John W. Wilhelm, president of the hotel workers union, is telling colleagues that he is committed to challenge John J. Sweeney for the presidency of the AFL-CIO, according to sources close to him.
Wilhelm, his allies said, does not yet have the votes to prevent Sweeney, 70, from winning another term.
Sweeney remains popular and well liked, even by his critics within organized labor. For Wilhelm to succeed, his supporters said, other union presidents will have to be convinced first that major changes in the AFL-CIO are necessary to stanch the steady loss of union members, and second that a leadership change is necessary if the institution is to be successfully restructured.
The outcome of AFL-CIO executive council discussions early next month about proposals to revamp the organization is widely viewed as crucial to determining the viability of a Wilhelm bid.
Sweeney, first elected in 1995 as an insurgent promising to restore labor's strength, will outline to the executive council his plans to reverse the steady decline of organized labor at the meeting in Las Vegas in March. In doing so, Sweeney will, in effect, be making the case that he should be elected to a new term, according to labor sources.
Sweeney, according to spokeswoman Denise Mitchell, would not agree to an interview. "I don't think he is going to talk about speculation," she said.
Under Sweeney, organized labor's political clout has been significantly strengthened, with boosted voter turnout among union households and high Democratic vote margins among union members going to the polls. Union membership, however, has continued to erode as a percentage of the workforce.
Last month, the Labor Department reported that only 12.5 percent of the workforce is unionized, and that in the private sector, unionization had fallen to just 7.9 percent, one of the lowest levels of the past century.
Even in the public sector, where labor has had most of its success, the percentage of workers represented by unions fell from 37.2 percent in 2003 to 36.4 percent last year.
Wilhelm declined to discuss the AFL-CIO presidency. Other union sources said, however, that he will run if he has a shot at winning.
