Shrinking unions seek revival across the nation
| • | Middle-class status of workers threatened |
By Stephen Franklin
Chicago Tribune
BAL HARBOUR, Fla. — With unions' share of the private workforce at 8.2 percent and dropping, organized labor's proposed salvation was a hauntingly familiar drumbeat last week at the AFL-CIO's annual winter meeting.
"We are gasping for air as a labor movement," said Andrew Stern, president of the 1.5 million-member Service Employees International Union, the largest group within the AFL-CIO, the umbrella organization for most of the nation's unions. And so, gathered at a lush resort and spa that they had forsaken a few years ago in favor of a more down-to-earth image, the labor leaders considered possible solutions.
One they widely agreed on was electing a Democrat as president and getting Democrats into other top jobs across the nation.
They talked as well about the reinvigorated organizing efforts of venerable blue-collar unions such as the United Auto Workers. The UAW's ranks fell by 13,211 workers last year, dropping to 652,801, according to the AFL-CIO.
The leaders also discussed a new drive in Congress to change federal labor law to make it easier for workers to form a union without going through full-fledged elections under the National Labor Relations Board.
And they talked about how to change the way the labor movement does its business.
Some of the suggestions included changing the AFL-CIO from a voluntary federation into a more powerful ruling authority, slashing the number of unions and setting up close ties between American and foreign unions to match the power of multinational corporations.
Many of the suggestions come from the New Unity Partnership, an informal group formed last year by several labor chiefs. Its members are Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees; John Wilhelm, president of HERE, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union; Doug McCarron, head of the Carpenters union; Terence O'Sullivan, president of the Laborers International Union of North America; and Stern.
The group has been controversial within union circles, however, with some worried that it could further heighten tensions among unions.
One cause of concern especially is McCarron's involvement. Complaining that the AFL-CIO was outdated and inefficient, he pulled his union out of the federation three years ago. That was a severe blow to the AFL-CIO's efforts to boost confidence that the labor movement finally was on the rebound.
"These are five guys sitting around and talking. They don't represent the labor movement," said Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers union. "It's a little cabal that meets here and there and issues statements."
In the case of the United Steelworkers, which the AFL-CIO says has lost 140,000 members in five years, the union recently reached a deal with the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers union to merge some basic functions. The unions will streamline some of their operations as well as coordinate activities, Gerard said.
But Laborers President O'Sullivan said the New Unity Partnership's goals are "neither to point fingers" at the AFL-CIO nor to stir divisions within organized labor.
"It's gut-check time, and we all need to look in the mirror and see what is best for our members and our unions," he said.
A popular suggestion raised by New Unity members is merging unions involved in the same or similar industries.
"You have too many unions that do not have the money or the power to represent their workers," said Raynor, the UNITE president. His union and HERE announced this month that they will merge this summer.
Rather than its current 64 unions, Raynor suggested the AFL-CIO might shrink to 20. And as part of the process, he suggested that unions should focus clearly on specific industries instead of gathering workers from diverse occupations, as some unions have done.
