Which Comes First: Growth or Clout?

What's more important right now for the embattled labor movement, politics or organizing?

At the spring meeting of the AFL-CIO executive council in Las Vegas, debate over this long-standing strategic conundrum took center stage, where it will remain until the federation's potentially tumultuous July convention. But posing the question this way oversimplifies undercurrents of the conflict that are rooted in personalities, institutional power and unions' different experiences in different industries.

The current internal debate was triggered last November by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) president Andy Stern. At its heart, Stern's 10-point plan aims to spark an organizing renewal by dramatically restructuring the labor movement into fewer, bigger unions based on core industries or occupations. The Laborers, UFCW (food and commercial workers), Teamsters, and UNITE HERE (a merger of apparel and hotel unions) allied with SEIU. Most other unions--despite often starkly different strategies--have united behind AFL-CIO President John Sweeney (or sometimes, more precisely, against the provocative Stern).

Sweeney has responded with his own plan that partly addresses Stern's challenges--and has been derided as "Stern lite"--but puts more emphasis on politics. Sweeney came out on top at Las Vegas, when the Executive Committee--an advisory group of top labor leaders without formal power--voted 15 to 7 to reject a Teamsters' proposal that would have rebated half of AFL-CIO dues payments back to affiliated unions that spend 10 percent of their budgets, and at least $2 million a year, on organizing. The committee endorsed Sweeney's proposal to allocate half of the dues paid to the AFL-CIO for political work. The unions favoring the Teamster proposal, and who claim to represent 40 percent of federation members, vowed to fight on.

Labor leaders agree, at least rhetorically, that the AFL-CIO should focus equally on politics and organizing, priorities that John Wilhelm, then president of HERE and now a potential challenger to Sweeney, forcefully promoted five years ago. But within the AFL-CIO there are clear differences of emphasis. For example, some manufacturing unions feel that global pressures overwhelm them. "We have lost 3 million industrial jobs in the last four years," said Steelworkers President Leo Gerard. Without new public policies, he said, "we can't put enough money into organizing at that rate to organize 3 million workers."

Ironically, Sweeney came to power 10 years ago arguing that it was possible to organize without waiting for policy changes. But despite increased efforts by the AFL-CIO and a growing number of unions, the union share of the workforce has continued to decline. Now, with a shift in emphasis, Sweeney argues, "we can't wait until we organize millions of workers to have a stronger political program.

AFSCME, which represents state, county, and municipal employees, agrees, arguing that neutralizing employer opposition is one of the few proven strategies for organizing success. Unions can use state and local legislation as bargaining and comprehensive pressure campaigns to reduce employer opposition.

Incentives for Growth

In response, the unions backing the Teamster proposal argued in a joint statement that "a massive shift in resources and focus to organizing and growth in our unions' core industries and sectors is the only path to rebuilding worker power both in the workplace and in the political process."

They advocate restructuring unions through mergers in order to facilitate larger-scale organizing within particular sectors. While there is little support for Stern's original proposal to give the AFL-CIO the power to require mergers, the rebate proposal is designed to financially pressure smaller unions to merge. The proposal also aims to radically shake up the AFL-CIO by cutting its budget and creating a movement to challenge Sweeney's leadership.