WASHINGTON — The General Board of the AFL-CIO (on which all union presidents sit) will gather in New York on May 22 to consider a proposal by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney to permanently fund union member education, voter registration, and mobilization around legislative and political issues.
During its winter meeting in New Orleans, the AFL-CIO’s Executive Council recommended that the unions of the federation make a commitment to strengthening the political voice of America’s working families.
The AFL-CIO has asked its affiliates for a consensus on funding political activities through voluntary contributions at the beginning of every election cycle since 1996. This year, the AFL-CIO is asking its affiliates for a consensus on making the political funding commitment from each union a permanent part of the program. The labor movement’s growing political activism is considered among the biggest successes of recent years’ effort to revitalize America’s unions and give working men and women a stronger voice.
The AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions run an issues-based political program dedicated to educating and mobilizing the federation’s 13 million members. The program does not make campaign donations to candidates or political parties.