John Sweeney said it best. When it comes to division within the labor movement, only our enemies are rejoicing.Sweeney, the president of the AFL-CIO, made that comment just before three major unions left the federation in late July. The departures of the Service Employees, Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers coincided with the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago.
In the wake of their leaving, media types across the country—many of whom don’t understand or could care less what unions do—offered lots of talk about what it all means for the AFL-CIO, for rank-and-file union members and for working families in general. Some said there may be a silver lining, in that the division could spur changes in the approach to organizing campaigns that lead to growth in union membership. Others said it might signal the beginning of the end of the union movement in the United States. Still others took a more cautious view, acknowledging that no one knows for sure what it’ll mean in the long run.
For the time being, I think it’s clearly a step in the wrong direction. Solidarity is such a fundamental concept in the labor movement, I’m skeptical that anyone honestly views disaffiliations as a positive step for any union or for any worker.
But I’m equally confident that this won’t be a fatal blow to our movement. Unions have come and gone throughout America’s history. The American Federation of Labor can trace its roots to the 1880s. In fact, as many of you know, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations weren’t even in the same federation for about 20 years, from the mid-1930s until 1955. The CIO started out as a splinter group from the AFL.
Eventually, the officials and members of that day relearned the old lessons of solidarity, and the AFL-CIO was formed. I don’t know how long it will take this time, but there’s no reason why we cannot reunite somewhere along the line. After all, the working people in the grocery stores, or moving cargo on trucks, or cleaning the floors are still union members—like us, fighting for better conditions for all.
In the SIU, we know all about the benefits of unity and the drawbacks of standing apart. We learned a hard lesson for 40-some years fighting the old NMU. Employers enjoyed pitting us against each other. All of that changed when the NMU merged into the SIU four years ago. I don’t know anyone who could say with a straight face that we’re not stronger today than we were before merger. It’s really very simple: In unity, there is strength.
I remain on record as fully supporting John Sweeney along with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson. I believe they have done outstanding jobs under extremely challenging circumstances. They are friends to our union and, more importantly, they are hard-working, effective people of integrity.
Along those lines, I deeply feel that our union is stronger as an affiliate of the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO is the greatest friend of America’s working families. I’m proud that the SIU is part of such an organization.
In fact, among all the words written and said about organized labor during the AFL-CIO convention, I was pleased to see a decent amount of acknowledgment of just how much unions have done for American workers. Like the ad says, the labor movement brought workers the weekend. We’re also the folks who brought pensions, overtime, vacations, health insurance, safe work rules and many, many other benefits to the people who form the backbone of the United States: the rank-and-file workers.
The things that have always been good and important about unions remain good and important today. We absolutely have an ongoing vital role to play in today’s society, and we will continue to meet that obligation, no matter what obstacles lay ahead.
Regardless of the actions of any other union, we in the SIU will survive and move forward.
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