It’s time for the Teamsters, SEIU, Farmworkers and UFCW to rejoin the AFL-CIO.
I know there’s a lot of institutional politics in the way, but a more united labor movement would strengthen our hand in the 2012 election cycle and beyond.
AFL-CIO prez Rich Trumka has gotten better and better at articulating and promoting our message. And though he’s not universally admired among national union leaders, his communications skills – plain speaking and forceful – have been playing quite well in the media.
Trumka has honed the argument – long advocated by progressive activists – that unions will no longer pony-up for democratic politicians who ignore working-class interests.
Nothing Trumka is saying is inconsistent with the principles and practices of the unions which currently comprise the Change-to-Win coalition (which broke from the AFL-CIO in 2005).
And though there have been some ugly rivalries and divisive battles – particularly the split-up within UNITE HERE and inside the SEIU – the labor movement has grappled with severe conflicts in the past and will again.
SEIU’s new president Mary Kay Henry – a much more inclusive and conciliatory leader than her predecessor, Andy Stern – could be the linchpin for bringing the two umbrella organizations together.
And then there’s a useful regional template for a united labor movement. In the six years since big labors’ divorce, the Los Angeles labor movement has remained basically intact. Note the enormous support here among AFL-CIO unions for the possible strike by UFCW (CTW) workers.
Is a merger in play?
Obviously, there’s a lot going on at various union headquarters in D.C. that I don’t know about.
But with the prospect of organized labor gaining some real traction with the public, it couldn’t hurt to make a genuine effort to get our own house in order.