The Future of Labor and the Democrats Are Intertwined (July)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/1/10/143159/046

by Chris Bowers, Mon Jan 10, 2005 at 02:31:59 PM EST
One of the reasons for declining Democratic partisan self-identification has been the decline in the labor movement in this country:
Some point to disturbing trends in union membership: The percentage of workers represented by unions has dropped from 15.5 percent in 1994 to 12.9 percent in 2003. In 1955, when the AFL and CIO merged, 33.2 percent of U.S. workers were in unions.

Unions members were one of the few demographics where Democrats gained in partisan self-identification from 2000 to 2004. In fact, apart from a statistically insignificant gain among urban voters, Democrats only gained among African-American women, voters under thirty, and union members. However, even though union members are self-identifying as Democrats more and more, these gains are more than offset by the dramatic declines in the percentage of union membership among he workforce as a whole. If union membership continues to decline at its current rate of around 15-17% per decade, even long-term, significant gains among Latinos will not be enough to offset our resulting electoral weakness.

Thus, after the race for the chair of the DNC, a second important in-house political campaign should draw much of our attention: the Presidency of the AFL-CIO.
Now the establishment candidate, Sweeney is facing his first serious challenge as he seeks a fourth term -- and it is from his own base, the labor left. The AFL's 60 member unions will meet in July to choose the next president, but the struggle for votes has already begun.

Although he has not announced his candidacy, John Wilhelm, president of the hospitality division of Unite Here (the recently merged needle trades and hotel workers unions), is widely viewed among union leaders as a likely challenger. Wilhelm declined to comment.

The stakes in the fight for the presidency of the labor federation are much higher than control over the AFL-CIO bureaucracy on 16th Street NW, just north of the White House.

Organized labor is in the midst of a debate over the structure of existing unions, strategies to deal with global employers and the threats posed by such large corporations as Wal-Mart. The combination of a contest for power and growing pressure for major restructuring has split labor into two camps.

Among the unions that appear likely to support Sweeney are the Steelworkers, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Communications Workers of America.

But even some Sweeney loyalists have gone public with their criticism. Harold A. Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, recently wrote in a memo to the AFL that "for the last three election cycles at the national/federal level, the only measure that is truly relevant is that labor has come up short." Schaitberger said the AFL "must also end its practice of relegating itself to being subservient to one political party or our political and legislative influence will continue to decline."

FULL story at link.