The AFL-CIO has interoduced "solidarity charters." The charters would allow disaffiliated unions to remain members of their state feds and labor councils. Lane Windham explains to WIN reporter Jesse Russell what the charters mean.

Click here to go to the raw audio - runs 4m 11s

By Jesse Russell

And then there were three. The United Food and Commercial Workers have become the third union to break off from the AFL-CIO within a week. They follow the Service Employees International Union and Teamsters who left at the beginning of this week's AFL-CIO convention.

UFCW President Joe Hansen said in a letter to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney "in order to pursue the most effective course of action for its members and all workers in its core industries, is terminating its affiliation with the AFL-CIO effective immediately."

Hansen also expressed a willingness to keep an open and collaborative relationship with the Federation saying "our commitment to work with the AFL-CIO and unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO on issues and programs where we share common goals remains unchanged. "I believe our movement is united in our basic principles and values, even if we pursue different strategies. The UFCW and its local unions will continue to fund and work with state and local federations in politics and lobbying, and for mutual support of worker struggles."

By Jesse Russell

[James Hoffa]: We have voted to disaffiliate from the AF of L-CIO.

That was Teamsters President James P. Hoffa speaking at a joint press
conference with the Service Employees International Union earlier
today. At the conference both unions announced their intention to
leave the AFL. Stern says the move is a recognition that the country
is in the midst of one of the most significant economic revolutions in
history.

[Andy Stern]: And the results for the American workers have been less
healthcare, less time to spend with their families, less secure pensions in
their retirement - and more debt and more insecurity about the future.
The American Dream has slipped out of reach for too many American
workers.

On Sunday the SEIU and Teamsters joined with the UFCW and
UNITE-Here to announce their intent to boycott their convention and
not run any members for the AFL executive council. Six unions make
up a new labor organization called the Change to Win Coalition.
Although the Laborers and Farm Workers are not running anyone for
the council they are participating in the convention.

During a rally intended to show support for AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney yesterday, various labor organizations outlined what the
federation is focused on in the near future with the Central American
Free Trade Agreement being at the top of the list.

[mcentee]: We've got a chance to look at the records in the terms of
CAFTA and every democrat that is on the wrong side of the roll call,
should not receive any of our support.

Gerald McEntee is President of the American Federation of State
County and Municipal Employees. He said at the rally that even if the
other unions leave; the AFL will stand in solidarity.

[mcentee2]: We are here today to say that we will be here Monday, we
will be here Wednesday, we will be here Thursday, and maybe some
others will be gone but by Thursday we will be united in solidarity.

Dennis Serrette, President of the United Association of Labor
Education and a founder of the coalition of black trade unionists says organized labor is now experiencing the repercussions of not taking on trade issues when jobs began to move south years ago.

He also says a greater emphasis needs to be placed on organizing, but it
is going to be an up hill battle:

[Serette1]: This is like a closing the door after the horse is out situation.
We are going out to organize with one leg and one arm tied behind us,
which is an impossible situation when you are in crisis.

Serette added that he felt much of the rift at the top of the AFL was
due to ego and could be resolved with a cooling off period.

[Serette2]: If it goes too long, if it happens, we may not ever see labor,
you know, the way we see it today.

By Jesse Russell

On one of the hottest days of the year in Chicago, the top boiled off of the house of labor. Four members of the Change to Win Coalition announced at a press conference Sunday that they would be boycotting the convention for the AFL-CIO - one day before it was due to begin. Speculation continues as to what the SEIU, Teamsters, UFCW and UNITE-Here will do next. The SEIU and Teamsters have scheduled press conferences for today. During the press conference the four unions issued a letter to AFL President John Sweeney listing 11 members of their unions that would not run for re-election or accept nominations for positions on the AFL-CIO executive council. During the press conference, SEIU President Andy Stern said the coalition is not trying to split labor, but is trying to rebuild it. He said the seven unions that make up the coalition believe labor is headed in the wrong direction and it is time to take a new road.

Meanwhile in a hotel directly across the river, unions supporting John Sweeney for reelection as AFL President held a rally led by Presidents of various unions in the Federation. AFSCME President Gerald McEntee alluded to the planned boycott suggesting that no matter what happens the AFL will end the convention united:

One of the most important features on the Workers Independent News website is our raw audio page. We provide the full audio of interviews we conducted with labor leaders, activists and working people so listeners can expand on stories we report. While most news organizations just give you one or two soundbites, we want you to have the whole story in the context it was presented. Here is a list of some of the most recent audio we have collected. Any of this can be used for your purposes as long as you credit the Workers Independent News.


(to see a complete list of Raw Audio, click here.)

• Sandra Day O'Connor was no moderate - decisions were anti-labor
  WIN's Doug Cunningham interviews labor activist Nathan Newman of the Agenda for Justice on Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the Supreme Court nominee fight. Newman, who has a Yale law degree and a PhD in sociology from UC-Berkeley, says pressure should be put on Democrats for painting O'Connor asa moderate when she was so anti-worker rights on the court.




• WIN Interview: NEA President Reg Weaver (Part 1 of 2)
• WIN Interview: NEA President Reg Weaver (Part 2 of 2)
  WIN's Doug Cunningham talks with NEA President Reg Weaver about the court battle with the federal government over No Child Left Behind, the NEA's recent convention in Los Angeles and the variety of issues facing educators and teacher's union members.




• UAW President Ron Gettelfinger on AFL-CIO reform
  Excerpts from a recent press conference featuring UAW President Ron Gettelfinger responding to questions about AFL-CIO reform. The UAW is urging labor unity after the Chicago convention and is supporting John Sweeney for reelection as AFL-CIO president.




• NYC labor activist Harry Kelber runs for AFL-CIO VP (part 1 of 2)
• NYC labor activist Harry Kelber runs for AFL-CIO VP (part 2 of 2)
  WIN's Doug Cunningham interviews labor activist and writer Harry Kelber on Kelber's candidacy for AFL-CIO Vice-President. The 91 year old Kelber says there needs to be a voice at the convention raising dissent on behalf of the rank and file.

By Doug Cunningham

Have unions become too much like the corporations whose workers they represent? Jim Smith, a labor activist and writer with L.A. Labor News, believes they have - with top down control , highly paid union executives
and little real input from the rank and file.

"Many of the people that unions want to organize work for corporations. And there's no reason why these workers would want to join another corporation where they're at the bottom and they don't have anything to say. They need an organization that they're willing to fight for. People used to fight and die for unions back in the thirties in this country and earlier. But you won't find anybody fighting and dying for the AFL-CIO today I'm afraid."

By Doug Cunningham

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger will support AFL-CIO President John Sweeney at the labor federation's convention later this month in Chicago. But Gettelfinger says the Change To Win Coalition opposing Sweeney is comprised of good union people who have helped refocus the AFL-CIO. Gettelfinger and the UAW are encouraging labor unity no matter what happens in Chicago.

[Ron Gettelfinger 1] : "I hope that everyone sees their way clear once the convention is over to stay in the house of labor. I think it would be better for all of us if that happened."

Gettelfinger says the UAW believes organizing and political action are equally important to labor.

The Change To Win Coalition has submitted more than 20 amendments and resolutions to the AFL-CIO Executive Council for consideration at the July convention in Chicago. The coalition says it wants a united labor movement able to meet the challenges workers face but wants to get rid of what it calls "entrenched and outmoded" structures that stand in the way of a truly dynamic labor federation. The coalition consists of the Teamsters, SEIU, UNITE-HERE, UFCW, Laborer's and Carpenters. (Full texts of the amendments and resolutions can be found on the web at www.changetowin.org

With the AFL-CIO convention coming at the end of July, a great deal of media focus has been on the national level. Over the next month the Workers Independent News will be concentrating on locals, districts and labor councils to find out what they hope will come out of the convention. On Thursday, WIN spoke with Hilda Delgado of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor:

[Delgado]: Los Angeles is committed. And we had a meeting at the beginning of the year before the passing of my boss, Miguel Contreras, and he brought all the unions together because we've been able to increase membership and mobilize and really have a united labor front in Los Angeles.

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters is joining the Change To Win Coalition of reform unions. The Carpenters announced Monday that they're joining the coalition. Carpenters President Doug McCarron said the carpenters are proud to join with "the most dynamic unions in the country in the Change To Win Coalition." That coalition, led by the Teamsters and the SEIU, wants the AFL-CIO to adopt significant reforms that will pour more resources into organizing new members. Three of the unions in the Change To Win Coalition have been authorized by their members to leave the AFL-CIO if officers of those unions so choose.

Presidents of unions representing more than 60 percent of the AFL-CIO's members stood up for John Sweeney Monday, backing his candidacy for another term as AFL-CIO president. Sweeney called for solidarity in a labor movement torn by threats of several unions , including the two largest, to leave the federation if reforms they support aren't adopted. Sweeney said only labor' enemies are cheering over the prospect of a split and the millions of workers who depend on unions need a united labor movement.

On Monday morning Wisconsin Public Radio spoke with WIN founder and general manager Prof. Frank Emspak about the "growing rift within the national labor movement, and whether changing the vision or the structure of the movement might help labor regain power." Listen to the interview, conducted by Gene Purcell (filling in for Joy Cardin), at the Wisconsin Public Radio website. www.wpr.org

As the debate on the future of the AFL-CIO continues, WIN spoke with Jim Spellane of the electrical workers. The IBEW recently endorsed the reelection of John Sweeney for AFL President. He says unions need to stand together now more than ever due o the assault on working people by the economic policies of the current administration.

[Spellane1]: We need all the unity we can get ot help fight this off and get American people back to a place where they have a chance for economic growth and opportunity.

He added that if a split does occur in labor there will be a need for damage control.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney responded to Hansen with his own letter. In it he thanked Hansen for all of the UFCWs past, current and future battles and expressed that he welcomed the ongoing labor debate. However, he added that unions threatening to leave the federation undermines any ability to reach a genuine agreement built on consensus and respect.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Service Employees International Union was given the power to break-off from the federation this weekend. Seventy percent of SEIU membership adopted resolutions this weekend that would allow the organizations executive committee to "disaffiliate" with the federation when and if they deem the time is right. In their statement the board said the decision was made because the AFL-CIO strategy divides the strength of workers . It also reads that the goal of labor should be uniting the 9 out of 10 workers that have no union. Repeated calls to the AFL-CIOs communications department this weekend were not returned.

In a letter to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney The United Food and Commercial Workers Union says the labor status quo will not stand and that major reform is essential.

[Greg Denier 1] : "We are committed to change and we will not accept more of the same for the future."

The UFCW's Greg Denier says the reform unions - which also include the Teamsters, SEIU, UNITE-HERE and the Laborer's - are serious about reform but want a united labor movement to build worker power. So is the UFCW and the other reform unions about to disaffiliate from the labor federation?

As the reform coalition lays out its hopes for the future of labor, UNITE-HERE President John Wilhelm spoke with the Workers Independent News on why his union has endorsed the plan. He feels proposals laid out by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney cater to the status quo:

[John Wilhelm1]: His proposals adopt the rhetoric of change, but not the substance. So we thought it important to further the debate going on in the labor movement.

AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stuart Acuff says American workers are under such sustained attack the real legal right to organize is virtually gone.

[Stuart Acuff 1] : "We've lost the right to organize in this country. American workers have lost any effective right to organize and bargain collectively."

Acuff says dividing labor and bleeding resources away from the AFL-CIO as a handful of dissident unions are threatening to do weakens labor in its darkest hour.

SEIU President Andy Stern says calling for AFL-CIO President John Sweeney's ouster and pushing sweeping reform of the labor movement does not divide nor weaken labor. Stern says it's about the profound question of the American dream of rewarded work and building a labor movement strong enough to keep that dream alive.

[Andy Stern 1] : "President Sweeney, I don't believe, has shown the commitment to the kind of change that's necessary and we would not support his reelection."

Five dissident unions representing roughly five million U.S. workers are out with a comprehensive plan to reform the AFL-CIO calling for half the federation's budget to be spent on organizing to build worker power. The reform coalition consists of the Teamsters, SEIU, UFCW, Laborer's and UNITE-HERE. They say a reform plan recently released by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney is too little, too late. The UFCW's Greg Denier says that major reform is needed for workers to advance.

The chair of the AFL-CIO's Public Affairs Committee has resigned for being kept out of the loop on the labor federation's reform plan. Harold Schaitberger, President of the International Association of Firefighters quit in a letter to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Schaitberger's union held a reception for Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert at the GOP national convention and gave about a third of its political money to Republicans in the 2004 election. But he supported John Kerry's presidential campaign. Schaitberger was reportedly offended that Sweeney would stage a major press event on AFL-CIO reform without his advance knowledge. In a statement the AFL-CIO president said that he and the federation are deeply sorry that Schaitberger is quitting and that his leadership and insight are valuable to the labor movement.