The argument was over priorities. Several unions, including the SEIU, had argued for a shift in emphasis, away from the more classical “business unionism” of the Cold War, in which labor-management cooperation was highly valued and at least some heavy lifting on labor’s agenda was done, not by labor itself, but by “rewarding (political) friends and punishing enemies” at the ballot box. These diffident unions argued that better results would be achieved by building the unions themselves—organizing the unorganized, educating members and non-members about what unions are and how they work, and by a greater willingness to confront management in worksites, over petitioning various levels of government to act on labor’s behalf when labor didn’t have the strength to win its gains in industries.

When the AFL-CIO stymied such reform efforts, the SEIU and other unions broke away, founding instead something called the “Change to Win Coalition,” which proceeded to do what it had been advocating for the Federation do. And over time, CTW had the gains to show for it. In the intervening couple of decades, the AFL-CIO itself has changed, reorienting much of its overall operations along the lines originally advocated by Change to Win. An example would be the new directions recently taken by the United Auto Workers (UAW).

In the end, having won the argument, it made little sense to remain outside of the Federation, and its leadership. The re-affiliation of the SEIU to the AFL-CIO brings the latter’s overall number from 12 million to 14.9 million. Given the storm clouds already heralding the second Trump regime, such unity will be essential to confront it, to hold ground, and even to make gains, regardless of Washington’s policy.

The post SEIU Re-affiliates with the AFL-CIO first appeared on Labor Today.

UAW President Shawn Fain released a statement on November 13^th discussing the election and that the issues of today remained unchanged. In it he also states, “As we have said consistently, both parties share blame for the one-sided class war that corporate America has waged on our union, and on working-class Americans for decades.” And yet, Fain was the one who lauded Kamala Harris and Tim Walz during his DNC speech for “standing shoulder to shoulder with the working class” and also credited Joe Biden among the striking workers for contract wins against Ford, GM, and Stellantis. But these two things cannot exist simultaneously. Either both Biden and Harris were on the side of the working class or they were not. Fain’s comments about how “this was never about party or personality” flies in the face of everything business unionists proclaimed leading up to the election. Furthermore, Fain says the UAW, “will never support the destruction of the union movement”, but campaigned for a presidential candidate that actively worked to prevent a rank-and-file led railroad workers strike in 2022.

The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) President, Jimmy Williams Jr. released a statement stating, “the Democratic Party failed to offer a compelling working class agenda”. And yet, unions spent months of time, energy and money campaigning for Harris. The AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions have long been an appendage of the Democratic Party so it is likely that these unions will learn nothing and line up to support Democrats in the next election. The timid criticism of the Democratic Party post-election, instead of shifting towards independent political action, appears like damage control from leaders attempting to rein in their rank-and-file who are less than enthusiastic to continue supporting Democrats year after year.

Unlike business unionists, United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) provided a more nuanced approach when referring to the 2024 election. They specifically mentioned that Biden has an awful record on many issues and that they were not endorsing him (and by that extension Harris as they criticized her clearly undemocratic nomination), but that they had seen some gains under the Biden administration and encouraged working people to vote “in order to live to fight another day” while also pushing for independent political labor movement. The UE has since gone on to further advocate for a labor party and deepening the political struggle. This is where our decision now lies. Instead of waiting another three years for business unionist leaders to endorse another Democrat amid sinking popularity, we need to “get serious about building a true political alternative, a labor party that can unite and speak for the working class”. Unions such as the Teamsters, International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), UE, and United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 3000 all decided to not endorse either candidate in this election, showing the opportunity is brewing for a labor-led anti-monopoly coalition.

The post EDITORIAL: Opportunism of Labor Leaders Evident from Post-Election Statements first appeared on Labor Today.

For decades, labor has been shackled to the Democrats as union leadership in the building trades rely on Public Labor Agreements (PLA) that require contractors to pay union wages on public projects. More often than not, Democrats support PLAs while Republicans seldom do, making it only natural for building trade unions to gravitate towards the Democrats. The issue arises when union members themselves do not feel represented in leadership choices and are given no voice on matters that affect them. The AFL-CIO endorsement of President Biden is toothless if there is no rank and file to rally. This brings a long standing contradiction to the surface that is now bearing its teeth: support Democrats or else.

The contradiction lies in the belief that Democrats are the party of labor, yet they are bought and sold by many of the same donors and companies that back Republicans. We’ve seen Biden pay lip service to unions in this country while simultaneously using draconian laws like the Railway Labor Act to crush workers striking back at a system that left them by the wayside years ago. AFL-CIO leadership further digging in their heels to support a party that is increasingly becoming unpopular with workers across the country only proves that their allegiance is to the status quo and not what will fundamentally improve American workers’ lives.

As LUEL National Secretary Timothy Dirte stated in April, “the destruction of organized labor has in some ways made its rebirth possible.” Workers becoming increasingly disillusioned by the two-party system opens the way for class-oriented trade unionists to build a truly powerful labor movement in this country, one that is not beholden to any party, but rather the rank and file itself. The time is ripe for workers to break with the Democratic Party and build the labor movement they need and deserve, and that so many have been seeking for decades.

The post EDITORIAL: AFL-CIO Endorsement of Harris Increasingly Puts Them at Odds with Rank-and-File Members first appeared on Labor Today.

You can find the video here:
https://luel.us/laborschool/session-6-the-afl-cio-role-in-the-chilean-coup-of-1973/
https://youtu.be/y7OOibWl0Ic?si=rbPHUm1cMDvms8Nq

You can find your YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCygRGR71D8Ri6r5i3jTMxlw

The post Harry Bridges School of Labor 2023 Session 6: The AFL-CIO Role in the Chilean Coup of 1973 Available first appeared on Labor Today.