After Two Decades That Show No Progress,
Can the AFL-CIO Grow Without Changes?

The AFL-CIO and its leaders have suffered a tough time during the past to years trying to get Congress, controlled by Democrats, to pass labor’s top priority legislation, the Employee Free Choice Act—and failed miserably.

AFL-CIO and Change to Win leaders stood by without protest as leading Democrats cut out the core of EFCA, a provision called “card check,” by which unorganized workers in a workplace could get a union to represent them if a majority signed union authorization cards. That union would then be certified by the National Labor Relations Board as the bargaining agent of the workers in that workplace.

EFCA was supposed to make it easier for unions to recruit new members, but it is now undergoing a “compromise” to satisfy the objections of groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Sen. Tom Hawkins of Iowa has been working on a compromise for months, and there have been no public protests for the delay.

The EFCA in its limbo state reveals the low esteem with which leading Democrats and the Obama administration regard labor leaders. It also shows the political folly of relying on e-mails and phone calls exclusively to persuade Congress on EFCA or other legislation.

It is a sad fact that the AFL-CIO has no update strategy to organize workers if EFCA passes, in whatever mangled form, or if it doesn’t pass.

The Obama administration has displayed remarkable solicitude and cooperation toward the major banks and Wall Street investors, who were largely responsible for the economic crisis. It moved less quickly and has done far less to help the millions of workers who had lost their jobs, homes and retirement savings as victims of the economic crisis,

It is unfortunate that leaders of both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win have chosen to keep union members on the sidelines in the fight to create sufficient works projects to make a dent in the monumental unemployment problems. A labor leader, no matter how smart and skillful, can’t win without an army of followers. AFL-CIO President Trumka acts like he doesn’t want to—or doesn’t dare to—build that army.

Why Hasn’t Trumka Spoken Directly to Union Members?

Union members are completely in the dark about Trumka’s plans—if he has any— to build the AFL-CIO into a bigger and stronger labor organization, since he never campaigned and was elected to the presidency by default.

He has not indicated what role he thinks the State Federations and Central Labor Councils should play? Does he have a plan for organizing that is different from the ones that were used without success in past years? We still have not had a word about the financial state of the AFL-CIO. And what strategy does he recommend for the 2010 national elections?

For obvious reasons, it is important to keep members well-informed. Silence is counter-productive.

It’s been a tough year for working people, especially for those who have lost their jobs and their homes and been without health insurance coverage. Let’s make 2010 a year when labor’s important role in our society is universally recognized, and the aspirations of workers for a better life are realized,

Let’s strive for a Healthy, Productive and Happy New Year—Harry Kelber

LaborTalk (27) will be posted here on January 5, 2009 and on our web sites: http://www.laboreducator.org/ and www.laborsvoiceforchange.org.