AFL-CIO Leaders Are the Problem For Decline LaborTalk, By Harry Kelber
When John Sweeney became AFL-CIO President in 1995, he said that organizing would be his top priority. He budgeted a third of the federation's annual income for organizing and pressed affiliated unions to do the same.
He called for the training of 1,000 full-time organizers. Hundreds of young, enthusiastic women and minorities were hired as organizers. His staff worked to develop a 'culture of organizing.' He was going to recruit a million new members in each of the next two years.
Nevertheless, AFL-CIO unions ended 2003 with their worst record since the start of the new century. It organized only 142,268 new members, compared with 446,039 in 2001, a drop of more than 300,000 in two years, according to data from Work in Progress.
In 1995, organized labor represented 14.9% of the nation's work force. Today, nine years later, it has dropped to only 12.9%. What went wrong? Who is to blame? What can be done about it?