HATING REPUBLICANS, LOSING POWER:

Labor's Divisions Widen As Membership Declines (Thomas B. Edsall, March 7, 2005, Washington Post)

Since the merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations 50 years ago, labor has been in a relentless downward spiral, and factions have bitterly squabbled for years over how best to reverse the trend. Today, the most urgent question among labor leaders and experts is whether a victory by either Sweeney's forces or the dissidents will be enough to pull organized labor out of a nose dive that began when Sweeney, 70, was a 20-year-old student at Queens College.

"These are the darkest days that I have ever seen for American workers across the United States," said McEntee, one of Sweeney's strongest allies.

John Wilhelm, a president of the recently merged Unite Here union, who is contemplating a challenge to Sweeney in the July election for president, added that "we are in deep trouble."

By a 2 to 1 margin, the AFL-CIO's executive committee last week rejected the dissidents' proposal to boost spending on union organizing and membership drives by roughly $35 million. Instead, it adopted the Sweeney plan to nearly double spending on political and legislative mobilization, raising the AFL-CIO's annual commitment to these activities to $45 million.

In 1953, 36 percent of private-sector workers were union members; today, fewer than 8 percent belong to unions.

Not to mention that the 2004 election showed how little money matters when your ideas can't cut it.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 7, 2005 8:17 AM