In a more threatening development, the percentage of the private-sector workforce represented by unions dropped to 8.2 percent last year.
"The labor movement has failed to stem the tide," said Bruce S. Raynor, general president of Unite Here. "The AFL-CIO has been this volunteer, lowest-common-denominator organization. . . . That time has passed. We need a stronger labor federation."
John J. Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO since 1995, is likely to face contenders for his job in June.
|
|
Raynor, SEIU President Andrew L. Stern and other labor leaders believe the AFL-CIO must force, or strongly encourage, union mergers. The goal of such mergers would be to create larger unions responsible for entire sectors of the economy, equipped to bargain with sector-wide employers.
Sweeney, 70, is the son of a New York bus driver. His politics are rooted in liberal Catholicism's commitment to social justice. Sweeney rose to the presidency of SEIU in 1980, and he doubled its size when other unions' memberships were declining.
Sweeney defended his approach of trying to build consensus as opposed to get-tough strategies. "Mergers can't be forced; you can't bypass democracy," he said. "I'd like to see someone try it with the present 60 presidents. . . . You can't just go out and beat people over the head -- you have to have discussion to see where there is common ground."
Stern, who succeeded Sweeney as head of SEIU, has become his strongest critic.
"We are either going to build a labor movement where workers who work for the same employer, who work in the same industry, join together in a union that matches up with their employers, and where every union has responsibility for some part of the economy," Stern said, "or we let everyone organize whomever they want, and continue to divide the strength of workers."
Stern has threatened to withdraw his union from the AFL if the federation does not adopt major structural changes.
Next month, top union leaders, under Sweeney's direction, will begin examining proposals, including those suggested by Stern. The outcome of that process is generally viewed as crucial to the AFL-CIO presidency fight, union officials said, with Sweeney's prospects sharply boosted if the federation's executive council proposes major changes in union organization.
