Part Six:
Enhance the Strength of Labor's Traditional Allies
Since its merger in 1955, the AFL-CIO and its affiliates have been coalition partners in the greatest social movements of the 20 th Century. The labor movement’s on-going commitment to “fight social injustice” is reflected in the gains won by the civil rights movement, women’s movement, the campaign for human rights, the efforts to protect and expand the rights of immigrants and the global efforts to stamp out child labor, slave labor and prison labor. And yet, the fight against the “abuse of unrestrained economic power,” as Al Hayes termed it, has NO drop-dead date; respects NO local, state, national or international boundary; and provides us with NO immediate gratification.
The labor movement is a movement because the causes for which we fight are never fully won, never completely mastered. As a consequence of that fact, we must support and sustain our traditional allies even as we reach out to new constituencies and embrace new causes. To that end, we must expand our advocacy efforts at the international, federal, state and local levels:
The fight against injustice starts at home, starts within the House of Labor. An aggressive, rapid response capability must be developed within the AFL-CIO, one based on the principle that an “injury to one is an injury to all.” Attacks on the American worker – organized or unorganized – requires a coordinated, clear and compelling response.
When the fight against injustice moves into the legislative and judicial arenas, the AFL-CIO, its affiliates and allies’ responses should continue to be coordinated closely. In precedent setting cases and far reaching legislative or administrative initiatives, the AFL-CIO must focus the vast talent found within the labor movement and found among its allies to decisively affect the outcome.
Improving the operations, effectiveness and accountability of the state federations and central labor councils must remain a high priority. Their leadership in fighting for working family legislation, ballot initiatives and endorsed candidates can be invaluable. Their contributions to community service can make a real difference to the friends and fellow workers that receive their help. And without local union participation and their local community contacts, the fight against injustice becomes another theoretical exercise divorced from reality.
Involving LCLAA, APRI, the NAACP, CLUW, the ARA and other constituencies more directly in the AFL-CIO’s deliberations, program development and decision-making is a prerequisite for effective advocacy. These traditional allies deserve respect for what they have done and the resources to do more.
The Working Women’s Department needs to be reconstituted and the Working Women’s Conference must be reconvened. We cannot profess to support equal pay and equal rights while we deny our sisters within the labor movement an ability to challenge the status quo.
And the fight against injustice cannot be cramped by international boundaries. The “abuse of unrestrained economic power” is most evident in those nations, like China, that demean and maim their own workers. On continent after continent, the exploitation of men, women and children continues unabated. And the AFL-CIO and its affiliates need to be in the thick of the battle against this global exploitation.
Finally, the effectiveness of the AFL-CIO’s lesser known but no less effective departments needs to be recognized. Without their advocacy, the workers affected would be left treading water.
The Safety and Health Department is well managed and always receptive to the needs and concerns of all the affiliates. Even with a small staff, they provide exemplary services in the political arena and OSHA’s administrative processes that cannot be overstated. Unions with or without their own lobbyists in DC have benefited greatly from the work of that department.
The Department of Professional Employees functions well but operates somewhat in a vacuum in relationship to the AFL-CIO. Compared to other sectors, it struggles for an identity within the labor movement. Those affiliates that are solely “professional” constantly express frustration over the level of attention their issues receive. In this fast expanding sector, the labor movement needs to focus on the changes in the workplace and the challenges these American workers face.
The Metal Trades Department relationship with the Carpenters at the various locations is an issue that will not go away. Given the inability of the federation to enforce its own Constitution, both IAM members and other unions’ members will be adversely affected in the local MTC’s.