The General Executive Board of UNITE HERE has voted to disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO, the union announced Wednesday. The vote follows several months of debate and discussion among the members, staff, and elected leadership, officers said.
"Workers in America are in a crisis -- a crisis of low wages, plant closings, lost pensions, lost health care, and a loss of rights on the job," said Bruce Raynor, General President of UNITE HERE. "Hurricane Katrina is the rawest example of how low-wage workers are simply being left behind in our society.
"Workers want to fight back, and they deserve institutions and leadership willing to get serious about organizing and increasing worker power to rebuild the middle class and restore dignity on the job. Our union has taken steps to devote over 50 percent of our resources on organizing, and through our changes we are seeing victories for our members across the U.S. and Canada. Our board's vote today was a step toward a dedicated vision to organize within the Change to Win coalition."
UNITE HERE is a part of the Change to Win coalition, and is joined by the SEIU, Carpenters, Laborers, Farm Workers, UFCW, and the Teamsters. The Change to Win coalition, which represents 6 million workers, will hold a founding convention in St. Louis Sept. 27.
The UNITE HERE General Executive Board has been meeting this week at the Saint Paul Hotel.
"Our union has worked for years to reform the AFL-CIO and rebuild the labor movement," said John Wilhelm, President/Hospitality Industries of UNITE HERE. "Our efforts to make real changes at the AFL-CIO have ended, but our board vote today was done with no ill will towards any member union of the AFL-CIO.
"UNITE HERE remains committed to working with any union and community organization at local, state, national, and international levels. The Change to Win Coalition includes most of the unions that have led the labor movement's fight for immigrant workers, and we will continue that fight."
UNITE HERE represents 450,000 workers in the hotel, gaming, laundry, apparel and textile manufacturing, retail, and food service sectors. UNITE HERE was created on July 12, 2004, as a merger between UNITE and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE).
For more information
For more on the changes taking place in the labor movement, see the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor's future
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The General Executive Board of UNITE HERE has voted to disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO, the union announced Wednesday. The vote follows several months of debate and discussion among the members, staff, and elected leadership, officers said.
“Workers in America are in a crisis — a crisis of low wages, plant closings, lost pensions, lost health care, and a loss of rights on the job,” said Bruce Raynor, General President of UNITE HERE. “Hurricane Katrina is the rawest example of how low-wage workers are simply being left behind in our society.
“Workers want to fight back, and they deserve institutions and leadership willing to get serious about organizing and increasing worker power to rebuild the middle class and restore dignity on the job. Our union has taken steps to devote over 50 percent of our resources on organizing, and through our changes we are seeing victories for our members across the U.S. and Canada. Our board’s vote today was a step toward a dedicated vision to organize within the Change to Win coalition.”
UNITE HERE is a part of the Change to Win coalition, and is joined by the SEIU, Carpenters, Laborers, Farm Workers, UFCW, and the Teamsters. The Change to Win coalition, which represents 6 million workers, will hold a founding convention in St. Louis Sept. 27.
The UNITE HERE General Executive Board has been meeting this week at the Saint Paul Hotel.
“Our union has worked for years to reform the AFL-CIO and rebuild the labor movement,” said John Wilhelm, President/Hospitality Industries of UNITE HERE. “Our efforts to make real changes at the AFL-CIO have ended, but our board vote today was done with no ill will towards any member union of the AFL-CIO.
“UNITE HERE remains committed to working with any union and community organization at local, state, national, and international levels. The Change to Win Coalition includes most of the unions that have led the labor movement’s fight for immigrant workers, and we will continue that fight.”
UNITE HERE represents 450,000 workers in the hotel, gaming, laundry, apparel and textile manufacturing, retail, and food service sectors. UNITE HERE was created on July 12, 2004, as a merger between UNITE and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE).
For more information
For more on the changes taking place in the labor movement, see the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor’s future