Mass defection from the AFL-CIO

[Hamish McBagpipe]

[ QUOTE ]
Teamsters, Service Employees bolt from AFL-CIO in U.S. labour split.


The AFL-CIO – the main U.S. labour group – suffered a setback on Monday when two large unions quit.

The Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union announced they were withdrawing their 3.2 million members from the AFL-CIO in a dispute on the future direction of the labour movement. The move will withdraw about a quarter of the AFL-CIO's 13 million members.

The Teamsters and the SEIU have joined with five other unions to form a new labour group, dubbed the Change to Win coalition, with a stated goal of reversing the decline in union membership.


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The splinter group believes that organizing, trying to increase the numbers, will save US labor. Fundamentally, the dispute is over money forwarded to the AFL-CIO that was used for political, social, and activist causes. As I described in the previous post, this idea to reach out to traditionally non-union groups to generate interest is more in line with how labour movements in other countries have been more successful. The splinter group, of a whopping 3 million members (US/Canada basically), thinks this idea either hasn't worked or the money should have been spent on organizing.

This could be the beginning of revitalized labor movement intent on bringing into the fold, as I mentioned previously, the large low wage service sector through mass organizing. Or it could mean the death knell of the US labor movement as the two factions cannibalize each other. That is, the two groups, instead of organizing new bargaining units or becoming a more socially active widespread movement, end up raiding each other to bits. Unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO normally have to have a very good reason to be allowed to invade anothers turf. We could see some very nasty interunion battles.

[Zeno]

Full Article on AFL-CIO Blow Up

'Spooking some Democrats' [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

-Zeno

[SheetWise]

Divide and conquer. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[QuadsOverQuads]

[ QUOTE ]
Divide and conquer. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

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jaxmike, please go bother someone else for a while. The adults are trying to have a conversation here.


q/q

[lehighguy]

It really is for the best. If you think Unions in America are good then you obviously know little about how they work.

[Broken Glass Can]

Big labor has always fundamentally disrespected its own membership. They take their money and use it to promote liberal causes and liberal political candidates against the will of most of their members.

Teachers unions are a major impediment to the improvement of the education system in this country because they put issues like seniority and rapid pay increases over ensuring a good education for students.

The current situation should have a long term positive impact, if only because it will allow the smaller organization a chance to get back to its original job of being a labor union, rather than being a special interest lobbying group.

[Hamish McBagpipe]

[ QUOTE ]
Big labor has always fundamentally disrespected its own membership. They take their money and use it to promote liberal causes and liberal political candidates against the will of most of their members.

[/ QUOTE ]

The unions remaining within the AFL-CIO are from traditional manufacturing and newer public service sectors. The manufacturing unions, and their members, WANT political lobbying in an attempt to protect jobs against free trade flight. The public service unions, and their members, WANT political lobbying to maintain state level collective bargaining arrangements which have recently taken a beating. The breakaway group mainly represent private service sector workers who have expressed less interest in these activities.

Be careful to distinguish the difference between this kind of sector specific lobbying and political support given by unions to the Democratic party and its full slate of causes. Millions of union members voted for Republicans in the last elections and of course resent having dues spent on Democratic issues. However, to call unions a "special-interest" group would be incorrect. The support of unions has been the bedrock of the Democratic party that allowed some of the more debatable liberal causes to evolve. Without as much union support the Democrats begin to resemble themselves a collection of fringe special-interest groups.

[Hamish McBagpipe]

You are right. The split is really for the best. Now there will be a lot more money for organizing. Be prepared to have me come to your workplace and unionize it. Although you don't think we are good you will just have to live with the higher wages, benefits and better working conditions. The process will be democratic. If a majority of your fellow oppressed workers vote to make the workplace unionized, we are in and will begin emancipating the downtrodden. Don't worry, your vote will count. Then, your dues will finance my poker playing and my frequent jaunts to drunken union conventions, thanks. But don't worry, son, we will definitely take your fringe minority opinion into account come bargaining time.

[SheetWise]

I y'all thought I was disagreeing with you, you need to brush up on Sun Tzu.

[mmbt0ne]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">En réponse à:</font><hr />
Teachers unions are a major impediment to the improvement of the education system in this country because they put issues like seniority and rapid pay increases over ensuring a good education for students.

[/ QUOTE ]

A teachers' union was almost entirely responsible for Georgia's first Republican governer since the Civil War, and he [censored] them in the ass. It's no wonder the majority of them are Democrats.