AFL-CIO President Blasts Heads of Unions

AFL-CIO President Blasts Heads of Unions

By RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer
Mon Jul 25,12:54 PM ET

CHICAGO - AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, anticipating plans by the Teamsters and a major service workers affiliate to bolt from the labor federation, charged Monday that such a move would be a "grievous insult" to working people and their unions.

"At a time when our corporate and conservative adversaries have created the most powerful anti-worker political machine in the history of our country, a divided movement hurts the hopes of working families for a better life," Sweeney said in a text of his keynote address to an AFL-CIO convention marred by division and boycott.

The Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union, the largest AFL-CIO affiliate with 1.8 million members and one that Sweeney once headed, intended to announce Monday they are leaving the federation after failing to reform it, according to several labor officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The unions are part of the Change to Win Coalition, seven labor groups vowing to accomplish what the 50-year-old labor giant has failed to do: Reverse the decades-long decline in union membership. But many union presidents, labor experts and Democratic Party leaders fear the split will weaken the movement politically and hurt unionized workers who need a united and powerful ally against business interests and global competition.

Two other Change to Win Coalition unions signaled their intentions to leave the AFL-CIO: United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE HERE, a group of textile and hotel workers. But they were not scheduled to take part in Monday's news conference.

A few blocks away, a shrunken AFL-CIO met to hear Sweeney say he was "very angry" at the dissident leaders. They include SEIU President Andy Stern who was a protege of Sweeney's when the AFL-CIO chief was leader of the SEIU.

"The labor movement belongs to all of us — every worker — and our future should not be dictated by the demands of any group or the ambitions of any individual," Sweeney said.

"But it is also my responsibility to hold our movement together — because our power is vested in our solidarity. So I want you to know I will overcome my own anger and disappointment and do everything in my power to bring us back where we belong — and that's together," he said.

Earlier, Democratic lawmakers were careful not to take sides in the fight in their convention speeches, but urged labor leaders to stand together for workers at a critical time.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said business interests may think the divide will make organized labor vulnerable.

"We have news for them. It's not going to happen," he said to cheers. "Our unity is our strength. We will stand together and fight for working families."

After his speech, Durbin said it's too early to tell what impact the rift will have on the Democratic Party, which relies on labor movement for money and manpower on Election Day. "I think the unions not participating in this convention are still deeply committed to working families," he said. "I hope the separation in our union family is resolved very soon.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., made a glancing reference at the dispute, telling delegates: "There are questions of strategy and tactics of leadership and power and I can imagine many of you are anxious about labor's future but, more importantly, you're also anxious about your own futures."

He urged labor leaders to adapt to the global economy, which is pressuring U.S. workers out of jobs. "There has never been a greater need for a strong labor movement to stand up for American workers," Obama said.

The four dissident unions, representing nearly one-third of the AFL-CIO's 13 million members, announced Sunday they were boycotting the federation's convention, a step that was widely considered to be a precursor to leaving the federation.

"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.

Leaders of the dissident unions say the AFL-CIO was beyond repair from within. In addition to seeking the ouster of Sweeney, they 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.

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.

It's the biggest rift in organized labor since 1938, when the CIO split from the AFL. The organizations reunited in the mid-1950s.

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.

A divided labor movement worries Democratic leaders who rely on the AFL-CIO's money and manpower on Election Day. Most experts content the split could weaken organized labor, though some competition may be what's needed to jolt the movement from its slumber.

The convention boycott means the unions will not pay $7 million in back dues to the AFL-CIO on Monday. If all four boycotting unions quit the federation, they would take about $35 million a year from the estimated $120 million annual budget of 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 planned to remain at 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 2001.

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On the Net: AFL-CIO: http://www.aflcio.org/

Change to Win Coalition: http://www.changetowin.org