AFL-CIO leader to stress recruitment

By Christina Almeida
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said he'll study slashing member contributions by as much as half so that local unions would have more money to boost recruitment and reverse years of shrinking membership.

"We haven't grown enough," said Sweeney, who is seeking re-election as chief of the 60-union organization. He said that rebates to free tens of millions of dollars for organizing "have to be seriously addressed."

The Executive Council of the AFL-CIO meets in Las Vegas this week against a backdrop of open dissension as a faction within the powerful labor movement pushes for change to reverse membership declines.

The meeting will include wide-ranging discussions on job losses, healthcare, minimum wage as well as labor's high-profile fights with corporate giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and against privatizing Social Security.

"We'll be pushing ideas for change that grow out of this discussion and debate," Sweeney said during a Thursday conference call with reporters. "The bottom line is how we can make a real difference in the lives of working families."

Sweeney promised a "major escalation" in labor's political activities as part of a bid to help Democrats win the presidency in 2008.