFL-CIO should be cut in half for any union that dedicates at least 10 percent of its budget to strategic organizing of workers.
The Teamsters? plan echoes SEIU in other areas, too, saying the AFL-CIO ought to promote union mergers and ought to inhibit unions from undercutting other unions? contract standards.
Unlike SEIU, however, the Teamsters oppose allowing the AFL-CIO to directly force mergers among its affiliates, saying such ideas ?are politically unworkable at this time? and ?would lead to a split in the labor movement that we cannot afford.? Nonetheless, the Teamsters urge the AFL-CIO to play a role in ?accelerating the process of consolidation.?
Adapted from The St. Paul Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org
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An ?open letter? circulated by the presidents of 12 AFL-CIO central labor councils ? including Shar Knutson of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly ? warns that changes in the AFL-CIO at the national level will not work without significant changes that build powerful local union movements as well.
The statement joins the emerging discussion, being led by SEIU, about how the American labor movement should change to expand the economic and political power of union members and expand the influence of unions in the economy. AFL-CIO president John Sweeney says the organization?s executive council will hash out proposals for change in March, in time for a decision at the national convention in July.
The Teamsters? general executive board and top officers of the Oregon AFL-CIO and of the Communication Workers of America are among others tossing their two cents into the debate.
?Pathetic? lack of resources
Of the more than 500 central labor bodies chartered by the AFL-CIO, only 44 have full-time staff or officers, the letter by central labor council leaders notes. Only 32 have budgets of more than $100,000. (St. Paul and Minneapolis are among that group.)
This ?pathetic? lack of resources, the local leaders say, leaves many labor councils as nothing more than ?weak quasi-fraternal organizations engaged in charity work, social activities and honorable support for lost causes.?
The local leaders recommend merging central bodies into ?regional labor federations? in the nation?s 75 largest metro areas, to better reflect ?where workers live, work and vote.?
Membership in the federations would be open not only to union locals, but to like-minded community organizations and to non-AFL-CIO unions. ?Exclusivity is a luxury union members can no longer afford,? the letter states.
These regional federations would be required to build staff and to implement specific plans for political, workplace and community organizing activities. In exchange, local unions ? and the national AFL-CIO, if necessary ? would be required to support the federations financially.
The letter criticizes current membership affiliation in central labor bodies ? in which many local unions join or leave labor councils at will, or pay affiliation fees on only a portion of their membership. The council leaders condemn this practice as no different from ?right to work? laws, in which anti-union workers freeload by enjoying the protections and benefits of union contracts without paying union dues.
Councils signing the letter include Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Seattle, Denver, San Diego, San Jose and Madison.
No time to waste
The top two officers of the Oregon AFL-CIO ? president Tim Nesbitt and secretary-treasurer Brad Witt ? also focus on overhauling, mobilizing and deploying state and local labor organizations, though in less detail. They argue that the labor movement must act immediately and consistently for the next two years to fight back against ?the radical-right, anti-union movement that confronts us . . .
?If we dither or resist change, we face the decimation, if not outright extinction, of our labor movement during the next four years,? they say. Nesbitt and Witt essentially sidestep the debate on how to structure the union movement on the national level. Instead they highlight what works in labor?s election, New Alliance and Working America initiatives, and say unions must commit to doing even more in those areas.
Unions can?t scale back, they say, but must continue to collaborate across jurisdictions; to provide high levels of staffing and funding for organizing, legislative and electoral efforts at the state and local levels; and to strengthen alliances with like-minded individuals and organizations that aren?t unionized.
Similarly, Larry Cohen, executive vice president of CWA, states a number of principles, rather than specific actions, in a 10-point statement he calls ?American Labor ? Working Together.? In trying to define where unions have common ground, he encourages unified campaigns for affordable and accessible health care, retirement security, and collective bargaining rights. Cohen also recommends developing national strike insurance, and urges unions to involve shop stewards more actively in union governance and initiatives outside the workplace.
The Teamsters? General Executive Board approved a position paper Dec. 8, joining SEIU in saying that per capita payments to the AFL-CIO should be cut in half for any union that dedicates at least 10 percent of its budget to strategic organizing of workers.
The Teamsters? plan echoes SEIU in other areas, too, saying the AFL-CIO ought to promote union mergers and ought to inhibit unions from undercutting other unions? contract standards.
Unlike SEIU, however, the Teamsters oppose allowing the AFL-CIO to directly force mergers among its affiliates, saying such ideas ?are politically unworkable at this time? and ?would lead to a split in the labor movement that we cannot afford.? Nonetheless, the Teamsters urge the AFL-CIO to play a role in ?accelerating the process of consolidation.?
Adapted from The St. Paul Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org