The New York Times reports on an unusual alliance of labor unions calling itself the Change To Win Coalition that is being formed to offer employees an alternative to the A.F.L.-C.I.O., which leaders of the new group feel is being too timid about organizing non-unionized employees.
According to the NYT, “this new coalition will be formed by the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters, the laborers, the food and commercial workers and Unite Here, which represents hotel, restaurant and apparel workers.”
Organizers are careful to say that they are not trying to replace the A.F.L.-C.I.O., but rather supplement its activities. But A.F.L.-C.I.O executive express some concern that the move will fragment an already hurting labor movement, and ask, in the words of the Times, “how effective the coalition would be in unionizing workers, considering that four of the five unions, except for the service employees, have been losing members.”
According to the NYT, “this new coalition will be formed by the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters, the laborers, the food and commercial workers and Unite Here, which represents hotel, restaurant and apparel workers.”
Organizers are careful to say that they are not trying to replace the A.F.L.-C.I.O., but rather supplement its activities. But A.F.L.-C.I.O executive express some concern that the move will fragment an already hurting labor movement, and ask, in the words of the Times, “how effective the coalition would be in unionizing workers, considering that four of the five unions, except for the service employees, have been losing members.”
- KC's View:
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It seems to us that rather than concentrating on growing membership, a higher priority would be to focus on how to reinvent the labor movement for the 21st century. The old-world contentiousness and distrust that characterized labor-management relations in the 20th century can’t be allowed to persist…it doesn’t work for either side, and certainly doesn’t work for the consumer.
The two sides need to find a way to create a new world partnership. Otherwise, the labor movement will die, but will drag unionized businesses into the morass even as it goes through its death throes.
