Text 14251, 122 rader
Skriven 2005-07-24 20:10:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Unions
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More bad news for the democrats...

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http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050724/labor_rift.html?.v=21

AP
Largest Union Decides to Bolt AFL-CIO
Sunday July 24, 7:14 pm ET 
By Ron Fournier, AP Political Writer  

Largest Union Decides to Bolt AFL-CIO, Three Others to Follow in Row 
Over Reversing Labor's Slide 


CHICAGO (AP) -- The AFL-CIO succumbed to division Sunday, with its 
largest union deciding to bolt the 50-year-old federation and three 
others poised to do so in a dispute over how to reverse organized 
labor's long slide.
 
The four unions, representing nearly one-third of the AFL-CIO's 13 
million members, announced Sunday they would boycott the federation's 
convention that begins Monday. They are part of the Coalition to Win, a 
group of seven unions vowing to reform the labor movement -- outside the 
AFL-CIO if necessary.

The Service Employees International Union, with 1.8 million members, 
plans to announce Monday that it is leaving the AFL-CIO, said several 
labor officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not 
authorized to discuss the developments.

The Teamsters union also was on the verge of disaffiliating, and would 
likely to be the first to follow SEIU's lead, the officials said. Two 
other boycotting unions were likely to leave the federation: United Food 
and Commercial Workers and UNITE HERE, a group of textile and hotel 
workers.

"Our differences are so fundamental and so principled that at this point 
I don't think there is a chance there will be a change of course," said 
UFCW President Joe Hansen.

"Our differences have become unresolvable," said Anna Burger, chairman 
of the Change to Win Coalition which is setting itself up to be a rival 
of the AFL-CIO. "Today will be remembered as a rebirth of union strength 
in America."

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, expected to easily win re-election over 
the objections of the dissidents, said his team "bent over backward" to 
appease the dissidents "until it's given us a pain in the you-know-
where." SEIU president Andy Stern, leading the breakaway effort, is a 
former protege of Sweeney's.

"It's a shame for working people that before the first vote has been 
cast, four unions have decided that if they can't win, they won't show 
up for the game," Sweeney said.

Gerald McEntee, president of a government employees' union with more 
than 1 million members, accused his boycotting colleagues of aiding 
labor's political foes. "The only people who happy about this are 
President Bush and his crowd," the Sweeney ally said.

Rank-and-file members of the 52 non-boycotting AFL-CIO affiliates 
expressed confusion and anger over the action. "If there was ever a time 
we workers need to stick together, it's today," said Olegario 
Bustamante, a steelworker from Cicero, Ill.

The boycott means the unions will not pay $7 million in back dues to the 
AFL-CIO on Monday, an act that some labor officials consider tantamount 
to quitting the federation. If all four boycotting unions quit the 
federation, they would take about $35 million from the AFL-CIO, which 
has already been forced to layoff a quarter of its 400-person staff.

Two other unions that are part of the Change to Win Coalition did not 
plan to leave the Chicago convention: the Laborers International Union 
of North America and the United Farm Workers. They are the least likely 
of the coalition members to leave the AFL-CIO, though the Laborers show 
signs of edging that way, officials said.

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the seventh 
member of the coalition, left the AFL-CIO in 2002.

Leaders of the dissident unions say the AFL-CIO leadership has failed to 
stop the steep decline in union membership. In addition to seeking the 
ouster of Sweeney, they have demanded more money for organizing, power 
to force mergers of smaller unions and other changes they say are key to 
adapting to vast changes in society and the economy.

Globalization, automation and the transition from an industrial-based 
economy have forced hundreds of thousands of unionized workers out of 
jobs, weakening labor's role in the workplace.

When the AFL-CIO formed 50 years ago, union membership was at its zenith 
with one of every three private-sector workers belonging to a labor 
group. Now, less than 8 percent of private-sector workers are unionized.

The dissidents largely represent workers in retail and service sectors, 
the heart of the emerging new U.S. economy. Sweeney's allies are 
primarily industrial unions whose workers are facing the brunt of global 
economic shifts.

A divided labor movement worries Democratic leaders who rely on the AFL-
CIO's money and manpower on Election Day.

"Anything that sidetracks us from our goals ... is not healthy," said 
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the House campaign committee.

In the 2004 campaign, unions ran nearly 260 phone banks and mailed out 
at least 30 million pieces of political literature in 16 states, mostly 
on behalf of Democrats.

Experts said the split might deepen labor's woes.

"Employer opposition to organizing might increase and I think that 
political opponents might feel emboldened, because they would see it as 
a sign of weakness," said Gary Chaison, industrial relations professor 
at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

Others said competition might be good for the labor movement.


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