(Reuters circulated the following article on March 1.)
LAS VEGAS — The AFL-CIO began a crucial week for the direction of the U.S. labor movement with a “fierce” debate on how to head off internal dissent, reverse declining membership and increase its political clout, President John Sweeney said.
“The debate has been fierce at times. People are really engaged. They want to have strong input in the future of the labor movement and the changes we are discussing are really sweeping and substantial,” Sweeney told reporters after an executive committee meeting.
He noted the executive committee, an advisory body, failed to complete its agenda Monday.
“It is clear we have to allow ourselves more time for discussions,” he said, adding an additional meeting of the committee would be scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The executive committee and the larger executive council are set to hold sessions this week at the AFL-CIO’s winter meeting in Las Vegas.
One of the union leaders pushing most strongly for reform is Andy Stern, leader of the Service Employees International Union. He has threatened to leave the federation unless major changes are implemented.
‘Meaningful changes’
“My hope is that we are going to be able to move changes that Andy will feel are bold and meaningful changes. He (Stern) was in on all the major discussions today,” Sweeney said.
Stern has called for unions to be pushed into mergers, shrinking the federation’s 58 unions and their 13 million members down to 20 larger ones, each with jurisdiction in a particular industry to give them a stronger bargaining position.
Stern’s proposal has been criticized by some other union leaders as undemocratic.
“This week is really hugely important to us, probably one of the most important in the history of our labor movement,” Sweeney told reporters.
“We really have to build a stronger labor movement. We had a very, very good political program, probably the best in our history this past year but it wasn’t enough. We have to do better at that as well,” Sweeney said.
The number of U.S. union members has fallen by 1.28 million to 15.47 million and the percentage of union members to 12.5 percent of workers from 15.5 percent since Sweeney took the helm of the AFL-CIO in 1995.
Sweeney said details of the reforms to be implemented would probably not be fully worked out this week. Many proposals must be approved by the AFL-CIO convention in July.