TWENTY-FIFTH CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 2005 - AFL … EC Report - Less Fin and Mem.pdfIn March 2005, the AFL-CIO Executive Committee took an initial step toward achieving these twin

TWENTY-FIFTH

CONSTITUTIONAL

CONVENTION

2005

REWARDWORKRESPECTWORKERS

EXECUTIVECOUNCILREPORT

President’s Report 1

Secretary-Treasurer’s Report 7

Executive Vice President’s Report 13

Executive Council Report 19 For Every Worker, a Voice 21Reward Work, Respect Workers 29Solidarity in Action 43Strong Families, Strong Communities 55

Trade and Industrial Department Reports 65Building and Construction Trades Department 67Food and Allied Service Trades Department 73 Maritime Trades Department 77Metal Trades Department 81Department for Professional Employees 85Transportation Trades Department 91Union Label and Service Trades Department 99

Contents

“The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the working people of America.

“We resolve to fulfill the yearning of the human spirit for liberty, justice and community; to advance individualand associational freedom; to vanquish oppression, privation and cruelty in all their forms; and to join withall persons, of whatever nationality or faith, who cherishthe cause of democracy and the call of solidarity, to gracethe planet with these achievements.

“We dedicate ourselves to improving the lives of workingfamilies, bringing fairness and dignity to the workplaceand securing social equity in the nation.”

From the Preamble to the AFL-CIO Constitution

N THE 50 YEARS since the creation of the AFL-CIO, much has changed—

but the values that guide America’s unionmovement have not.

If anything, our commitment to improvinglife for working families has grown, and ourexperience and ability to do so have grownas well.

But the voice of working families is dimin-ishing in our workplaces, our communities,our government and the global economy.And the problems of workers and their families are urgent: Job quality is eroding,wages are shrinking, retirement and healthcare security are increasingly out of reachand unbridled and unprincipled corporatepower threatens to make it more difficultfor working families to achieve theAmerican dream.

It is a crucial moment in the union movement, a time for change at every

level that will strengthen us to win forworking families, now and in the future.

This Convention follows months of vigor-ous debate about what form those changesshould take. Debate and discussion arehealthy and welcome—they prod us all into finding the best in ourselves and ourideas. In recent months, much of thedebate has been about the state of the labor movement. Much of it has been constructive. Much of it critical. Some of itcontroversial. And some has divided anddiverted us from discussing what’s at stakefor the future of the union movement.

Our job at this Convention, as leaders ofthe unions that represent 13 million hard-working men and women, is to movebeyond division, to make our decisionstogether, to move forward in solidarity andget about the business of building a betterfuture for working families.

It is a crucial

moment in the

union movement,

a time for change

at every level that

will strengthen us

to win for working

families, now and

in the future.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL REPORT • AFL-CIO 2005 1

Report of the PresidentTO THE CONVENTION

I

Winning for Working FamiliesIn November 2004, I asked every union,constituency group and allied organizationto share their ideas and proposals abouthow we should strengthen the unionmovement for the future. In response, we received 23 extensive proposals fromnational unions, 40 from state federationsand central labor councils, four from AFL-CIO trade departments, five from constituency groups, two from AFL-CIOExecutive Council committees, two fromcommunity partner organizations, 20 fromacademics and other individuals—and morethan 8,500 comments and recommenda-tions from rank-and-file union members.

Core areas of common concern and commitment emerged:

The union movement must grow bydirecting increased resources to organizingworkers, reaching out especially to women,people of color and others who stand togain so much from union membership.

To advance a working families’ agenda, we must build on the success ofLabor 2004 by creating long-term,year-round issues and member mobilization through a permanent grassroots network, ensuring the capacity to boot anti-worker politicians out of officeand elect a pro-worker government.

We must strengthen state and local union movements to build the capacity for all this work. Wehave made a start by bringing state andlocal labor movements together throughthe New Alliance program and through theUnion Cities program.

The federation must become leaner,eliminate areas of duplication withaffiliate union work and focus moreintently on top priorities.Anchoring this vision are two interdepend-

ent strategies: helping affiliated unionsorganize and engaging working people indeeper, broader, ongoing mobilization towin legislative and political gains that builda strong future for working families. Muchof the recent debate about the future of the union movement has created a falsedichotomy that pits organizing againstpolitical and legislative action. The choicefacing us is not either organizing or politicaland legislative action. The road map to success is clear: Overcoming the odds working people face today demands thatorganizing and politics work hand inglove––as they always have––from the day the Wagner Act was passed more than70 years ago. Our strategies will not sur-mount the odds unless we concede thatthere’s an umbilical link between politicalaction and winning workers’ rights. Neithershould be sacrificed at the expense of theother.

In March 2005, the AFL-CIO ExecutiveCommittee took an initial step towardachieving these twin goals by directing that the federation prioritize the intercon-nected goals of organizing and political and legislative mobilization. Since then, our discussions for bettering the lives ofworking families increasingly have foundcommon ground. At this point, the diver-gence in the debate is basically aboutmoney—the size of federation rebates or incentives to affiliate unions that areorganizing.

We need to recognize a fight about dollarsand cents for what it is—details that can be overcome when debating in good faith.Details are critical, of course, but cannot be allowed to threaten the solidarity of the union movement. At this Conventionwe are going to put plans in place to:

n Build power through organizing.n Build power through issues mobiliza-

tion and political action.

The union

movement must

grow by directing

increased resources

to organizing

workers, reaching

out especially to

women, people of

color and others

who stand to gain

much from union

membership.

2 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL REPORT • AFL-CIO 2005

n Build power at the grassroots unionmovement level.

n Build power through our diversity.n Build power by strengthening our

governance.

Build Power Through OrganizingWe will increase the resources the AFL-CIOdevotes to organizing and create a StrategicOrganizing Fund, allocated between creatingincentives to encourage affiliate organizingand assisting national union affiliates inbuilding capacity to take on larger-scale,more strategic growth campaigns of impor-tance to the entire union movement. Wewill continue to provide top-level assistanceto national unions in building strategicorganizing programs as well as training foraffiliate organizing staff. It is the collectiveeffort of every union investing in strategicorganizing that can grow the union move-ment. We will actively facilitate voluntarymergers of unions, especially those withcommon core jurisdictions, to increaseunion bargaining power and growth.

We will mobilize federation-wide supportfor the United Food and CommercialWorkers in its drive to stop the Wal-Martingof good jobs. Through the AFL-CIO Wal-Mart Task Force, we will mount amajor global campaign to expose the greed of the world’s largest employer andhold it accountable. Expanding theVoice@Work and Employee Free Choice Act campaigns to restore workers’ freedomto form unions is core to these endeavors.

Build Power Through IssuesMobilization and Political ActionComplementing our efforts to expandorganizing outreach and mobilization, we will build year-round, year-in-and-year-out capacity for informing and mobilizingunion members around legislative and public policy issues and for political actionat all levels. By integrating our local, state

and national legislative fights with ourpolitical mobilization, and expanding ourwork with community allies, we willadvance the efforts of all working people at every level.

We will set our political and legislativeagenda and priorities based on the interestsof working families, not the interests of any political party or specific candidate. We will work on a bipartisan basis to electcandidates to public office who support apro-working families’ agenda, recognizingthat neither political party is entitled to ourautomatic support. Democrats should notexpect to be endorsed by labor withoutearning that support, and Republicans whowant to work on behalf of working peopleshould be given an opportunity to meetwith representatives of state and centrallabor bodies as part of an open and trans-parent endorsement process.

Through political mobilization, we willassist and strengthen efforts to mobilizepeople of color, especially in southernstates, and build stronger coalitions withthe Latino community. At the same time,we will increase our efforts to recruit, trainand elect union members to local, state and federal public offices.

Because so many workers say they wouldjoin a union on the job if they had achance but are prevented from doing sobecause of employer hostility, weak laborlaws or lack of opportunity, we launchedWORKING AMERICA in 2003. As a com-munity affiliate of the AFL-CIO, WORKINGAMERICA has enabled more than 900,000workers to take action while tapping intotheir potential political and legislativepower. Side by side with our issues mobi-lization and outreach efforts, we willexpand WORKING AMERICA recruitment,aiming to increase membership to 2 millionby the end of 2006, and mobilize current

WORKING AMERICA

has enabled more

than 900,000

workers to take

action while

tapping into their

potential political

and legislative

power.


and new WORKING AMERICA membersfor support in electoral battles and in thefight for corporate accountability.

Build Power at the Grassroots Union Movement LevelTo design and lead effective issues, legisla-tive and electoral member mobilizationcampaigns in partnership with affiliates and state and central bodies, we will buildstate and local labor federations that willstrengthen and grow the labor movement.

We will establish performance standards forstate and local central bodies, and we willlead strategic planning and budgetingprocesses to build strong, unified, effectiveorganizations at the state and local levels.

The national AFL-CIO, state federations,central labor councils, national and localunions and constituency groups must all be represented in this work, and theseefforts must be supported by all levels ofthe labor movement.

Build Power Through Our DiversityCreating a vibrant union movement meansincreased training and leadership develop-ment among women and people of color—and one of the best ways to do this is toreach out to today’s young people. We mustattract and recruit a diverse pool of youngpeople into the labor movement throughUnion Summer, as well as through publicoutreach.

We will act decisively to expand leadershipdiversity and to strengthen democracy.Working with national unions, state federations and central labor councils, wewill create paths for the stewards and work-site mobilizers who will lead the renewal of the union movement to become the unionleaders of tomorrow. And we will structureour governance to allow our affiliatesincreased and active involvement that

will enrich decision making, facilitate communication and lead to the mutualaccountability without which a successful,growing, unified movement is not possible.

Build Power by Strengthening Our Governance Maintaining the current size of theExecutive Council will ensure diversity in size of union, industry sector, race, ethnicity and gender. To streamline thedecision-making process, we should reduce the size of the AFL-CIO ExecutiveCommittee and expand the General Boardto include representatives of central laborcouncils and AFL-CIO constituency groups,in addition to the current membership ofthe presidents of all national unions andrepresentatives of trade departments andstate federations. The General Board willserve as the highest governing authoritybetween conventions.

Moving Forward By building power in organizing and political and legislative action, strengthen-ing our governance and making the mostof our diversity, we can equip today’s unionleaders to confront and address the problemsfacing each worker—and the entire unionmovement—and ensure tomorrow’s unionleaders are well prepared when they take onthe mantle of leadership.

The challenges we face in our nation andthroughout the global economy are great.Divided, we cannot meet them. United, we can move forward in ensuring workingfamilies reap the rewards they earn withtheir dedication and hard work––a goal thathas shaped the heart of the union move-ment from its inception and one of whichwe must never lose sight. Together, we canexplore our differences with an aim toresolving them in the interests of workingfamilies.

“Our greatest

strength is our

ability to be one

voice when needed.

Being willing and

able to help each

other in times

of crisis, be it

injury or illness,

is another.”


Among the thousands of grassroots unionmember responses on the AFL-CIO websiteregarding the future of the union movement,Larry Grant, a member of Iron WorkersLocal 10 in Kansas City, Mo., spoke for somany of our union members when hewrote: “Our greatest strength is our abilityto be one voice when needed. Being willingand able to help each other in times of crisis, be it injury or illness, is another.”

One of the most critical lessons we havelearned throughout the history of ourunion movement is the power of solidarity.Now is the time to come together, to pull

our load in one direction, to combine ourstrength. Union members and all workingpeople are counting on the leaders oftoday’s unions to work together in goodfaith for a strong, united union movementthat can win for working families.

We as a union movement must never lose sight of what’s at stake for America’sworkers, their families––and the nation. In the words of the powerful labor leaderJohn L. Lewis:

“The future of labor is the future of America.”

John J. Sweeney

One of the most

critical lessons

we have learned

throughout the

history of our

union movement

is the power of

solidarity.


HIS PAST MAY I saw a news reportthat symbolized what has gone wrong

in this country. Maryland Gov. RobertEhrlich (R) was set to veto a bill that wouldhave required any corporation that employedmore than 10,000 workers to spend at least8 percent of its payroll costs on health carebenefits for their workers. The kicker wasthat standing at Ehrlich’s shoulder were twotop executives of Wal-Mart, the only com-pany in the state with that many workersthat does not provide adequate health carecoverage for its employees.

Big Business is exerting undue power at the federal level and in many statehouseswhere lawmakers pass laws that favor profits over people.

Wal-Mart and other multinationals increas-ingly are enlisting the aid of the governmentto wield their crushing market power tothreaten workers, hammer vendors andmove jobs—exploiting workers and work-ing conditions here and abroad.

We in the union movement are dedicatedto improving the lives and working condi-tions of all workers. To counter this growing corporate power and ensure quality jobs for U.S. workers, the AFL-CIO has focusedon four strategies: strengthening U.S. manufacturing, fighting for fair trade pacts that ensure the rights of workers here and around the globe, working toreform corporate management and holdingcorporations accountable through share-holder action.

Strengthening U.S. ManufacturingTo rebuild U.S. manufacturing, the AFL-CIOand affiliated unions established theIndustrial Union Council (IUC) in May 2002.Through the IUC, the 12 member unionsare working to revitalize manufacturing by building on the collective strength ofindustrial unions through joint strategiesfor creating and maintaining manufactur-ing jobs.

Unions are working

to revitalize

manufacturing

by building on the

collective strength

of industrial unions

through joint

strategies for

creating and

maintaining

manufacturing jobs.


Secretary-Treasurer’s Report

T

The situation in manufacturing is grim. TheUnited States has lost 2.8 million manufac-turing jobs since President George W. Bushtook office in 2001. These family-supportingjobs long served as the fuel that drove theeconomy of communities around the nation.

In Fieldale, Va., 1,000 hardworking mem-bers of UNITE HERE lost their jobs in 2003when Pillowtex shut down its factory. Thesewere well-paying jobs that many of theseworkers had held for decades—as had theirparents. In Henry County, where Fieldale islocated, Pillowtex not only meant goodjobs—the company was the lifeline of thecounty. It paid roughly $94,500 a month to the county for wastewater treatment and$1.4 million a year in Henry County taxes,supplied the town’s water and paid for thelocal police, community center and streetlights. All that financial support is gonenow. Nationwide, Pillowtex shut down 16 factories and distribution centers afterdeclaring bankruptcy and laying off some6,450 workers.

It’s essential our nation’s lawmakers under-stand the need to maintain and expandfamily-supporting manufacturing jobs, andthrough the IUC, the union movement putmanufacturing on the front burner of the2004 presidential campaign. Further, ouractions to force our government to face upto the unfair trade practices of China andour massive effort to stop the spread ofsuch bad trade deals as the Free Trade Areaof the Americas (FTAA) invigorated theinternational and trade agenda withinCongress and among the public.

I see this new vigor clearly at the IUC leg-islative conferences. This year, 1,300 unionmembers spent two full days in workshopsand lobbying on Capitol Hill. Fourunions—the Boilermakers, United Food andCommercial Workers, Machinists and SheetMetal Workers—took part in the conference

for the first time this year. We workedtogether to move our top legislative issues:trade, China’s workers’ rights and currencymanipulation, the Buy American campaign,pension benefits and retirement security,health care and domestic investment inmanufacturing.

Fighting for Fair Trade PactsOur manufacturing jobs have been lost inpart because of bad U.S. trade policies andtreaties such as the North American FreeTrade Agreement (NAFTA). Recently, we’vefaced the proposed Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement(CAFTA) and the FTAA. These corporate-backed deals extend the damage done byNAFTA—some 900,000 jobs lost, irreparableenvironmental destruction and workerexploitation—to the entire WesternHemisphere. These agreements do not contain adequate workers’ rights provisionsand do nothing to change the terrible laborpractices in many of the signatory nations.

In November 2003, I proudly marched withthousands of union members, students andreligious leaders in Miami as we stymied the plans of trade ministers meeting thereto finalize the FTAA. But while the FTAA ison hold, the Bush administration madepassage of CAFTA one of its top legislativepriorities. Through a strong alliance of U.S. and Central American unions, we lobbied Congress and educating the publicabout the dangers of unfettered free trade.

Our trade picture is a disaster. Last year weran up a $618 billion trade deficit overalland 2005 promises more of the same. Itwould take a 150 percent increase in ourexports just to stay even with the 2004deficit. Currently, the annual trade deficit is running more than $100 billion abovelast year.


The trade picture with China is even moretroubling. In 2004, our deficit with Chinasoared to $162 billion, a 30 percent increasein one year. This is the largest bilateral tradedeficit between two countries in the historyof the world. In the past two years, expertsestimate our deficit with China alone hascost our nation 410,000 jobs.

China’s trade advantage depends in largepart on the exploitation of its workers. In2004, we filed a first-of-its kind petitionwith the U.S. Trade Representative, whichdemonstrated how China’s frequent viola-tions of workers’ rights give that nation anunfair trade advantage that has cost morethan 727,000 U.S. jobs. In addition, theAFL-CIO also is pushing the administrationto use its power to persuade China to allowits currency to float on the international market and to stop an artificial valuationthat gives it an unfair advantage over itstrading partners, including the United States.Six dollars of every $10 of trade from Chinacome from a U.S. company. Clearly, this is not about trade but rather relocating production facilities to China to increaseprofits at the expense of American jobs.

Wal-Mart, the same multibillion-dollar corporation that won’t pay its employees aliving wage or provide them with affordablehealth care coverage, imported $18 billionin goods from China, more than 10 percentof the 2004 U.S. deficit with China.

Wal-Mart imported nearly 10 percent of allChinese goods sold in this country thatyear. That’s why the Wal-Mart campaignspearheaded by UFCW is so important. Wemust change the way that company doesbusiness and make sure its workers get a fairwage and good health insurance and that itbuys more of its products at home.

Exposing the Corporate Role Behind Social SecurityPrivatization One of the biggest displays of corporategreed is the scheme to privatize SocialSecurity. This plan to privatize the nation’smost successful safety net is the biggestshakedown in U.S. history. Financial firmsstand to gain billions of dollars in fees frommanaging privatized Social Security accountswhile working families would have to makedue with smaller Social Security benefitsand our children would be strapped with ahuge national debt. Companies such asCharles Schwab, Wachovia and Citigroupare providing massive amounts of corporatecash to support privatization. University ofChicago economist Austin Goolsbee esti-mates companies such as Charles SchwabCorp. could reap some $940 billion in feesover the next 75 years.

When Social Security privatization toppedthe agenda of the Bush administration, weneeded to take action fast. To stop the WallStreet Social Security privatization jugger-naut, we have had to take on some of thenation’s major financial firms and exposetheir backroom support for privatization. In March 2005, we sponsored a NationalDay of Action to let Wall Street know Social Security is not for sale. Thousands of working families and communityactivists rallied in more than 70 cities at the offices of Wall Street firms, demandingorganizations such as Charles Schwab andothers stop supporting privatization ofSocial Security.

We urged shareholders to withhold theirvotes for the financial firm’s board of direc-tors because of Schwab’s boardroom role intrying to take workers’ retirement by sup-porting the privatization of Social Security.In a major success, 26 percent shareholders

To stop the

Wall Street

Social Security

privatization

juggernaut, we

have had to take

on some of the

nation’s major

financial firms

and expose their

backroom support

for privatization.


withheld their votes at the Charles Schwabannual meeting in May 2005. Withholdinga vote is equivalent to a vote of no confi-dence in the board, including the chair-man, Charles Schwab. Shareholders alsoexpressed their dissatisfaction with thefirm’s leaders by passing—with 57 percentof the vote—a resolution requiring annualelections of all directors. The resolutionpassed even though Charles Schwab owns19 percent of the company.

Our union-backed grassroots protests byworkers and investors at dozens of financialfirms this year already have prompted somecompanies to drop out of pro-privatizationorganizations, such as the misnamedAlliance for Worker Retirement Security(AWRS), which is leading the charge for privatization. In February, Edward Jonespulled out of the AWRS after a series ofcommunity actions at many of its offices.Shortly before grassroots mobilizationsaimed at investment firm Waddell & Reed were set to take place in March, thecompany announced it was leaving AWRS.

Holding CorporationsAccountableUnion members work hard and we expectto be paid for doing a good job. When wemess up, we want to be treated fairly but to be held accountable. That standard doesnot seem to apply to corporate CEOs. Lookat what happened to Douglas Ivester. In the two-and-a-half years that Ivester ran theCoca-Cola Co., the company had a productcontamination scare in Europe, faced aracial discrimination lawsuit and lost its bid to buy another company. Meanwhile,Coke’s profits and stock price slumped. So what did the board do when Ivesterresigned? It gave him a six-year consultingagreement worth $675,000, office space,furniture, supplies, a company car, homesecurity service and club dues. In total, his

retirement package reportedly was worth$119 million!

Other CEOs get rewarded for increasing thecompany’s bottom line at the public’sexpense. The CEO of Wal-Mart, Lee Scott,was paid $23 million in salary, bonuses andstock options last year. Yet, according to acongressional report, each Wal-Mart storeemploying 200 people costs taxpayersabout $420,750 annually in public socialservices used by Wal-Mart workers whoselow wages and unaffordable health insur-ance mean most of them are among theworking poor.

CEOs get away with these kinds of abusesbecause they dominate the selection processfor company directors. Until shareholdershave the strength to elect vigorous inde-pendent boards, these kinds of outrages willcontinue. That’s why the AFL-CIO CapitalStewardship program works with affiliateunions and worker pension funds whose $5 trillion in assets enables the unionmovement to push for reform of corporatemanagement, protection of workers’ pensions and creation of good jobs thatbuild our communities.

In the past two years, union members’ pension funds—such as those ofCommunications Workers of America andUFCW, the Amalgamated Bank’s LongviewCollective Investment Fund and the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund—led the fight toreform executive pay and restore genuineaccountability in corporate boardrooms at hundreds of companies, includingSafeway, Comcast, Wal-Mart and Tyco.

The labor movement led the successfulfight to win the first-ever disclosure ofmutual fund proxy votes, which allowsworkers to learn how the financial firmsthat invest our pension funds vote on key corporate issues.

The AFL-CIO

Capital Stewardship

program works

with affiliate unions

and worker pension

funds whose

combined $5 trillion

in assets enables

the union movement

to push for reform

of corporate

management,

protection of

workers’ pensions

and creation of

good jobs that build

our communities.


Each year, through the extremely popularAFL-CIO PayWatch website (www.paywatch.org), we publicize the enormous compensa-tion packages paid to CEOs, many of whomsend jobs overseas while the wages of U.S.workers who still have jobs stagnate or evendrop in real terms. The just-issued AFL-CIOreport, Behind the Curtain: How the 10Largest Mutual Fund Families Voted WhenPresented with 12 Opportunities to Curb CEOPay Abuse in 2004, examines proxy vote reports by thenation’s mutual fund companies. Becausemutual funds own 22 percent of all U.S.corporate stock, their proxy votes on suchissues as CEO pay and director elections can be decisive.

The AFL-CIO Proxy Voting Guidelines bookletserves as a guide for union pension fundtrustees for voting their funds’ shareholderproxies. The guidelines assist trustees inexercising their ownership rights in waysthat achieve long-term value by supportingimportant shareholder initiatives on corpo-rate accountability. In 2004, union andpension fund shareholders and trusteesintroduced hundreds of resolutions at corporate annual meetings. These initiativesinclude board of directors’ proposals, corpo-rate governance and proposals concerningemployee relations, executive compensationand corporate responsibility issues.

In the first five months of 2005 alone,shareholder proposals by the Sheet MetalWorkers, Laborers, Teamsters and Plumbersand Pipe Fitters to give investors a greaterstake in director elections received majoritysupport at nine companies and garnered

high vote totals (more than one-third sup-port) at several other companies, includingPeabody Energy Corp., Verizon and WasteManagement Inc. The Laborers andAFSCME also sponsored shareholder resolu-tions at companies such as Amgen andSempra Energy.

Renewing Our MissionWhen I was growing up in the coal countryof western Pennsylvania, I watched myfather and other coal miners perform back-breaking work for long hours whilebreathing dust that eventually would killthem. They risked their lives in the minesto feed their families and provide a betterlife for their children. They worked at themercy of coal company barons who sacri-ficed the lives and health of the workers togain every penny of profit they could.

Workers such as these built the unionmovement. Our mission is to make surethat never again will corporations have thesole power to determine the fate of hard-working people. Today, the Wal-Marting of the world economy, with the consentand support of many world governments,means the union movement must growstronger and fight harder to counter corpo-rate power.

The world’s workers and our communitiesare under attack. We must fight back. Ouraccomplishments are just the beginning. We cannot rest until every worker receives a fair wage, a secure retirement and afford-able health care. The future of our childrenand of our way of life depends on it.

Richard L. Trumka

We cannot rest

until every worker

receives a fair

wage, a secure

retirement and

affordable health

care. The future

of our children and

of our way of life

depends on it.


LL OF US in the union movementbelieve in solidarity. And each of us

has moments when we see solidarity at itsvery best.

One of those moments for me was in myhometown of San Antonio in May 2005. I traveled on the “CAFTA—We Don’t Hafta”tour with three union activists: Marta SoniaDíaz Palacios of El Salvador, ReynaldoFederico González of Guatemala and Albino Vargas Barrantes of Costa Rica.

The tour had a great launch in Washington,D.C. In fact, it was a huge breakthrough for the U.S. union movement to be workinghand in hand with Latin American unionmovements to oppose a trade scheme thatwould hurt workers here and in CentralAmerica. But it was during the workers’forum at the Communications Workers of America Local 6143 in San Antoniowhere Marta, Reynaldo and Albino reallybrought home the meaning of solidarity.They talked about the damage CAFTA

would bring about in the lives of workingpeople here and in their own countries.Their message that day was “We don’t want good jobs in the United States to be sent to our countries and turned into terrible jobs without rights or benefits forour countries.”

That morning, everyone in the CWA hallknew in their hearts what they already hadheard many times: Working people reallyare one, whatever their language, or skincolor, or union or nation. That’s exactly the kind of solidarity that all of us try tobuild in the ways we know best. In the pastfew years, I have focused on five key areas:building solidarity by working with theAFL-CIO constituency groups, raisingawareness for the need for justice amongimmigrant workers, building relationshipswith other union movements in theAmericas, campaigning for voter protectionand advancing the efforts of the nation’sworking women and people of color.

Working people

really are one,

whatever their

language, or skin

color, or union

or nation. That’s

exactly the kind

of solidarity that

all of us try to

build in the ways

we know best.


Executive Vice President’s Report

A

Constituency Groups Gain Strength Through UnityIn the past four years, the AFL-CIO con-stituency groups have become stronger,more focused and more effective––and inthe past two years, they also have becomemore united than ever.

In 2003, the six groups met to talk abouthow they could be involved in the 2004elections. The groups include the A. PhilipRandolph Institute, Asian Pacific AmericanLabor Alliance, Coalition of Black TradeUnionists, Coalition of Labor UnionWomen, Labor Council for Latin AmericanAdvancement and Pride At Work. Theyformed a nonpartisan group, the LaborCoalition for Community Action (LCCA).Led by Gloria Johnson, the longtime president of the Coalition of Labor UnionWomen, LCCA’s aim is to mobilize, in amore unified fashion, grassroots activism in local communities.

A year later, LCCA turned out to be thelargest coordinated effort in the history ofthe constituency groups. In that time, LCCA:

n Sponsored 23 town hall meetings in 14 states at which citizens talked aboutissues ranging from revitalizing cities toimproving access to health care to creat-ing affordable housing and more jobswith living wages.

n Conducted voter registration, educationand get-out-the vote activities in 41 cities,enlisting more than 2,000 volunteers.

n Developed a southern strategy to mobi-lize African American and Latino votersin Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee,Louisiana and Mississippi.

This year, LCCA is building on the founda-tions laid in the 2004 election cycle. Thecoalition is moving forward with town hallmeetings on issues for women and workersof color in Los Angeles, Philadelphia andDetroit.

Justice for Immigrant Workers“The AFL-CIO proudly stands on the side of immigrant workers.” That was how theExecutive Council began its resolution five years ago that charted a new course for the union movement on the issue ofimmigration.

We have been true to our word. The part-nership between our movement and thenation’s immigrant communities is closernow than it has been in generations.Advancing the rights of immigrant workershas become one of the highest priorities of the AFL-CIO. It makes good sense and is the right thing to do.

There was dramatic evidence of this in 2003 when the AFL-CIO and affiliatedunions sponsored the Immigrant WorkersFreedom Ride. In September, hundreds of immigrant workers and their allies representing hundreds of organizationsboarded buses in 10 cities across the coun-try and converged on Washington, D.C.,New Jersey and New York.

This year, the struggle has moved toCongress, where there are several proposalsfor immigration reform. The basic AFL-CIOposition in this debate is clear andunchanged. We’re fighting for citizenshipfor all undocumented workers and theirfamilies who have been working hard, paying their taxes and contributing to their communities, no matter where theywere born or whether they are documentedor undocumented. They deserve the rightto a minimum wage, a safe workplace andthe freedom to form unions.

There is a moral principle here. In my opinion, no one has put it better thanKyron Parris, an immigrant from Trinidadand a proud member of OperatingEngineers Local 15C. “Immigrants worklonger hours, get the hardest jobs and theleast pay,” he said at the time of the

Advancing the

rights of immigrant

workers has

become one of the

highest priorities

of the AFL-CIO. It

makes good sense

and is the right

thing to do.


Freedom Ride. “We need a way to makesure that law-abiding immigrants who work hard get respect.”

Exactly.

Building Solidarity Throughout the Western HemisphereWith economic globalization growing everdeeper and wider, solidarity with our unionsisters and brothers in other countries hastaken on renewed urgency––and nowhere is the need for such solidarity greater thanhere in the Western Hemisphere. That iswhy one of my biggest priorities has beento build the natural alliances among unionsin the Americas.

Four years ago, I had the great honor ofbecoming the first U.S. trade unionist andthe first woman elected president of theInter-American Regional Organization ofWorkers (ORIT), the federation of unionmovements that represents more than 45million workers throughout the WesternHemisphere. I was re-elected for anotherfour-year term in April 2005. From the start,this has been an incredible experience. I’mconstantly seeing firsthand what all of usalready know: The interests of working people in this country are the same as those of working families in every part ofthe Americas.

CAFTA is a perfect example. We’ve seenwhat a terrible disaster the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been for workers here and in the rest of NorthAmerica. I’ve had the chance to getinvolved in ORIT’s effort to build analliance of unions and legislators againstCAFTA, both here in the United States andin Central America. We won a big victoryon Capitol Hill when the CongressionalHispanic Caucus rejected CAFTA and havegiven all our support to the Costa Ricans

who are taking a stand against the pro-CAFTA forces in the Costa Rican NationalAssembly.

In a further demonstration of hemisphericsolidarity, our sisters and brothers in ORITnow have taken a strong stand on some ofthe issues that mean the most to us in theUnited States. At their April convention,ORIT members voted for resolutions we in the AFL-CIO had brought to the tablecalling for support of our Employee FreeChoice Act; more inter-American coopera-tion in protecting immigrant workers andstrengthening their freedom to chooseunions; resisting CAFTA and the Free Trade Area of the Americas; and includingeffective guarantees of labor rights in tradeagreements.

It was further proof that with multinationalcorporations threatening us all, workers inthe Americas are planning and acting andstruggling effectively together.

Advancing the Efforts of Working Women andPeople of ColorAlthough working women are nearly half of the workforce, they represent 55 percentof newly organized workers. What’s more,in organizing campaigns in which mostworkers are women, they are more likely towin their union. So there is no questionthat working women are absolutely criticalfor the union movement’s future.

That is why working women have been at the center of much of the AFL-CIO’sactivity in the past several years. A fewhighlights:

n In 2003, we convened the first Workand Family Conference on Bargainingand Policy. It brought together morethan 250 union activists to discuss howwe all can advance paid family leave,

With multinational

corporations

threatening us all,

workers in the

Americas are

planning and acting

and struggling

effectively together.


child care, dependent care and controlover our work hours.

n In 2002 and 2004, our Working WomenVote program was a big success. Forexample, while working women as a whole voted for John Kerry by only 51 percent to 48 percent, unionwomen voted for Kerry by an over-whelming 45-point margin (72 percentto 27 percent).

In summer 2002, the AFL-CIO ExecutiveCouncil confronted the challenges womenface in joining unions. Balancing work andfamily needs, women often hesitate to getinvolved in organizing campaigns. Andeven though more and more women arejoining as members and becoming grass-roots union leaders, they are inadequatelyrepresented at the highest levels.

To address these obstacles, the ExecutiveCouncil set up the Overcoming Barriers toWomen in Organizing and Leadership project. It researched barriers women face in attaining union leadership and member-ship, developed a comprehensive reportand presentation, engaged union womennationally and produced diversity policyrecommendations for ratification at the2005 Convention.

The report notes, “There is a clear road map for reaching working women. Womenrespond strongly to traditional women’seconomic issues—equal pay, work and family and control over work hours.” And it recommends (among other things)unions develop plans to increase women’srepresentation as leaders at all levels,appoint women to core positions in unionsand provide work and family programs tohelp women fulfill both their union andhome responsibilities.

In addition to this report, the ExecutiveCouncil’s Civil and Human Rights Committee

prepared a report on overcoming barriers topeople of color in unions and union leader-ship structures. Similar to the findings ofthe report on working women, this reportshows we have much more work to do toimprove the participation of people of colorat all levels of the union movement.Recommendations are similar—the need to increase representation of people of coloras leaders at all levels, appointing people of color to core positions in unions andcombating issues of institutional racism.

You’ll be considering these recommenda-tions at the AFL-CIO Convention. I urgeyou to study them closely and take themvery seriously.

Protecting Our Right to VoteIn 1965 when I was a young woman inTexas, the Voting Rights Act became lawand the world changed for people who look like me. We’re celebrating the 40thanniversary of the Voting Rights Act thissummer and we are fighting hard to makesure that many of its key provisions arereauthorized. I’ll never forget when itpassed. For the first time in American history, people of color could hope theirconstitutional right to vote finally was guaranteed and secure. Then came the 2000 election scandal. There were no lynchings as in the old days—but in Floridaand other states, thousands of people ofcolor and immigrants were cheated out oftheir vote because of faulty voting equip-ment, police checkpoints that hamperedaccess to polling stations and misleadingvoter instructions.

Early last year, we in the AFL-CIO resolvedthat we were not going to let that kind ofabuse take place in the 2004 election. InMarch, the Executive Council launched amassive voting rights project, My Vote, My Right.

Working women as

a whole voted for

John Kerry by

only 51 percent

to 48 percent,

union women

voted for Kerry by

an overwhelming

45-point margin

(72 percent to

27 percent).


International unions, locals, state federa-tions, central labor councils, constituencygroups, the Alliance for Retired Americansand the AFL-CIO Lawyers CoordinatingCommittee all pitched in. Together, we educated and mobilized union members,arming them with the “Protect Your Vote”information they needed to defend theirright to cast a ballot and ensure it was fairlycounted. We let them know their rightsunder the Help America Vote Act. Werecruited union members and retirees to serve as poll watchers. We set up teams of My Vote, My Right advocates to investigate how well state and localauthorities were obeying election laws. We utilized radio, TV and other media to spread the word in our communitiesabout registering and voting.

Was every voice in America heard and everyvote properly counted because of the unionmovement’s My Vote, My Right campaign?No—but there’s no question we made ahuge difference in one city after another. By working together and coordinating ourefforts, we learned a lot about what worksand what doesn’t. Far more important wasthat at the end of the day, the election wasfairer and more honest. In coming years,

we will build on the networks we createdand expand our efforts to ensure that everyvote is counted.

Shaping Our Future When I started out in the union movementas a secretary in a small local union in Texasmore than 35 years ago, many people inour movement considered international solidarity and issues of concern to people of color and women to be secondary. Thereal business of the union movement wassupposed to be other things.

How times have changed. Today, when we see global corporations exporting ourgood jobs to low-income economies inwhich workers are underpaid and exploited,we know we must build effective alliances with our union sisters and brothers in those countries. Here at home, strong,vibrant constituency groups and a powerfulwomen’s agenda are critical for ensuring theconcerns of women and people of color arereflected throughout the union movement.

For our movement not only to survive butto prosper, we have to make those choices.We have to—and we will.

Linda Chavez-Thompson

Here at home,

strong, vibrant

constituency groups

and a powerful

women’s agenda

are critical for

ensuring the

concerns of

women and people

of color are

reflected through-

out the union

movement.



For Every Worker, a Voice 21Reward Work, Respect Workers 29Solidarity in Action 43Strong Families, Strong Communities 55

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL REPORT

EARLY EVERY DAY in the UnitedStates, workers are choosing to join

unions to secure better wages, health carebenefits and respect at work. In 2002, morethan 4,000 Cingular Wireless workers aroundthe nation joined the CommunicationsWorkers of America. Four thousand manu-facturing workers at Freightliner Trucksplants in North Carolina chose the UAW in2003. In Houston, more than 500 workersat the Hilton Americas-Houston hotelbecame that city’s first unionized hotelworkers when they won a union voice atwork with UNITE HERE in 2004. From 2002through 2004, 1.3 million workers becamemembers of AFL-CIO–affiliated unions andthousands more have won union representa-tion in 2005.

Almost 4 million new members have joinedAFL-CIO unions over the past nine years.And surveys show an increasing number—some 57 million nonunion workers—wouldjoin a union if they could. Yet union membership has continued to decline as

a percentage of the workforce. To grow, we must dramatically accelerate the pace of change. While the union movement has accomplished much by beginning thechange-to-organize process, a great dealmore must be done and it needs to be donemore quickly: Union density has decreasedto 7.9 percent in the private sector and to12.5 percent overall.

Helping workers form and join unions inthe face of employer opposition always hasbeen a struggle. But in the past decade, ithas become even harder. Recent researchshows 92 percent of private-sector employerswhose employees want to form a unionforce workers to attend anti-union meet-ings, and half of employers threaten to shutdown partially or totally if employees jointogether in a union. More than three-quarters of employers require workers to sitin one-on-one meetings with supervisorswho try to persuade them to oppose theunion. Fully one-quarter of private-sectoremployers illegally fire workers, and more

For Every Worker, A VOICE

NAlmost 4 million

new members have

joined AFL-CIO

unions over the

past nine years.

Yet union member-

ship has continued

to decline as a

percentage of the

workforce. To

grow, we must

dramatically

accelerate the

pace of change.


than half threaten to call the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Servicesduring organizing drives that involveundocumented employees.

Even when workers successfully form a union by voting in a National LaborRelations Board (NLRB) election, employersin 45 percent of the cases still have notagreed to a first contract two years after the election.

The employer war on workers is aided by a dead-letter National Labor Relations Act(NLRA) that fails to protect workers’ rightsand an NLRB dominated by Bush adminis-tration appointees who consistently sidewith employers against workers. Recentdecisions have severely limited the freedomof university graduate workers, temporaryworkers and workers with disabilities toform unions; elevated employers’ interestsover workers’ rights; eliminated importantemployee protections; and dramaticallyreduced the effectiveness of NLRB remedies.

The NLRB process is so broken that only70,651 workers joined AFL-CIO–affiliatedunions through NLRB elections in 2004—about one-third the total number of workerswho joined unions that year. The majority of workers who formed unions did so bydemanding and winning recognition fromemployers outside the NLRB system.

Against this tattered backdrop, enablingmore workers to gain the benefits of unionmembership—in wages, benefits, fair treat-ment and a voice on the job and in oursociety—is the highest priority of the unionmovement. Workers who join unionsimprove the lives of their families and theircommunities and bring the union move-ment new strength to win for workers in theworkplace and in important national policyand political debates.

As part of the union-movement-wide processto change to organize and to change theway we organize, more than 250 top unionorganizers from dozens of unions held thefirst-ever organizing summit in January2003. Their summit concluded that themoral obligation of this generation oforganizers, activists and leaders is to rebuildand reinvigorate the union movementthrough:

n An immediate, ramped-up effort tochange the nation’s public policies torestore workers’ freedom to organizeand bargain collectively; and

n An accelerated initiative to help manymore unions increase their capacity toorganize, especially outside the NLRBelection process.

Since the summit, the AFL-CIO has gearedup a major Voice@Work campaign to raiseawareness about employers’ war on workersand enlist broad support for reform ofAmerica’s inadequate labor laws. Throughmember education and mobilization work-shops, more than 30,000 union membersand allies not only learned more about theimportance of restoring workers’ freedom to form unions and the ordeals workers face when they try to form unions, but also were encouraged to become active participants in organizing campaigns. TheAFL-CIO Organizing Department helpedaffiliates change to organize, developedorganizers through the Organizing Institute,recruited and trained strategic researchersand campaigners through the Center forStrategic Research and worked side by sidewith affiliates in organizing partnershipagreements.

In spring 2005, the AFL-CIO began arestructuring process with a dual goal ofincreasing the size of membership through-out the union movement while increasingunion density in multiple industries. Going

Enabling more

workers to gain

the benefits of

union membership

is the highest

priority of the

union movement.


forward, the federation will assist nationalunion affiliates in building capacity to takeon larger-scale, strategic growth campaigns—providing expert technical support, cam-paign research and organizer training—andwill focus greater efforts on building a cul-ture of solidarity and support for organiz-ing. AFL-CIO assistance and supportincludes organizer staffing; researcher andorganizer recruitment and training; coalitionbuilding and community outreach; politicalsupport and lobbying efforts; grassrootsmobilization and e-activism; internationalsolidarity; and state and local legislative andpolicy initiatives. The AFL-CIO also is spear-heading efforts to amass bipartisan supportfor the Employee Free Choice Act inCongress as well as state and local legisla-tion to enable workers to choose for them-selves whether to form unions and,through this legislation, educating lawmak-ers, the public and community leadersabout the challenges facing workers whowant to form unions.

Building Capacity to OrganizeAlthough the AFL-CIO does not directlyorganize workers, it plays an important rolein supporting affiliate organizing efforts.While encouraging affiliate unions to shiftmore resources into organizing, the federa-tion steadily has increased the share of itsbudget dedicated to organizing support.The AFL-CIO intends to create a StrategicOrganizing Fund, with up to two-thirds ofit to be used as incentives to leverage massive new investment in organizing byaffiliate unions. One-third of the fund, or $7.5 million, will assist strategic organizingcampaigns of importance to the entire labor movement.

The AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Researchhas assisted affiliates in conducting in-depthindustry and company research and instrategic planning for innovative organizing

campaigns. In addition, the center hastrained hundreds of strategic researchersand campaigners over the past several yearsand has provided a clearinghouse for affili-ate recruitment of new strategic researchersand campaigners. Some of those efforts haveachieved remarkable success, including theUnited Union of Roofers and Waterproofers’organizing campaign in Western states, the Iron Workers’ national organizing

campaign at J.D. Steel Corp., AFT’s campaign among University of Illinois graduate employees at the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses, theUAW’s campaign in the auto parts industryand the Teamsters’ nationwide organizingdrive among America West Airlines customer service representatives.

Partnership agreements between affiliatedunions and the AFL-CIO support nationalunion campaigns to increase density within core industries. AFL-CIO supportincludes financial assistance, staff help and Voice@Work training and strategy.Recent partnerships have included AFGE’sairport screener campaign; AFSCME’s New Mexico public employee campaign;SEIU’s home care and building service campaigns, the Laborers’ asbestos abate-ment campaign and United Food andCommercial Workers’ Wal-Mart campaign.


In addition to providing on-the-ground organizingsupport, including lead organizers and other directcampaign support, the AFL-CIO has assisted affiliateorganizing campaigns in the past 18 months by:

n Assigning organizers to help with the UnitedUnion of Roofers and Waterproofers’ organizingeffort among low-wage, mainly immigrantworkers in Western states.

n Educating and soliciting support from electedofficials for the Iron Workers’ campaign onbehalf of 10,000 immigrant construction workers at J.D. Steel Corp.

n Helping with strategic planning for AFT’s campaigns among graduate employees at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaignand Chicago campuses, Texas teachers, NewMexico public employees and University ofPennsylvania graduate students.

n Providing strategic research assistance on the Cintas Corp. campaign among laundryworkers for UNITE HERE and IBT.

n Conducting corporate research and providingorganizing assistance for IBT’s campaignsamong drivers at DHL, waste workers and customer service representatives at AmericaWest Airlines.

n Helping Comcast employees win a voice at work by providing Electrical Workers and CWAwith organizing assistance and corporate research.

n Supporting AFGE’s airport screener campaign by lobbying Congress to overrule PresidentGeorge W. Bush’s order taking away unionrights from airport screeners.

n Providing corporate research and assistance with local policy initiatives as part of the Mine Workers’ Peabody Coal campaign.

n Providing organizing assistance in CWA’s campaigns with high-tech workers, Bresnancable employees and Mississippi state workers.

n Using the online Working Families Network to mobilize support from hundreds of thou-sands of union members and allies for workersfighting to form unions at Yale-New HavenHospital in Connecticut, InterPark inWashington, D.C., Comcast and Cintas.

n Providing research and organizing assistance in UAW campaigns at Johnson Controls Inc.,Dana Corp. Parts and Thomas Built Buses.

n Assisting in establishing coalitions with globalunions to promote international solidarity inIBT’s campaign against Quebecor, the world’slargest printing company.

(Continued on next page.)


AFL-CIO Support for Affiliate Organizing

n Supporting CWA and IBEW efforts to organizeworkers at Verizon Wireless.

n Helping workers at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel form a union with UNITE HEREby soliciting letters from members of Congress,Texas state lawmakers and the Houston CityCouncil in support of employer neutrality. The Harris County (Texas) Central Labor Council also reached out to 50 communitygroups, all of which pledged to support the workers.

n Providing organizing assistance to the multi-union campaign among Puerto Rico’s public-sector workers.

n Assisting in efforts to elect New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) who, once in office,supported the rights of public employees to join AFSCME, CWA and AFT.

n Organizing community and elected officials’support for the Bakery, Confectionery, TobaccoWorkers and Grain Millers’ Consolidated BiscuitCo. campaign.

n Providing organizing assistance for SEIU’s home care and building service campaigns.

n Researching the extent of asbestos-caused illnesses and lobbying Congress for adequatecompensation for victims in LIUNA’s asbestosabatement campaign.

n Joining with UFCW and other affiliates to mount a coordinated campaign to hold Wal-Mart accountable for its low-road business practices.

n Promoting international solidarity and introducing shareholder resolutions for PACEInternational Union’s campaign with DuPontworkers.

n Assisting in research and organizing for theMachinists’ campaign among Nevada car dealership employees.

n Providing organizing assistance to the FarmWorkers’ multicrop campaign among immigrantworkers in California and the Farm LaborOrganizing Committee’s Mt. Olive Pickle Co.campaign in North Carolina.


AFL-CIO Support for Affiliate Organizing (Continued)

Organizing InstituteIn 2004, the Organizing Institute recruitedand trained 300 organizers, emphasizingoutreach to workers of color, and institutedits first-ever Spanish-language training program. Those new organizers joined some 577 organizers who were OrganizingInstitute graduates in 2002 and 2003—more than 6,252 have participated since1996. By bringing new talent to the organ-izing effort and providing critically neededskills and training, the Organizing Institute has increased the capacity of unions toorganize. More talent has been made available through the thousands of unionmembers who have taken part in theOrganizing Institute’s Member OrganizerTraining Program, who now have the expe-rience to serve in vital roles as volunteerorganizers in their unions’ campaigns.

Union SummerIn addition to Organizing Institute partici-pants, hundreds more activists have spenttheir summers fighting for social justice aspart of the AFL-CIO Union Summer, LawStudent Union Summer and SeminarySummer programs. More than 3,000 activistshave taken part in the Union Summer program since the AFL-CIO launched thehands-on training program in 1996. Mostrecently, Union Summer interns helped

organize janitors in downtown St. Louiswith SEIU; joined with the AFT/NursesUnited’s Hospital Corp. of America’s organ-izing drive; and with campaigns by thePainters and Allied Trades and OperatingEngineers in New York.

Launched in 2001, the Law Student UnionSummer gives first- and second-year lawstudents a rare opportunity for up-closeorganizing experience. In 2005, 10 lawschool students are working on organizingand contract campaigns with SEIU, UnitedSteelworkers, AFT, UNITE HERE, IBT, UFCW and Professional and TechnicalEngineers.

Seminary Summer, a 10-week internshipsponsored by the AFL-CIO and InterfaithWorker Justice, gives seminarians, novicesand rabbinical and Islamic graduate stu-dents and other future religious leaders theopportunity to witness workers’ strugglesfor a voice in the workplace and join withreligious, community and union activists tobuild support for workers organizing unions.Seminary Summer, launched in 2000, hasgraduated more than 115 students withanother 30 to 35 participants expected to take part in 2005.

Restoring Workers’ Freedom to Form Unions

Voice@Work CampaignThe union movement in 2002 expandedthe nationwide Voice@Work initiative,rededicating efforts to change the organizingclimate by educating the public, communityleaders, faith leaders, candidates and electedofficials about the obstacles workers facewhen they try to organize into unions andto help affiliates win campaigns by buildingbroad community support.


Union activists and allies from community,civil rights and religious groups, along withelected officials, celebrated Voice@WorkMonth in June 2002 with rallies, marches,forums, teach-ins and educational leaflet-ing. Concurrently––for the first time inmore than 10 years––the U.S. Senate heldhearings to explore the obstacles workersface when seeking to form unions, withworkers describing to lawmakers the harass-ment and intimidation they have experi-enced when trying to win a voice on thejob and the need for U.S. labor law reform.

Fueled by the AFL-CIO Executive Committeeresolution in February 2003 reaffirming andstrengthening the union movement’s effortsin support of the freedom of workers tochoose a voice at work, the federationspearheaded face-to-face meetings betweenworkers and key Democratic presidentialcandidates. Workers met with Sens. JohnEdwards (N.C.), John Kerry (Mass.) andJoseph Lieberman (Conn.); Rep. RichardGephardt (Mo.); and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. On Dec. 10, 2003––the anniversary of the 1948 UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights, a key part ofwhich is the right of people in every nationto come together in unions and bargaincontracts—the union movement mobilizedto demand the basic human right to formunions and bargain collectively. More than37,000 workers participated in 97 eventsthat took place in 72 cities and 37 statesfrom coast to coast. More than 200 electedofficials participated, from U.S. senators tosmall town mayors, as did leaders of 137allied organizations. More InternationalHuman Rights Day mobilizations areplanned for this year and beyond.

Employee Free Choice ActIn 2003, the AFL-CIO’s efforts to championa Voice@Work resulted in the EmployeeFree Choice Act, far-reaching bipartisan

legislation introduced in Congress thatwould enable a majority of employees toform a union without the debilitating obsta-cles employers now use to block workers’choice. The Employee Free Choice Actwould allow employees to freely chooseunion representation through simplemajority sign-up on cards or petitions, provide mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and establish meaningfulremedies for violation of employee rightswhen workers seek to form unions and during first-contract negotiations.

In 2004, the AFL-CIO mobilized activiststhrough e-mail alerts, urging them to takeaction in support of the Employee FreeChoice Act. As a result, more than 182,000letters were sent to decision makers urgingtheir support. The Employee Free ChoiceAct has become an educational and mobilization vehicle with members, electedofficials, community leaders and the generalpublic. States have passed resolutions insupport of this federal-level legislation, andcongressional briefings continue in homedistricts with workers involved in localorganizing campaigns. The Employee FreeChoice Act has been used to drive organiz-ing issues into the national policy debate.

By the end of the 108th Congress in fall2004, the Employee Free Choice Act hadthe bipartisan backing of 210 House and 38 Senate sponsors. On April 19, 2005, theEmployee Free Choice Act was reintroducedas bipartisan legislation by Sen. EdwardKennedy (D-Mass.), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) andRep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).

This legislation continues to gain congres-sional backing, with 182 House and 37 Senate co-sponsors as of June 2005, as workers and their unions ramp up efforts to mobilize support.

In 2004, the AFL-CIO

mobilized activists

through e-mail

alerts, urging them

to take action in

support of the

Employee Free

Choice Act. As a

result, more than

182,000 letters

were sent to

decision makers

urging their

support.


Strengthening Our Forces with AlliesThe AFL-CIO and grassroots union activists are using the Employee Free Choice Act toreach out systematically to a wide range ofallied leaders who have begun to speak outpublicly in support of the Employee FreeChoice Act and to educate and involvetheir own members in highlighting howsuppressing the freedom to form unionscosts all members of the community. Tobolster the power of union activists, manyorganizations in 2003 and 2004 gotinvolved or stepped up their leadership onthis issue, including Human Rights Watch,the NAACP and the United Church ofChrist. In addition, a new organization,American Rights at Work, was launched to restore workers’ freedom to organize and bargain collectively through coalition

building, research, public relations, policyanalysis and advocacy. American Rights atWork has investigated and exposed workers’rights abuses and the inadequacy of U.S.labor law; stimulated debate about workers’rights among journalists, policymakers,advocacy groups and the public; promotedpublic policy that protects workers; andpublicized success stories of profitable companies that respect workers’ rights andbuild innovative partnerships with unions.

Union members also are building andexpanding their coalition partnerships withcommunity, civil rights and religious leadersto help pass legislation to ensure workerscan win a Voice@Work and encourageemployers to respect workers’ rights––andhold them accountable when they don’t.For a closer look, see Strong Families, Strong Communities (page 55).

Union members

also are building

and expanding

their coalition

partnerships with

community, civil

rights and religious

leaders to help

pass legislation to

ensure workers can

win a Voice@Work.


HE NATION’S ECONOMY is beingstrangled by the Bush administration’s

tax cuts for millionaires, economic policiesthat create low-wage, low-benefit jobs andpoorly crafted trade policies that encourageU.S. firms to move plants and jobs out ofthe country. Working families face anincreasingly difficult time making endsmeet—and even keeping their jobs.

The AFL-CIO has fought to strengthen good jobs and make the public aware of the challenges working families face athome and throughout the world with thevast economic shifts in the global economy.Through issues mobilization at the national,state and local legislative stages, educationcampaigns among union members and the public and global-level workers’ rightscampaigns, the federation has launchedcomprehensive campaigns to combat theincreasing influence of Big Business on government and lawmakers, the decline of good manufacturing jobs and the

nation’s loss of family-supporting jobs,quality health care benefits and retirementsecurity. One of the most important planksin the platform to make the economy workfor working families is the restoration of workers’ right to organize.

To address the crisis in manufacturing, theAFL-CIO in 2002 established the IndustrialUnion Council—now made up of 12unions in the manufacturing sector. IUCmember unions are pursuing national policies that will create and sustain goodjobs, healthy communities and a voice for working families.

Joining with global allies, the union move-ment has fought to bring workers’ rightsand higher standards to less developednations around the world and challengedcorporate exploitation of workers and ispreparing to launch a union-movement-wide campaign to halt the Wal-Marting of America.

The federation

has launched

comprehensive

campaigns to

combat the

increasing

influence of Big

Business on

government and

lawmakers, the

decline of good

manufacturing jobs

and the nation’s

loss of family-

supporting jobs,

quality health care

benefits and

retirement

security.


Reward WORK, Respect WORKERS

T

Manufacturing and Trade To combat the erosion of the nation’s man-ufacturing jobs, the 12-member IndustrialUnion Council (IUC) pursues strategies toaddress the causes underlying the jobs cri-sis: flawed U.S. trade and currency policies,rising health care costs, attacks on workers’overtime pay protections and employers’war against workers’ right to join a union.The IUC also is formulating internationalinitiatives to combat job exports.

Led by the presidents of manufacturingunions and chaired by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, the IUC held itsthird legislative conference in May 2005 inWashington, D.C., where more than 1,300workers from industrial unions lobbiedmembers of Congress and developed strate-gies to revitalize manufacturing, focusingon trade, health care and workers’ freedomto form unions. A Capitol Hill rally againstthe flawed Central American Free TradeAgreement (CAFTA) capped the conference.

Since its inception, the IUC has lobbiedgovernment officials to use U.S. trade lawsto address unfair trade practices such as violations of workers’ rights and revisions to tax laws that encourage companies toleave the country. IUC-member unions

also are demanding immediate action topress China and other nations to stop artifi-cially propping up their currencies by tyingtheir exchange rate to the U.S. dollar.Together with the AFL-CIO, the IUC filedtwo groundbreaking trade cases against theChinese government to address China’sinflated currency, garnering worldwide press coverage and raising the awareness of Congress and the public.

China, the largest trading partner of theUnited States, manipulates its currency,keeping it undervalued by as much as 40 percent compared with the U.S. dollar.This means Chinese exports to the UnitedStates are underpriced by 40 percent andU.S. exports to China are overpriced by 40 percent. As a result, one-fourth of the record-breaking U.S. trade deficit—$651 billion in 2004—is with China.

The IUC unions, in coordination with theAFL-CIO, helped organize the opposition to the proposed Free Trade Area of theAmericas (FTAA) in 2003, and IUC mem-bers were among the tens of thousands ofunion members who worked to stop theagreement. Through rallies, town hall meet-ings and bus tours, the AFL-CIO and itsallies mobilized working families to stop the pact—which would extend the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA’s)damage to the entire Western Hemisphereexcept Cuba. In 2002, the FTAA seemedpoised for approval. The Bush administra-tion, backed by its corporate allies, was setto move more manufacturing jobs to morelow-wage nations, exploit more workers andship the goods to sell at huge profits. TheFTAA contained extensive new rights formultinational corporations—but providedno comparable guarantees for workers’rights or environmental protections.


But by November 2003, union membersculminated their Stop FTAA efforts in athree-day event in Miami, where trade ministers from the Western Hemispherewere meeting at the eighth FTAA MinisterialMeeting to discuss the next steps in creat-ing the FTAA. Backed by a coalition thatincluded dozens of unions and their allies,20,000 workers traveled to Miami and delivered hundreds of thousands of unoffi-cial ballots cast by working families acrossthe nation opposing the FTAA. They werejoined by workers from throughout theAmericas waging similar campaigns in theirown countries. Participants in Miami facedstiff opposition: They were beaten, gassed,shot at with rubber bullets and arrested in a state-sanctioned effort federally funded by $8 million in Iraq war funds. The attackson FTAA protesters led to an investigationby broadcast journalist Bill Moyers. TheAFL-CIO has filed suit over the brutality,and investigations still are under way.

Ultimately, the mobilization against FTAA stymied its progress, and the Bushadministration, fearing defeat in Congress,changed its strategy and began seekingsmaller trade deals to push more easilythrough Congress.

In May 2004, Bush signed CAFTA, extend-ing NAFTA to the Dominican Republic andfive Central American countries. Buildingon the success of the FTAA fight, workingfamilies kept up pressure through e-mailand fax campaigns and other actions.

In May 2005, the AFL-CIO launched a new“CAFTA—We Don’t Hafta” tour in whichworkers from Costa Rica, the DominicanRepublic, El Salvador, Guatemala and theUnited States traveled from Washington,D.C., to New York City and San Antonio to describe how CAFTA would harm work-place standards and destroy economicdevelopment while lining the pockets of

multinational corporations. Joining together,workers from these diverse countries unitedin their message to lawmakers: CAFTAwon’t work for workers in any nation.

Building Good Jobs

Retirement Security Working families’ retirement is underattack: Whether through corporate bank-ruptcies, job exporting or cost cutting, corporations are gutting workers’ pensionsand putting workers’ retirement security in jeopardy. At the same time, the Bushadministration’s efforts to privatize SocialSecurity threaten to shred the nation’s mostsuccessful and reliable safety net.

Fewer and fewer U.S. workers can count on guaranteed pensions—since 1978, the percentage of private-sector workerscovered by guaranteed (defined-benefit)pension plans has plummeted from 41 per-cent to less than 21 percent today. Rockyconditions in the nation’s financial marketshave put tremendous pressure on pensionfunds and greatly increased the contribu-tions some employers must make to theirplans. Faced with increased competition


from cheap imports and a sluggish economy,employers are looking for easy ways toreduce costs. Some, such as United Airlinesand Bethlehem Steel Corp., are using thenation’s bankruptcy laws to cut expenses by breaking contracts with workers andeliminating their pension obligations orreducing the pension payouts.

The AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions aredeveloping key principles for pension policyreform to ensure workers retain solid pension plans and to make certain moreworkers receive pension coverage on whichthey can count.

To strengthen Social Security and defeatBush administration plans to privatize thisbedrock family economic security program,unions and their partners, including theAlliance for Retired Americans and AmericansUnited to Protect Social Security, havelaunched massive member mobilizationand public education campaigns, coupledwith a drive to expose corporations’ andfinancial firms’ support for privatization.

Beginning in spring 2005, working familiesstaged rallies to expose the risks of privatiza-tion at each stop of a Bush cross-countrytour, in which he tried to sell his scheme in so-called town hall meetings beforescreened, handpicked audiences of GOPloyalists. The union movement’s educationand information campaign has providedactivists and the public with facts highlight-ing the dangers of privatizing SocialSecurity and illustrating how retirees rely on Social Security’s guaranteed retirementbenefits. Activist tools include fact sheets,charts, talking points and more on the AFL-CIO website and through the WorkingFamilies Toolkit.

Through the Office of Investment, the AFL-CIO launched a campaign to counterthe massive funding of and support forSocial Security privatization by some of thenation’s largest financial firms––includingCharles Schwab Corp., Waddell & Reed Inc.and Edward Jones. Working family activistshave marched and rallied at the firms’offices in dozens of cities, and the AFL-CIOhas compiled information documenting the companies’ involvement in such frontgroups for Social Security privatization as the Securities Industry Association, aWall Street lobby group. The AFL-CIOmobilized activists through the WorkingFamilies Network to take online action urging Schwab and other firms to end their support of Social Security privatiza-tion. By April 2005, one of the nation’slargest brokerage firms, Edward Jones, and the investment firm Waddell & Reeddropped out of pro-privatization lobbyinggroups after facing public pressure.

When Bush and the White House tried to line up congressional support for thescheme, working families mobilized to winthe pledges of House and Senate membersto protect Social Security. By early summer


2005, public support for Bush’s handling ofSocial Security had dropped to 34 percent,and even congressional Republicans werebacking away from the risky scheme.

Health Care for Working FamiliesThe United States spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world,yet nearly 47 million Americans lack med-ical coverage. While most Americans withhealth insurance rely on their employers for access to quality care, employers increas-ingly are shifting their rising costs to workers who struggle to pay higher premi-ums, deductibles and co-payments.

In 2003, the AFL-CIO convened threeregional conferences on health care bargaining to discuss the challenges unionsface in bargaining and to strategize solu-tions. More and more, as health care issuesfrequently top the list of concerns in unionbargaining discussions, the AFL-CIO’s bargaining assistance to affiliated unions on major contract negotiations focuses onwinning strategies for health care benefits.The AFL-CIO has assisted in the followingcontract talks in which health care was akey issue:

n CWA negotiations with SBCCommunications Inc. in 2004;

n CWA negotiations with Verizon in 2003;n IUE-CWA–led coalition of 14 unions

and General Electric, mid-term strikeand campaign to fight cost shifting in 2003;

n UFCW and Southern California grocery employers in 2002–2003;

n International Longshore andWarehouse Union and Pacific MaritimeAssociation in 2002;

n BCTGM and Hershey Foods Corp. in2002; and

n IBT and Basic Vegetable Products(ConAgra Foods Inc.) in 2001.

WagesWhen the Bush administration attemptedto steamroll a massive cut in U.S. workers’overtime pay, working families and theirunions countered with an unprecedentedfight. Through marches, postcard campaigns,e-mail and fax communications, America’sworking families generated massive publicand congressional opposition to the Bushtake-away, the biggest rollback of overtimepay rights since passage of the 1938 FairLabor Standards Act.

Congress voted four times in 2003 to killthe scheme—and only White House arm-twisting and backroom maneuvering byRepublican lawmakers kept it alive. By theend of 2004, Congress had voted six timesto block Bush’s overtime pay take-away,highlighting working families’ success in getting Congress’s attention on a keyissue the Bush administration otherwisewould have quietly rammed through theregulatory process.

Beginning in March 2003 when Bush firstproposed the scheme, workers sent morethan 1.6 million e-mails, faxes and letters to lawmakers, the U.S. Department of Labor


and the Bush administration to protest theaction. After the 2004 elections, Bushthreatened to veto a huge spending billneeded to keep many sections of the gov-ernment running if Congress amended thebill to include a ban on the new overtimerules—and as a result, Republican leadersremoved the amendment. But because ofworking families’ outpouring of opposition,the Department of Labor made significantimprovements in the final rule, with 2 million fewer workers likely to lose theirovertime pay than in the original proposal.The resistance campaign was key to build-ing union members’ awareness of the Bushagenda to roll back workers’ rights.

Along with the attack on overtime pay, theBush administration has backed legislationto allow employers to replace paid overtimewith compensatory time off and replace the 40-hour workweek with an 80-hour,two-week pay period. Both proposals wouldforce employees to work longer hours forless pay. Working family opposition haskept both proposals from advancing. The Bush administration and Republicancongressional leaders also repeatedly haveblocked attempts to pass legislation to raisethe minimum wage, which at $5.15 anhour, hasn’t been increased since 1997.

Safety and Health—The Fight for Safe Jobs ContinuesThe Bush administration has turned itsback on workers and workplace safety andhealth, overturning or blocking dozens ofimportant workplace protections. Theadministration has pushed voluntary com-pliance rather than issuing new protectivestandards and enforcing current law. EachBush administration budget has reducedthe federal government’s commitment toprotecting workers’ safety and health.

As the nation’s most prominent advocatefor workers’ safety and health, the union

movement has countered the challenges,winning key battles despite the ferocity ofthe opposition.

The AFL-CIO and some 30 affiliated unionsdeveloped and lobbied for legislation toensure fair compensation for more than 1.5 million victims of asbestos exposure andto prevent legislation to bail out asbestosdefendants.

The Bush administration’s OccupationalSafety and Health Administration (OSHA)has not addressed the dramatic increases inboth the number and rate of fatalitiesamong Hispanic workers. The AFL-CIO andits affiliates highlighted these alarmingincreases, which occurred as the overallnumber and rate of workplace fatalitieswere dropping. Unions have publicizedthese issues in an attempt to force OSHA to take stronger actions to protect Latinoand immigrant workers. At the same time,unions are exploring ways to reach andeducate Hispanic and immigrant workersabout their safety and health rights andprotections.

The AFL-CIO and its affiliates were instru-mental in developing and lobbying for the Energy Employees Occupational IllnessCompensation Program that established a compensation system for workers made ill through their employment at theDepartment of Energy’s nuclear weaponsfacilities. Unions also led the charge inDecember 2002 when health care workersnationwide voiced their concerns about the Bush administration’s plan to vaccinatemillions of people against smallpox.Congress overwhelmingly passed theSmallpox Emergency Personnel Act to compensate caregivers, their families andpatients who became disabled or died as a result of the vaccine. In addition, statefederations, with help from the AFL-CIOSafety and Health Department, foughtagainst insurers, employers and extremist

Because of working

families’ outpouring

of opposition,

the Department

of Labor made

significant

improvements in

the final rule, with

2 million fewer

workers likely to

lose their overtime

pay than in the

original proposal.


Republicans in state legislatures to protectalready scant workers’ compensation bene-fits for millions of injured workers.

Through train-the-trainer programs at theNational Labor College, scores of unionactivists and staff have taken part in com-prehensive training in workplace health andsafety. With input from affiliated unions,the AFL-CIO and the National LaborCollege developed a new course for organiz-ers, Using Safety and Health in OrganizingCampaigns. Affiliates plan to use the course,piloted in January 2005, nationwide to traintheir organizers.

The AFL-CIO has continued its annual April 28 Workers Memorial Day observanceto call attention to job safety problems andto renew the fight for safe jobs. Each year,

the federation publishes a comprehensivereport on the state of workplace safety andhealth in the United States and supportsthe organizing of hundreds of local eventsand activities. Workers Memorial Day hasbecome a global event, with trade unions inmore than 100 countries now organizingsimilar April 28 activities.

In the AFL-CIO’s ongoing work with affiliatedunions, the federation will lead the unionmovement’s efforts to defend existing work-place protections and push for action onmajor problems such as ergonomics, jobstress, work hours, behavioral safety, chemi-cal exposures and infectious diseases. Theseefforts must be built on education andorganizing at the grassroots level and tied toother legislative and political activities thatincrease workers’ political strength.


In 2002, the AFL-CIO developed and launched the online AFL-CIO Working Families Network for unions, state federations and central bodies.One of the federation’s most far-reaching efforts,the Working Families Network provides a stream-lined method to recruit and manage lists ofactivists online by locations, interests and levels of activism. The Working Families Network givesunion leaders a tool to mobilize union members—75 percent of whom have online access—andenables activists to relay their key concerns toelected leaders, CEOs and others. With a simple e-mail alert, union members can be mobilized totake part in rallies and events and keep abreast ofthe latest key working-family issues and providesupport to workers seeking to form unions.

Hundreds of thousands of union membersreceived issues education messages on Bush’s overtime pay take-away, the Medicare prescriptiondrug battle, extremist judicial nominees, SocialSecurity and unfair trade agreements. These e-mailaction alerts generated nearly 2 million e-mails,

faxes, letters and phone calls to lawmakers in 2004and reinforced the importance of political action in the 2004 elections. Union activists sent out 15.6 million voter education e-mails during Labor2004 through the Working Families Network,which now has grown to include nearly 4 millionactivists. Through the Working Families Network,members have supported workers’ organizingefforts in various campaigns, including at VerizonWireless, Cintas, Gallo and Safeway, by demandingthese employers honor their workers’ choice.

Working Families Network Expands to Reach Millions

The AFL-CIO also will address the safetyand health concerns of workers throughunion organizing. For most workers, theright to a safe job can be realized onlythrough collective action and a union contract. At the same time, organizingaround safety and health can help buildstronger active local unions.

The AFL-CIO will work with affiliates todevelop effective strategies to incorporatesafety and health into organizing campaignsand to support the training of organizers toidentify and address workers’ safety andhealth concerns as part of union organizingefforts.

Immigrant Workers’ Rights As corporations seeking the lowest wagesand least regulation move jobs out of theUnited States, standards sink for workershere and abroad. With globalizationdestroying the infrastructure of developingnations, more and more workers become

victims of corporate greed. Coming toAmerica seems the only way to create a better life for many people in developingcountries slaving for pennies an hour.

Unfortunately, immigrant workers in theUnited States continue to be victims of corporate greed largely because of the failure of our immigration system and ourlabor laws. In fact, industries that cannotoutsource jobs to developing nations—suchas the construction industry, meatpacking,food processing and service jobs—are find-ing ways to import the labor standards ofthe developing nations to this country.Nowhere is that more evident than in thecourts’ interpretation of the SupremeCourt’s decision in Hoffman Plastic Compoundsv. NLRB, which denies undocumentedworkers who are fired for union activity the traditional remedy of back pay.

The application of that decision in otherareas of law has perverse incentive foremployers to abuse immigrant workers. For example, the Supreme Court of NewYork, Appellate Division, recently held thata construction worker who was injured onthe job because of the employer’s negli-gence was entitled to recover back pay forthe time he was injured, and so unable towork, but not at the rate he was earning inNew York. Rather, the worker was able onlyto recover at the rate he would have beenearning in Mexico, where the court said heshould have been working.

In this framework, immigrant workers in the United States continue to face theharshest forms of workplace injustices:employer interference with their rights to improve wages and working conditionsthrough unionization; discrimination and abuse at the hands of unscrupulousemployers; and the enduring struggle fordignity and respect, both as workers andhuman beings. Further, the ability of


employers to exploit vulnerable immigrantworkers with impunity imperils workplacerights and protections for all workers,regardless of their immigration status.

The AFL-CIO has taken the lead in fightingfor justice for immigrant workers in theworkplace, in communities and in the public policy arena. We know communitiesbecome stronger and the balance betweenincome and public services is restored whenemployers provide better-paying jobs,health care and safe working environmentsfor all workers. As part of the union move-ment’s effort to ensure good jobs and strongcommunities for working families, today’sunions are standing strong to demand protection for the rights of immigrantworkers and to thwart employers’ attemptsto exploit immigrants and pit workersagainst each other.

In fall 2003, the union movement organ-ized the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride,in which hundreds of immigrant workersboarded buses in 10 different cities for across-country tour highlighting immigrantworkers’ struggle for justice.

Modeled after the Freedom Rides of the1960s, which challenged racial segregationin the Deep South, the Immigrant WorkersFreedom Ride energized workers at everystop. Moving the issue of immigrant rightsto the national agenda, the workers, whorepresented dozens of nationalities, traveledmore than 20,000 miles and stopped inmore than 100 cities across the country as part of a national coalition of unions and community groups. At many stops,participants took part in supporting cam-paigns by workers seeking to form unions,with workers speaking to the group aboutthe opposition they faced from theiremployers. The new Freedom Riders trav-eled to Washington, D.C., where they heldmore than 120 meetings with lawmakers

on Capitol Hill to push for citizenship forall immigrant workers. Immigrant workersand their allies also discussed with lawmakersthe need to change the laws to allow immi-grant workers to reunite their families andto protect immigrants’ civil rights, libertiesand workplace rights.

Making the Immigrant Workers FreedomRide such a huge success took months ofstrategic planning, involving hundreds ofunion members reaching out to immigrantworkers, community allies and activists—and ultimately, building lasting coalitionsfor long-term mutual support.

The federation also has provided ongoinglegal and technical assistance to affiliatesduring organizing campaigns and contractnegotiations. For example, in 2003, when a group of courageous mine workers ofMexican ancestry attempted to organize a mine in Utah, the employer, one of thebiggest mine owners in the country, firedthem under the guise of having “discovered”problems with the immigration papers. TheUMWA, with the assistance of the AFL-CIOOffice of General Counsel, used various creative legal strategies to bring justice tothese workers’ struggle. The AFL-CIO also developed training materials and toolkits


to assist organizers and union leaders inreaching out to emerging immigrant communities.

Finally, the AFL-CIO also has taken the lead in campaigning for comprehensiveimmigration reform and has developed aset of principles that must be included inany new federal legislation, including a real process toward legalization of undocu-mented workers and their families. These principles are:

n Undocumented workers and their families make enormous contributionsto their communities and workplacesand should be provided permanentlegal status through a new legalizationprogram.

n The Hoffman Plastic Compounds decisionmust be reversed. Otherwise, the cur-rent perverse incentives for employersto hire and exploit undocumentedworkers will continue.

n Employer sanctions and the I-9 systemshould be replaced with a system thattargets and criminalizes employers whorecruit undocumented workers fromabroad for economic gain.

n Immigrant workers should have fullworkplace rights, including the freedomto form unions and protections forwhistle-blowers.

n Government safety net benefits areimportant for all workers, and thoseunfairly taken away by Congress shouldbe restored.

n Labor and business together shoulddesign mechanisms to meet legitimateneeds for new workers without compro-mising the rights and opportunities ofworkers already here.

n Temporary worker programs must guarantee all workers have enforceablelabor protections and must not allowemployers to use workers’ immigrationstatus to drive down wages and work-place standards.

Holding Corporations Accountable

Capital StewardshipHolding corporations accountable and preventing the types of corporate behaviorthat brought down companies such asEnron Corp., WorldCom and Tyco Inter-national Ltd. are critical parts of the AFL-CIO’s efforts to ensure family-supportingjobs and secure benefits for working families. The union movement is effectivelyusing the power of workers’ savings—worthsome $5 trillion—to reform corporatebehavior and protect the retirement securityof millions of working families.

Working with the AFL-CIO Office ofInvestment, worker benefit funds are leading the shareholder fight to challengeCEO excess and restore genuine accounta-bility to the corporate boardroom. Workerfunds sponsored shareholder challenges toenhance corporate governance and rein inrunaway CEO pay in 2004. Worker fundsalso are demanding greater accountabilityby running “Vote No” initiatives on corporate directors. In response, there havebeen more majority votes on shareholderproposals—46 worker fund proposalsreceived majority votes in 2004—and morecompanies are engaging in meaningful dialogues with worker fund shareholders.


Most importantly, more companies thanever are responding to majority shareholdervotes, reforming executive pay and evenstripping conflicted directors of their boardseats and committee assignments.

Many of these reforms are occurring inresponse to votes included in the annualAFL-CIO Key Votes Survey. The Key VotesSurvey rates the voting practices of invest-ment managers by surveying how theyvoted on proposals representing a worker–owner view of value. In 2004, for the firsttime, the Key Votes Survey also included thegiant mutual fund companies, which noware required to disclose their proxy votesfollowing a successful AFL-CIO rule-makingpetition and investor campaign that led tonew Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) disclosure rules. In another regulatoryreform long sought by the AFL-CIO, thenonprofit Financial Accounting StandardsBoard moved to require the expensing ofstock options.

In a clear sign that worker funds are closingin on the very conflicts that give rise to theimperial CEO, the business community nowis leading an all-out effort to roll backrecent regulatory reforms and silence theshareholder advocacy of the worker fundsthat have been at the forefront of the corporate reform movement. The backlashbegan in fall 2003 when the SEC, in responseto an AFL-CIO rule-making petition andcalls from worker funds, proposed rules thatwould make it easier for shareholders tonominate directors. The backlash intensi-fied after worker funds successfully brokeup cozy boards at companies such as CintasCorp. and Safeway Inc. Building on thesevictories, worker funds redoubled theirefforts in 2005, submitting another 340shareholder proposals by mid-2005 and,most recently, challenging the Wal-Martboard to address its legal compliance failures.

The AFL-CIO capital stewardship programalso has ramped up retirement security initiatives to defend defined-benefit retire-ment plans, particularly the many publicpension funds now under attack, andundermine Wall Street support for the Bush plan to privatize Social Security (see Retirement Security, page 31).

With Bush’s recent nomination of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.)—author of legislation that would have made it virtually impossible for shareholders tobring suit against companies that misled or deceived them—to head the SEC, unionactivists have geared up to challenge theretrenchment of bipartisan corporatereform. The AFL-CIO is coordinating thisongoing effort and will continue to rampup its corporate accountability and retire-ment security initiatives.

Wal-MartWith a record-breaking $10 billion in profitslast year and more than $288 billion inannual sales, Wal-Mart made more thantwice the profits of its leading retail com-petitors combined, according to the company’smost recent annual report. Wal-Mart, thenation’s largest private-sector employer, isone of the most visible and well-knownU.S. corporations. But while it built its earlyreputation on low prices, several years offocused campaigns by the union movementand its allies have spotlighted the real Wal-Mart: a multibillion-dollar corporationthat pays its employees low wages and provides inadequate health care benefitswhile running small businesses out of communities and lowering job and benefitstandards. It has directed its vast resourcesto stamping out its workers’ freedom toform unions, changing its processes to elim-inate the work of meat cutters when theychose union representation in Texas andshutting down an entire store in Canada

In a clear sign that

worker funds are

closing in on the

very conflicts that

give rise to the

imperial CEO, the

business community

now is leading an

all-out effort to

roll back recent

regulatory reforms

and silence the

shareholder

advocacy of the

worker funds that

have been at the

forefront of the

corporate reform

movement.


because workers there formed a union.Wal-Mart also squeezes suppliers so hardthey are forced to move jobs overseas, pri-marily to countries with egregious laborconditions. Through websites, town hallmeetings, ballot initiatives and in localtown council meetings, the union move-ment has highlighted Wal-Mart’s reputationas one of the most virulent anti-union, anti-worker employers in the nation and one ofthe biggest beneficiaries of corporate welfare.

Working families and health care activistshave developed a model Health CareDisclosure Act for which they are seekingsupport in state legislatures to hold Wal-Mart and other big-box corporationsaccountable when their employees areforced to use taxpayer-funded public servicesbecause they can’t afford employer-offeredhealth care benefits (see page 50). At thesame time, they are seeking to pass living-wage laws to ensure all workers have family-supporting incomes.

Each Wal-Mart store employing 200 peoplecosts taxpayers approximately $420,750annually in public social services used byWal-Mart workers whose low wages andunaffordable health insurance mean many

earn poverty-wages, according to a reportby a congressional staff committee.

In Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is headquar-tered, Wal-Mart has more workers and their children on the state’s Medicaid and otherpublic assistance programs for low-incomeworkers and families than any otheremployer in the state. In fact, virtuallyevery state that has looked into the question of which employers’ workers are relying on public health programs for themselves or their children reports Wal-Mart tops the list.

In 2003, unions spearheaded a communitycoalition in Inglewood, Calif., that ralliedvoters who ultimately rejected a Wal-Mart–sponsored ballot initiative that would haveallowed a Wal-Mart supercenter the size of17 football fields to be developed in theircommunity—unhindered by local and stateplanning review. The defeat was the first of its kind for Wal-Mart, which had soughtto bypass local lawmakers who opposed the plan.

Working with the UFCW, the AFL-CIO isproviding key support in the campaign tohold Wal-Mart accountable. Launched inAugust 2004, the AFL-CIO’s website, Payingthe Price at Wal-Mart (www.walmartcostsyou.com), has provided tens of thousandsof visitors the real story behind Wal-Mart’scorporate practices and gives union andnonunion workers advice and suggestionson mobilizing their communities for justiceat Wal-Mart. To further educate unionmembers about the high costs of shoppingat Wal-Mart, the AFL-CIO in 2005 sentnotices through Union Privilege credit cardmailings, reaching literally millions ofunion members. In a series of five messageson Wal-Mart this year, the AFL-CIO


Working Families Network e-mailed nearly1.5 million activists with background information on Wal-Mart’s low wages and unaffordable benefits and, along withWORKING AMERICA’s e-mail outreach,mobilized e-activists to protest the closingof the Wal-Mart store in Canada after workers voted to form a union.

International Solidarity The AFL-CIO organized international support from unions around the world for workers struggling for the freedom toorganize and bargain for fair standards atmultinational corporations. A major recentfight for justice took place at QuebecorWorld Inc., the world’s largest commercial printer. In May 2005, the GraphicCommunications Conference of IBT, theAFL-CIO and Quebecor World reached ahistoric agreement on union organizing at the company’s nonunion U.S. facilities.This agreement guarantees Quebecor Worldworkers across the nation the right to formand join a union free from harassment orintimidation (see Voice@Work, page 26).

The AFL-CIO also is pursuing justice for garment workers around the world in theBehind the Label Campaign; helping workerswin rights in China and Burma; and join-ing with activists to stop the murder of

Colombian trade unionists by paramilitarytroops. Working with unions, nongovern-mental organizations and other communitypartners, the AFL-CIO American Center forInternational Labor Solidarity (SolidarityCenter) supports programs and projects toadvance workers’ rights and promote broad-based, sustainable economic developmentaround the world.

The Solidarity Center assists independentunions through programs in more than 40 countries on issues such as ending childlabor, advancing workers’ rights, buildingunion capacity and holding corporationsresponsible. The center worked with theInternational Labor Organization (ILO) to persuade governments to implement andenforce the ILO’s Fundamental Principlesand Rights at Work to provide unionactivists with the knowledge and skills theyneed to develop and manage democratictrade unions.

In 2003, the Solidarity Center launched a corporate accountability campaign gearedtoward companies operating in the Americas,Africa and Asia. It developed and imple-mented workers’ rights promotion programs in countries that have signedtrade agreements or are engaged in tradenegotiations with the United States and the European Union.

The AFL-CIO also

is pursuing justice

for garment

workers around

the world in the

Behind the Label

Campaign; helping

workers win rights

in China and

Burma; and joining

with activists to

stop the murder

of Colombian

trade unionists by

paramilitary

troops.


In March 2004, 51 workers—one from each stateand the District of Columbia—boarded buses in St. Louis for an eight-day trip through eight statesand 18 cities to shine a spotlight on the effects ofjoblessness on their families and communities.

The Show Us the Jobs tour kicked off at a timewhen some 1.1 million workers were jobless for so long they had run out of emergency unemployment insurance—while the Bush administration and Republican congressional leaders continued to block efforts to provide new unemployment insurance. By early 2004, an average of 85,444 people lost their jobs everyday, and under President Bush’s leadership thenation had lost more than 3 million private-sectorjobs, including almost 2.8 million manufacturingjobs.

Sponsored by the AFL-CIO and WORKING AMERICA,the tour showcased the people and towns hit hard by the jobs crisis and sent a message that achange was needed in national economic policy to create family-supporting jobs.

The tour received wide media coverage at all the stops and in the national news. Many of theriders wrote daily blogs (Web logs) launched on a special AFL-CIO Show Us the Jobs website, which provided an activist toolkit with facts on the nation’s jobs crisis, biographies of the 51 partic-ipants, up-to-date bus tour highlights and actionoptions for signing a petition and sending e-mailsurging Bush and Congress to create good jobs.

In community gatherings and rallies throughoutthe bus tour, Show Us the Jobs participantsdescribed how they had lost their jobs because of bad trade policies that make it profitable foremployers to ship jobs overseas.

Josephine, 50, a bus rider from Highland Park, N.J.,was laid off from her job as an industrial engineer

and technical writer from the telecommunicationsindustry in November 2001. Her apprehensionsreflected those of millions of Americans.

“I’m concerned for myself and for the future of the nation,” Josephine said on the bus tour.“We’ve lost a lot of our manufacturing base, and now we’re losing technical and service jobsoverseas. There should be some constraints on free trade so it doesn’t tear apart our families andcommunities. People need to work to earn a livingand keep their homes. We need to strengthenAmerica’s local economic base. So-called free trade will not result in the trickling down of newjobs for people like me.”

On March 31, the Show Us the Jobs buses arrivedin Washington, D.C., where participants weregreeted by hundreds of supporters who joinedthem at a Capitol Hill rally and in lobbying visits to support legislation to stop employers from ship-ping jobs overseas and encourage job growth inthe United States. Show Us the Jobs participantshave represented the interests of working people inthe media, at the Democratic Platform DraftingCommittee and elsewhere.


Show Us the Jobs!

UELED BY THE EXTREMIST RIGHT,Congress and the Bush administration

have escalated their war on working fami-lies and their unions since 2001, pushingBush tax breaks for the wealthy, wideningthe wage-and-wealth gap, destroying thefederal budget surplus and decimating programs for working families and the poor.With millions of dollars in backing fromBig Business—in a campaign war chest thatexpands exponentially each major electionyear—Bush, Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) andother extremist politicians have used theirfinancial momentum to make gains at the expense of working families.

Despite the hostile political environment,America’s working families are making theirvoices heard today more than ever as the AFL-CIO’s year-around political mobilization—based on a 10 point plan for member-to-member issues education—continues to set record voter turnouts. InLabor 2004, union household membersmade up 24 percent of all voters, up from

19 percent in 1992. The AFL-CIO’s strategicmobilization also boosted grassroots member political action far beyond the ballot box: By Labor 2004, more than225,000 union activist volunteers contactedmore than 90 percent of America’s unionmembers, knocked on 6 million doors andmade 10 million phone calls. In addition,they distributed 32 million leaflets at work-sites and in neighborhoods––most of whichwere produced through the online AFL-CIOWorking Families Toolkit. The AFL-CIO also mailed 30 million issues pamphlets to union members, and AFL-CIO affiliatedunions sent millions more.

The mobilization’s ability to increase the number of union household voters has been so effective it is being imitated by our political foes. Notorious anti-workerRep. DeLay touted the union movement’spolitical blueprint as a best practice model.

“Labor unions have done a better job ofputting more volunteers on the ground

By Labor 2004, more

than 225,000 union

activist volunteers

contacted more

than 90 percent

of America’s

union members,

knocked on

6 million doors

and made 10 million

phone calls.


SOLIDARITY in Action

F

where they’re needed the most—in competitive races,” DeLay said in 2002.

Affiliated unions of the AFL-CIO recognizedthe importance of the new and expandedpolitical mobilization initiatives and agreedin 2002 to increase their assessment to fundunion member education, voter registrationand mobilization—funding that goestoward issues campaigns, not political candidates, whose endorsements the AFL-CIO conducts on a bipartisan basis.

Union voters made the difference in severalkey battleground states in which union density was deep. But with Big Business outspending working families by 23-to-1 inthe 2004 election cycle and divisive socialissues mobilizing the extreme conservativevoter base, anti-worker candidates prevailedin many races.

As part of a multipronged strategy thatincludes massive increases in mobilizingworkers and developing and strengtheningbonds with community allies, affiliatedunions and state and local bodies, the

AFL-CIO Member Mobilization Fund willprovide resources for a new long-term polit-ical strategy to build toward a progressivemajority over the next several election cycles.The fund will cover ground campaigns,member education/get-out-the-vote (GOTV)efforts, issues mobilization, initiatives andreferenda, targeting and planning, specialelections, Target 5000 for electing unionmembers and training and support forWORKING AMERICA.

In creating a year-round voter mobilizationnetwork, building on the many politicalsuccesses and strategies developed over thepast decade and refined in the past fouryears, the union movement is laying thefoundation to take on local, state andnational political battles to mobilize unionmembers and the nearly 50 million votersin union households.

Labor 2004

10 Point Political Action PlanShortly after the 2001 AFL-CIOConvention, union political leaders andactivists began developing new strategiesand creating cutting-edge Web-based toolsto put in place the union movement’s 10 Point Political Action Plan. Starting withthe 2002 elections, the AFL-CIO spearheadedpolitical training for union activists andcandidates, developed a campaign to ensureevery vote was counted and explored andlaunched new technologies and strategiesfor nuts-and-bolts member education, voterregistration and GOTV efforts.

Laying the Groundwork for Labor 2004Nearly two years before the 2004 elections,the AFL-CIO launched efforts to educateunion voters about the high stakes forworking families. The federation’s nationaleducation initiative centered on the impact


The AFL-CIO 10 Point Political Action Plan

1. Recruit key contacts at locals and worksites.

2. Distribute leaflets at all union worksites.

3. Maximize contact through union publications.

4. Mail frequent communications from local union

presidents and other leaders.

5. Maximize the impact of union phone calls.

6. Update local member lists.

7. Increase voter registration by 10 percent.

8. Conduct a massive get-out-the-vote effort.

9. Build rapid-response networks in workplaces.

10. Link politics to organizing.

of Bush’s political and legislative agendason working families. More than 10,000local union leaders took part in the federa-tion’s education workshops, and numerousunions and constituency groups built onand adapted them for their members.

Although 2002 was not a presidential election year, record numbers of unionmembers mobilized to get out the vote:More than 4,000 local union coordinatorsreached out to tens of thousands of unionmember volunteers who helped propel pro-working family lawmakers to victory. In Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania andWisconsin, union-backed candidates wrestedgovernors’ offices from the opposition.

To further mobilize working-family voters,the AFL-CIO launched a swing-voter identi-fication and communication program.Through an intricate statistical analysis of survey, targeting, demographic and publicly available consumer data, the virtual targeting initiative identified swingvoters, enabling the federation to tailormessages and education material adapted to their specific interests—overtime pay,health care and other issues expected to be key in the presidential election.

By intensifying workplace contacts, refiningelectronic mobilization, electing unionmembers and reaching out to communityallies in 2003, union activists crafted successful mobilization test runs for 2004.In New Jersey, 35 of the 53 union membersrunning for state and local offices won theirraces, in large part due to local union mobi-lizations that resulted in high union-familyturnout. In Philadelphia, unions joinedwith community members, civil rights andreligious activists and others to re-elect theirpro-worker mayor, John Street. Cleveland-area unions focused their efforts on fourmayoral races, five school board contestsand a city council election—and won all 10races with the strong implementation of

the union movement’s 10 Point PoliticalAction Plan.

With a large field of Democratic presidentialchallengers lining up for the 2004 elections,the AFL-CIO sought candidates’ viewsabout working-family issues and submitteddetailed questionnaires to the White Househopefuls, including Bush. All Democraticcandidates responded. Bush did not. Theresponses were posted on www.aflcio.org.

To provide further information to unionvoters, the federation conducted a WorkingFamilies Presidential Forum in July 2003 in which all nine Democratic presidentialcandidates answered questions from workersabout vital working-family issues. Thenationally televised forum was the onlycampaign event that focused exclusively on working-family issues.

With an eye toward building stronger coali-tions to battle Bush’s corporate-bankrolled2004 campaign, the union movementexpanded its outreach to partner groups—especially to communities of color. In addi-tion, unions joined with new organizationssuch as Voices for Working Families, the


Partnership for America’s Families, AmericaComing Together, America Votes andMoving America Forward, while continuinglong-term campaigns such as WorkingWomen Vote, which since 1996 has mobi-lized women voters by connecting theireveryday challenges with the need for polit-ical action.

Unprecedented Member MobilizationBy Jan. 1, 2004, Labor 2004 staff, organiza-tions and volunteers were in place in keybattleground states in which the presiden-tial election was expected to be decided. Theunion movement concentrated resources inthe 16 battleground states with narrow2000 election results, where working-familyvoters could make a difference. Along withan unprecedented 290 AFL-CIO staff mem-bers, national unions committed more than 5,900 staff and local union officers to Labor 2004.

By Labor Day, the traditional start to theelection campaign, local union coordina-tors––union member volunteers––already

had contacted millions of union membersabout the important issues in national, stateand local races. As Election Day neared andthe working families’ mobilization for Sen.John Kerry (D-Mass.) and for passage of keyworking-family measures continued togrow, more than 225,000 union activist volunteers had taken part in voter outreach,education and mobilization. They contact-ed more than 90 percent of union membersaffiliated with the AFL-CIO, knocked on 6 million doors, made 10 million phonecalls and distributed 32 million leaflets atworksites and in neighborhoods. In addi-tion, the AFL-CIO mailed out 30 millionissues pamphlets and affiliated unions sentmillions more. As part of Working WomenVote activities, the federation coordinated awoman-to-woman letter-writing campaignin support of Kerry that sent nearly 5,000handwritten letters to undecided unionwomen voters in battleground states andgenerated 20,000 messages to Sen. Kerryand President Bush on issues of concern to working women.

Although Bush won a narrow victory byrunning a fear-based campaign that empha-sized terrorism and ongoing military action,union members overwhelmingly supportedKerry for president. Union householdsaccounted for one of four voters, totaling27 million union household voters in 2004,according to an independent election nightsurvey and exit polls. Union householdsprovided a 5.8 million vote advantage forthe Democratic candidate for president,according to an Election Day exit poll.

Sixty-five percent of AFL-CIO-affiliatedunion members voted for Kerry, with aneven bigger margin—68 percent—voting forKerry in battleground states. In sharplydivided Ohio, 67 percent of union membersvoted for Kerry, according to the electionnight survey conducted by Peter D. HartResearch Associates for the AFL-CIO.


Working Families Toolkit

As the union movement built its grassroots outreach in2004, the AFL-CIO greatly expanded its online WorkingFamilies Toolkit. The toolkit—which plays an increasinglyimportant role in mobilizing and educating members—enables union leaders and activists to create, customize,download or print worksite fliers and other issues educa-tion materials. The fliers can be tailored for nationalunion affiliates, local unions, state federations and centrallabor councils, and activists can select issues that resonate with their members. In addition to customizedworksite fliers, the site offers options to create posters,cartoons, newsletter articles, sample letters from unionleaders, phone scripts, talking points, precinct walkinstructions, T-shirts, buttons and other campaign paraphernalia.

After the elections, more than 90 percent of union members said they received infor-mation from their unions on issues in thepresidential campaign crucial to workingfamilies.

Ensuring Candidates Support Workers’ Freedomto Form UnionsThe AFL-CIO worked with state federations,central labor councils and affiliated unionsto ensure that throughout the elections,candidate questionnaires solicited the viewsof local and national candidates on theEmployee Free Choice Act and their commitment to workers forming unions.Through the candidate questionnaire, during the union-backed presidentialdebate and at events across the country, theDemocratic presidential candidates all tookstrong positions on restoring the freedomto form unions and the need for legislationlike the Employee Free Choice Act. In addition, candidates were asked to take concrete action in support of active organizing campaigns. When union leaderspressed to negotiate a first contract afterworkers voted to form a union with IBEWin January 2004, management resistednegotiating a contract—until the state AFL-CIO and all the Democratic presiden-tial candidates got involved. Democraticpresidential candidate John Kerry tookaction in support of workers actively tryingto form a union with CWA at Comcast,with AFSCME at Walker Methodist HealthCare Center in south Minneapolis and withGCIU-IBT at Quebecor World.

Every Vote CountsTo ensure the integrity of the voting processin the 2002 elections, the AFL-CIO and thecivil rights community launched the EveryVote Counts campaign to prevent a repeatof the election debacle in 2000, when

millions of U.S. citizens were denied theright to have their votes counted. In 2004,the AFL-CIO expanded voter rights effortsthrough the My Vote, My Right campaign.

Every Vote Counts focused on electionreform legislation to mandate states toensure every vote was counted, educate voters about their voting rights and armthem with the information to stand up to election officials seeking to deny themtheir right to vote.

Through the My Vote, My Right voter protection program in 2004, AFL-CIO statevoting rights coordinators formed or joinedstate and local voting rights coalitions inkey states that engaged in extensive stateand local advocacy to protect the right to vote. Voter education campaigns wereconducted among union members, peopleof color, people with disabilities and others.In coalition with allied organizations,unions and union lawyers met with stateand local election officials to head offpotential problems. They also set up train-ings for 1,500 union members and othersto serve as poll watchers in eight states andhelped voter rights advocacy coalitionsaddress such issues as voter registration procedures and polling-place hours. Morethan 200 members of the AFL-CIO LawyersCoordinating Committee (LCC), a nationalorganization of attorneys from unions andunion-friendly law firms, monitored imple-


mentation of election rules in precinctsacross the nation and staffed a hot line onElection Day for voters who encounteredproblems when they tried to vote.

Electing Union Members to Public OfficesElecting union members to public offices is one of the best ways to ensure politiciansunderstand and address the concerns ofworking families. After the initial 2000 in2000 effort helped put more than 2,000union members in office by 2002, the AFL-CIO expanded the strategy to Target5000 and offered potential union membercandidates assistance through the AFL-CIONational Political Leadership Institute. With the focus on the 2002 elections andbeyond, the AFL-CIO teamed up with theNational Labor College to create the insti-tute, which enables union members andstaff, through weeklong training sessions, to hone their political skills to run for public office and win elections. The nuts-and-bolts training includes campaign man-agement skills, polling techniques, messagedevelopment, GOTV strategies and volun-teer recruitment. Today, more than 3,000union members hold public office, includ-ing the 35 New Jersey union members who won state seats for the first time andanother 118 who were re-elected nation-wide in 2004.


WORKING AMERICA

Some 57 million people say they would join a union if they had a chance. But workers who try to organize face employer hostility and weak labor laws that can make their fight for a union seem impossible.

To reach out to such workers and enable them to take action while tapping into their potentialpolitical and legislative power, the AFL-CIOExecutive Council created WORKING AMERICA as an AFL-CIO community affiliate. Launchedin August 2003, WORKING AMERICA grew tomore than 800,000 members in just over ayear, with offices in 12 cities. Many of thesenew community members are swing voters,with 70 percent describing themselves as moderate to conservative. Yet these WORKINGAMERICA members strongly identify with theworking-family issues championed by America’sunion movement—good jobs, strong commu-nities, affordable health care, good educationfor their children and secure retirements.

Through WORKING AMERICA’s door-to-door canvassing, its website (www.workingamerica.org) and regular outreach e-mails,members of WORKING AMERICA:n Vote in online ballots to determine the

priorities of WORKING AMERICA.n Receive news updates about

jobs, affordable health care, education, retirement and realhomeland security.

n Get action alerts to help shape local, state and national laws andpolicies that work for workingpeople.

WORKING AMERICA (Continued)

WORKING AMERICA members can provide themargin of victory in important state legislative and electoral fights. They also can help build anew source of workers’ power in local organizingand bargaining campaigns and provide a nation-wide network when America’s union movementtakes on corporations such as Wal-Mart.

As part of WORKING AMERICA’s member-education process, WORKING AMERICA and theAFL-CIO Industrial Union Council (IUC) in 2004launched Job Tracker (www.workingamerica.org/jobtracker), an online interactive database withinformation on more than 200,000 U.S. corpora-tions and their subsidiaries reported to havemoved jobs overseas, including jobs lost due toflawed U.S. trade policies. Visitors to the JobTracker site can search the database by companyname or ZIP code, or by ZIP code and industry.Within seconds, detailed results are culled from adatabase that draws from more than a dozensources. Job Tracker also enables visitors to reportcompanies exporting jobs from their communitiesand send a fax to Bush and anti-worker membersof Congress urging them to stop rewarding com-panies with tax incentives to export American jobs.

As the Bush administration pushed for congres-sional passage of its overtime pay take-away in 2004, WORKING AMERICA launched an Ask-a-Lawyer feature on its website (www.workingamerica.org), enabling visitors to ask a WORKINGAMERICA lawyer whether their overtime pay wasat risk. More than 1,500 people submitted ques-tions, and tens of thousands of others logged onto see the lawyer’s responses. Thousands ofWORKING AMERICA members and others usedthe site’s interactive features to send personalizedfaxes and e-mails to their elected representativesdemanding they protect overtime pay.

The 2004 election patterns of WORKING AMERICAmembers demonstrate when politically moderateor conservative nonpartisan voters are educatedand informed, they cast their votes on working-family issues—not on divisive “wedge issues.” As part of WORKING AMERICA’s issues outreach during the 2004 electoral campaign, WORKINGAMERICA members, especially those in swingareas, received a combination of mail, house visits, phone calls and e-mails describing candi-dates’ positions on working-family issues.

The results were significant: WORKING AMERICAmembers (70 percent of whom described them-selves as moderate or conservative) voted for Sen.John Kerry over President Bush, 68 percent to 30percent. In all categories, including gun owners, amajority of WORKING AMERICA voters backedKerry. Those results show the tremendous potentialWORKING AMERICA has to effect political changeand impact workers’ struggles.

In the fight to save Social Security from privatiza-tion, WORKING AMERICA will continue to focuson key congressional districts. WORKING AMERICAmembers already this year have sent nearly 70,000handwritten letters to key senators. At the statelevel, WORKING AMERICA works on priorities setby the local union movement, such as health care,anti–job-export bills or minimum-wage initiatives.At the county and city levels, WORKING AMERICAjoins with local unions to identify issues critical inlocal campaigns.

WORKING AMERICA members are part of the Wal-Mart campaign and will take part inorganizing campaigns and contract fights andother initiatives to hold corporations accountable.


Moving a Working Families’ Agenda at the State and Local LevelsWith Congress moving further away frommainstream working-family concerns, theAFL-CIO is devoting more resources andstrategic efforts in state legislatures andexecutive offices, town councils and countycommissions. Big breakthroughs are happen-ing in state after state, including affordableprescription drug legislation in Illinois andOhio; affordable health care legislation inCalifornia, Maine and Nevada; bargainingrights for home care workers in Illinois,Oregon and California; bargaining rights forpublic-sector workers in New Mexico anduniversity workers in Maryland; majoritysign-up rights (card-check) for Illinois publicemployees; and an anti-sweatshop statutein Maine.

In states and communities across thenation, union activists are holding theirlawmakers accountable on economic devel-opment issues to ensure development subsi-dies and incentive programs for companiesare transparent, with regular public disclo-sure of the amounts and kinds of subsidiesand incentives received; jobs created withpublic money are quality jobs that meetacceptable labor standards; and companiesare required to pay back the money whenpromised commitments are not met.

In communities large and small, unions are spearheading and supporting broadcoalitions of community-based organizationsto negotiate comprehensive communitybenefits agreements, which require develop-ment projects to address community needsregarding workers’ rights, living-wage andother job standards, parks and recreationfacilities, affordable housing and responsiblecontracting and leasing decisions.

While the Republican-controlled U.S. Congresscontinually has blocked any meaningful

effort to raise the federal minimum wage,union activists, joined by other advocatesfor low-wage working families, have won minimum-wage increases in nine statessince January 2002, including New Jersey,Minnesota and Connecticut in 2005, andcommunity after community is passing aliving-wage ordinance, some with additionalprotections such as worker retention andlocal hiring requirements. Working familiesare working with state legislatures to winstate overtime pay protections taken frommillions of workers by the Bush administra-tion in 2004. New overtime protectionshave been signed into law in Illinois andMaine, and the Massachusetts legislature isconsidering an overtime pay protectionmeasure.

In nearly 30 states, low-wage employerssuch as Wal-Mart soon may face new lawsspotlighting their drain on taxpayers andstate treasuries because so many of theirworkers qualify for state health care assis-tance and other state aid. Union membersand health care activists are working forpassage of Health Care Disclosure Acts that will enable states to determine whichcorporate freeloaders are shifting theirresponsibilities to provide health care cover-age for their employees onto state taxpayers.The bills require states to collect and disclose the names of employers of appli-cants for publicly funded health care programs or uncompensated care in hospi-tals, as well as the cost to state taxpayers.The Health Care Accountability Act is arecently introduced federal bill modeledafter the state Health Care Disclosure Act.

States and communities also are workingtoward legislation to ensure public contractsare not awarded to companies that violatestate and federal laws and to ensure compa-nies that provide goods and services tostates and communities meet minimumlabor standards so responsible contractorscan compete successfully. In New Jersey,

With Congress

moving further

away from

mainstream

working-family

concerns, the

AFL-CIO is

devoting more

resources and

strategic efforts

in state

legislatures and

executive offices,

town councils

and county

commissions.


acting Gov. Richard Codey (D) signed intolaw May 5, 2005, union-backed legislationthat ensures the state uses taxpayers’ dollarsto create jobs by requiring contractors thatwin state service contracts to do that workin the United States. In a half-dozen otherstates, coalitions of unions and communityand religious groups worked to win legisla-tion addressing outsourcing. Overall in 2005,more than 31 state legislatures around thenation introduced laws that would barstates from using taxpayer money to shipjobs overseas, with most seeking to banvendors from doing state work abroad.

To bolster these efforts, the federation hasbrought online activism to state legislativeissues with the Working Families Networkand a password-protected Legislative Issueswebsite that provides resources, materials, information and collaborative tools forunion leaders, staff and activists. The inter-active website offers the most up-to-datetools and resources, including model andsample legislation, talking points anddetailed analyses of legislation critical tolocal activists.

The AFL-CIO’s annual Workers’ Voice con-ferences, launched in 2000, bring togetherstate labor federation activists and state law-makers to discuss important working familyissues and craft strategies for state legislativebattles. The federation has helped increasemembership in the National Labor Caucusof State Legislators (NLCSL), a bipartisannetwork of union member and union-friendly state lawmakers committed toadvancing issues working families care aboutin state legislatures throughout the country.Some 550 lawmakers from all 50 stateslobby for working families through theNLCSL.

In 2005, the AFL-CIO’s Workers’ Voice StateIssues Project developed a 12-point WorkingFamilies State Agenda—including model legislation—to help state federations, unions

and grassroots activists set their legislativepriorities. The agenda centers on creatingand strengthening good jobs, stopping theexport of state jobs, ensuring accessiblehealth care, the freedom to join a unionand holding corporations—including Wal-Mart—accountable.

In 2002 and again in 2004, federation-sponsored meetings of activists from centrallabor councils, affiliates, partner organiza-tions, academia and research organizationsall across the country focused on legislativeand policy changes at the local level.Through an examination and discussion of successful campaigns, the 2002 meetingwas directed at improving labor standardsthrough living-wage-plus provisions, anti-sweatshop ordinances and economic development requirements. The primaryfocus of the 2004 meeting included devel-oping community benefit agreements andinfluencing economic development.

State-level legislative efforts also have beendirected at stopping anti-worker forces asthey shift from introducing ballot initiativesto working through state legislatures topush “paycheck deception” legislation thatwould limit political spending by unionsand union members. But working with the AFL-CIO’s State Issues Initiative thatprovides information, resources and otherassistance, union activists and progressiveallies have beaten back most “paycheckdeception” and right-to-work-for-less measures in the past four years, including14 of 15 in 2003 and more than a dozensuch measures last year.

Working families in California are fightingback to defeat “paycheck deception” legislation again, after rejecting it in 1998,when the AFL-CIO led a successful state-wide grassroots campaign against the measure. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)called for a special election in fall 2005 on a ballot measure aimed at public employees

Overall in 2005,

more than 31 state

legislatures around

the nation

introduced laws

that would bar

states from using

taxpayer money to

ship jobs overseas,

with most seeking

to ban vendors

from doing state

work abroad.


and on other anti-worker measures, includ-ing one that gives the governor the abilityto cut the budget without the legislature’sapproval. Media reports revealedSchwarzenegger’s political team and topcontributors plan to demonize public-employee unions and convince the publicthat unions are behind the state’s fiscal problems.

Building on Labor 2004Labor 2004’s record-setting grassroots mobi-lization is the foundation on which unionworking families will build their politicalefforts this year and in coming years.

In 2005, working-family voters are workingto elect governors in New Jersey andVirginia and local public officials in severalmajor cities. Union member lawmakers,their union activist colleagues and commu-nity allies also are working to strengthen thevoices of working families in the decision-making process—whether in city councils,county boards or state legislatures—and continue to build a network to win pro-worker legislation and elect pro-worker candidates. Major mayoral and municipalelections are on tap this year, includingraces in Los Angeles, New York, Boston,Miami and Detroit. In addition, the labormovement will mobilize working-familyvoters in California to fight the anti-workerinitiatives Schwarzenegger and his allies are seeking to place on the special electionballot.

Through Labor 2004, working families further refined and expanded the unionmovement’s effective member-to-memberoutreach, building strong networks forongoing grassroots action. With the support of state and local labor movements,the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions canexpand those assets to build lasting mobi-lization structures rooted in communities

and relying on state and local labor move-ments. By broadening, deepening andincreasing the activism and involvement of its members—and staying mobilized not just for elections but between elections,creating a permanent culture of activism—the union movement can defeat SocialSecurity privatization, win quality healthcare for all, change the rules of the globalmarketplace and restore workers’ freedomto form unions.

The AFL-CIO plans to integrate local, stateand national legislative fights with politicalmobilization and expand our work withcommunity allies to join the fights of unionmembers with those of other working peo-ple at all levels. We will work together withevery national union as well as state andlocal labor movements to identify tens ofthousands of local union coordinators tolead worksite issue education and mobiliza-tion efforts. Further, we plan to develop and support full-time campaign directors inkey areas and create mobilization capacityin every state through joint planning andtraining, working with and through statefederations, area labor federations and central labor councils.

America’s unions must adopt a longer-term,member-driven strategy focused on creatinga pro-worker government that acts in theinterests of working families—at the federallevel and in city halls and statehousesacross the nation. It’s time to expand whathas worked and retool where improvementscan be made. Going forward, the unionmovement’s detailed strategy looks aheadnot just to next year’s elections or even the important presidential elections in three years, but also to 2010 and beyond,when working families can influence thecongressional redistricting that will create a new political landscape in 2012.

By broadening,

deepening and

increasing the

activism and

involvement of its

members—and

staying mobilized

not just for elec-

tions but between

elections, the

union movement

can defeat

Social Security

privatization,

win quality health

care for all, change

the rules of the

global marketplace

and restore

workers’ freedom

to form unions.



Putting the Brakes on Right-to-Work-for-Less in New Hampshire

In early 2003, the National Right to WorkCommittee (NRTWC) launched a vitriolic, anti-union hate-mail campaign aimed at New Hampshire voters. With its well-financed campaign, support from corporations and groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which brings togetherBig Business interests and anti-worker lawmakers,and a 2-to-1 Republican majority in the stateHouse and Senate, the NRTWC seemed poised to win its fight for a state “right to work” law.

But the New Hampshire AFL-CIO, the state’sunions and the national AFL-CIO mounted a grassroots mobilization built on workplace andmember-to-member contact, special lobbyingdays and town and neighborhood walks in which activists distributed some 50,000 fliers. The state federation also mounted a mail

lobbying campaign, distributing postcards protest-ing the legislation. Voters ultimately signed morethan 48,000 postcards and letters, many filled outat worksites.

The grassroots lobbying campaign took severalunique turns, especially in the state’s smaller townsand communities. Many union members telephoned their representatives—some of whomwere their neighbors—while others dropped bytheir homes.

On the day of the vote, union members hauled20,000 signed postcards to the state capitol andpresented them to lawmakers before packing thegallery to watch the vote. The effort paid off whenthe almost completely Republican New HampshireHouse voted 262–103 to kill the “right to work”legislation.

TATE AND LOCAL union movementsare the frontline fighters in our efforts

to win key legislative, political and organiz-ing battles on behalf of working families.Evolving to meet the changing political andeconomic challenges, state federations andcentral labor councils are transforming theirstructures and functions to become strongerand more effective organizations throughthe New Alliance program and UnionCities.

At the same time, state and local unionmovements are building even closer work-ing relationships with community and faithgroups, AFL-CIO constituency groups, locallawmakers and new allies and with nationalpartners such as WORKING AMERICA andthe Alliance for Retired Americans to ensurefamily-supporting jobs and strong commu-nities. And increasingly, state and local labormovements are reaching out to immigrantworkers, helping to protect the rights andstop exploitation of this vulnerable group of workers.

Strengthening State and Local Union Movements

Building a Unified Labor Movement:Creating Effective State and LocalLabor CouncilsThe Executive Council of the AFL-CIOadopted a policy resolution at its March2005 meeting that reaffirms the commit-ment of the AFL-CIO to improve the performance of our state and local organiza-tions. The Committee on State and Local Strategies, charged with overseeingthese responsibilities, has determined thatas a movement we need to build upon the work undertaken through the NewAlliance and Union Cities initiatives andhold all of our organizations accountablefor their participation and performances.

New AllianceThe goal of the union movement’s NewAlliance initiative is to build strength forworking families by growing and strength-ening state and local union organizations.

Evolving to meet

the changing

political and

economic

challenges, state

federations and

central labor

councils are

transforming their

structures and

functions to

become stronger

and more effective

organizations

through the New

Alliance program

and Union Cities.


STRONG Families, STRONG Communities

S

The New Alliance aims to bring all parts of the labor movement in a state togetheraround a unified vision and program insupport of working families. In some states,the New Alliance initiative includesstrengthening local union movements bybringing together central labor councils to create larger and better-resourced AreaLabor Federations. So far, seven states haveforged New Alliances—Arizona, Colorado,Maryland/District of Columbia, Minnesota,New York, North Carolina and Oregon.

New Alliance has resulted in new solidarityand strength. After its restructuring throughthe New Alliance program, the Oregon AFL-CIO experienced the largest increase in affiliation––more than 40 percent—amongNew Alliance state federations. Before theOregon AFL-CIO retooled its structure,unions representing 100,000 workers were members. After the state federationadopted the New Alliance, affiliationjumped by 40,000 members from newlyaffiliated unions. The Maryland State andD.C. AFL-CIO affiliation rose 35 percent,the North Carolina State AFL-CIO affiliationrate increased 26 percent and the New YorkState AFL-CIO saw a 23.5 percent increasein affiliation.

This solidarity and strength translates intoconcrete results. As one example, in 2003,

the Colorado AFL-CIO and the Denver AreaLabor Federation mobilized for municipalelections that included 10 city council seats,the mayor’s office, a city auditor and twonew election commissioners. Denver AreaLabor Federation unions released 19 staffmembers to the mobilization, and 300 localunion volunteers hit the streets and work-sites to talk to union members. When thevotes were counted, 66.7 percent of unionmembers had turned out, compared withjust 44.8 percent of the general public—andthe strengthened union movement electedall 10 union-endorsed council candidatesand an auditor.

In Oregon, New Alliance cooperationenabled the IUOE and IBEW to join forcesto help workers at the Washington DefenseGroup’s Hermiston weapons plant win avoice at work with IUOE. The two unionsformed a joint council to fight the employ-ers’ virulent anti-union actions and organiz-ers from several other unions volunteeredtheir time to conduct house calls.

States with New Alliance structures repre-sent more than 20 percent of nationalunion density. In response to the March2005 call by the Executive Council to stepup these efforts in key states, more than 80 union leaders from Florida, Ohio andPennsylvania met with members of theExecutive Council and AFL-CIO field staffin May 2005 to develop a strategy to estab-lish New Alliance plans for their states.

Union CitiesThe AFL-CIO Union Cities program hashelped central labor councils build politicaland community alliances in states acrossthe nation. The Union Cities programformed in 1997 when the unions of theAFL-CIO joined with central labor councilsto strengthen local unions and the union


movement community by community. Inrecent years, some of the nearly 200 locallabor councils that are part of Union Citieshave won significant electoral and organiz-ing victories for working families. TheSouth Florida AFL-CIO recently helped passa general obligation bond in Miami-DadeCounty and is working to ensure construc-tion bonding will result in union jobs. The Milwaukee County Labor Councilmobilized to support a county Labor Peaceordinance that prevents disruptions in services provided to people with disabilities

and elderly individuals by requiring countycontractors to enter into labor peace agree-ments with unions seeking to representtheir workers. Thirteen hundred workershave union contracts as a result. A federaldistrict judge upheld the ordinance inMarch 2005. The Los Angeles CountyFederation of Labor in 2004 helped lead afight with Inglewood, Calif., residents tokeep Wal-Mart from steamrolling construc-tion of a supercenter development the sizeof 17 football fields. In communities includ-ing Cleveland, Chicago, St. Paul, Minn.,


The New York Area Labor Federations

For years, 25 central labor councils operated across dozens of counties in upstate New York,home to more than a half-million union workers.Nearly all of those small councils were adminis-tered by one or two unpaid officers. But thosededicated union officials also worked full time at their day jobs and could devote just a few hours a month to labor council activities.

The councils also were seriously underfunded, lacking resources to carry out large-scale political,legislative and organizing campaigns. Four yearsago, Empire State union leaders and memberscame together in a New Alliance (see page 55), an AFL-CIO program that involves devoting moreresources to politics, legislation and organizing.

As a result, New York union leaders founded fiveupstate Area Labor Federations. The effort is part ofa nationwide move by central labor councils andstate federations to meet the changing politicaland economic challenges by transforming theirstructures and functions to become stronger andmore effective organizations through the AFL-CIO’sNew Alliance initiative. The new Area LaborFederations increased union affiliation and themember unions agreed to channel availableresources to the Area Labor Federations, hire

full-time staff and engage in more extensiveactions. The results have been impressive.

In 2003, when Gov. George Pataki (R) vetoed aworking-family–backed state budget, the new AreaLabor Federations mobilized members to contacttheir mostly Republican upstate legislators—manyof whom said later they seldom had heard fromtheir union-member constituents. Many of thoseRepublican lawmakers joined in the successful veto override.

The Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation helpednegotiate a majority sign-up agreement for aplanned Native American casino in 2004. Last year,the Western New York Area Labor Federationplayed a major role in electing union-backed Rep. Brian Higgins (D), who replaced a long-time House member whom working families hadtried to unseat in past elections.

All the New York Area Labor Federations—includ-ing the Capitol District, Central New York andRochester—have mobilized to elect pro-workercounty executives, mayors and council representa-tives. They also are major participants in the cam-paign to hold Wal-Mart accountable and bring jus-tice to Wal-Mart workers across upstate New York.

Denver, San Diego and elsewhere, laborcouncils have led successful efforts to stopthe Wal-Marting of their communities. In 2003, the Labor Council of South BayAFL-CIO joined with community allies in Sunnyvale, Calif.—the region’s second-largest city after San José—and won a working-family–friendly majority on thecity council.

The AFL-CIO’s Committee on State andLocal Strategies continues to work withstate and local central bodies to build upontheir successes and learn from their setbacksto develop strategies for strengthening theunion movement at the state and local levels.

Working with Key Partners

Constituency Groups The AFL-CIO’s constituency groups areunions’ bridge to diverse communities, creating and strengthening partnerships to enhance the standard of living for allworkers and their families. From theirunique vantage point, these groups play animportant role in developing the capacityof unions to organize by promoting the fullparticipation of women and minorities inthe union movement and ensuring unionshear and respond to the concerns of thecommunities they represent.

Formed in 2003, the Labor Coalition forCommunity Action (LCCA) is the umbrellaorganization of AFL-CIO constituencygroups created to coordinate constituencygroup activities in the 2004 elections. LCCAconducted voter registration, education andGOTV operations in 41 cities in the 2004cycle. More than 2,000 community andunion volunteers assisted with phone banking, driving senior citizens to vote attheir correct polling locations, registeringnew voters and door-to-door canvassing inAfrican American, Latino, and AsianAmerican and Pacific Islander neighborhoods.

LCCA played a prominent role in distribut-ing leaflets and brochures on voting rightsin locations where conservative groups tried to intimidate or suppress voter turnoutin black and Latino communities. LCCAorganizations held gatherings in advance of Election Day to familiarize voters withnew voting equipment before they went to the polls.

LCCA was the only labor organization toexplicitly develop a “southern strategy” tomobilize black and Latino voters in five so-called “red states” (Florida, North Carolina,Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi). InJackson, Miss., for example, 4,000 peoplepacked an auditorium for a panel discussionorganized by LCCA to discuss issues rangingfrom revitalizing blighted urban areas to creating affordable housing and more jobsthat pay living wages.

Today, LCCA working with the AFL-CIOand with Voices for Working Families in theSocial Security debate. LCCA co-sponsorsthe National Summit on Diversity sched-uled for July 23, 2005, prior to the AFL-CIOConvention.

The constituency groups have members in approximately 300 chapters across thecountry. Their work is implemented inthese chapters and by these chapters, work-ing with community-based organizationsand often partnering with state federationsand central labor councils.

The hope is that LCCA will be even moreinvolved in outreach to nonunion mem-bers, in reaching potential voters and inother community-based activities promot-ing legislation and the labor movementitself. As a bridge to diverse communities,LCCA strengthens the labor movement’sability to advance a working families’ agenda.

Pride At Work (PAW), the newest con-stituency group of the AFL-CIO, mobilizes

The AFL-CIO’s

constituency

groups are unions’

bridge to diverse

communities,

creating and

strengthening

partnerships

to enhance the

standard of living

for all workers

and their families.


mutual support between the union move-ment and the gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender (LGBT) community. Formed in1997, PAW promotes social and economicjustice through education and mobilization,serving as the only bridge between laborand the LGBT community.

In 2003, PAW supported an LGBTOrganizing Institute, and in fall 2005, PAWwill host a labor institute at the NationalGay and Lesbian Task Force’s CreatingChange conference. Since 2002, PAW hascampaigned against anti-union businesspractices such as those of Wal-Mart, whileproviding resources on receiving equal benefits in union contracts. PAW mobilizesits members to support legislation promot-ing collective bargaining and organizingrights. Similarly, PAW promotes equal access to benefits and nondiscriminatorylegislation for the LGBT community.

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance(APALA) is the first and only nationalorganization of Asian and Pacific IslanderAmerican union members. It organizes andworks with Asian and Pacific IslanderAmerican workers, many of them immi-grants, to build the union movement andaddress exploitative conditions in the garment, electronics, hotel and restaurant,food processing and health care industries.

In the 2004 elections, APALA reached deepinto Asian and Pacific Islander communitiesand households to turn out the vote. InNevada, where Asian and Pacific IslanderAmericans, especially Filipino Americansand Hawaiians, are among the fastest-growing populations, APALA contactedmore than 82,000 voters. In the twin citiesof Minneapolis and St. Paul, APALA’s Labor2004 effort boosted voter participationamong the 50,000-strong Hmong commu-nity, while in Portland, Ore., APALA members reached out to young Asian andPacific Islander voters.

The Labor Council for Latin AmericaAdvancement (LCLAA) serves as a voice for change in the Latino community andrecognizes the importance of mobilizingworkers and their families.

As part of the Latino community, one ofLCLAA’s core principles is to aggressivelyseek partnerships with other Latino organi-zations at the national and regional levels.The success of LCLAA’s advocacy support is enhanced by this new Latino awarenessof LCLAA’s presence.

Along with playing a big role in theImmigrant Workers Freedom Ride and conducting voter registration and mobiliza-tion in Latino communities, LCLAA helpedform the Latinos for a Secure Retirementcoalition to mobilize the Latino communityagainst Social Security privatization. LCLAA also is mobilizing its members andcommunity allies to fight against unfairtrade deals such as CAFTA.

The Coalition of Labor Union Women(CLUW), America’s only national organiza-tion for union women, empowers workingwomen to become leaders in their unionsand encourages them to create positivechange on the job and in their communities.CLUW focuses on concerns of workingwomen, including equal pay, job security,


safe workplaces, affordable health care,child and elder care benefits, reproductiverights and protection from sexual harass-ment and violence at work. Recently,CLUW chapters educated their membersand communities about the devastatingeffects of Social Security privatization. Theyare engaged in organizing a nationwidelobby day in August 2005 to urge the pas-sage of the Employee Free Choice Act andare fighting for the expansion of the Familyand Medical Leave Act (FMLA). CLUW isengaged in the Wake-Up Wal-Mart cam-paign designed to bring public attention tothe anti-worker, anti-union practices of thenation’s largest private-sector employer.

CLUW’s Contraceptive Equity Project,launched in 2001, works with unions toensure health plans cover contraception ifthe plans also cover preventive drugs anddevices. In 2005, West Virginia and Arkansasadopted mandates, thus raising to 23 thenumber of states that have mandatedhealth plans to cover contraceptives. In2001, CLUW also launched its HIV/AIDSproject, an initiative funded by the Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention thatinvolves collaboration with CLUW, theAFL-CIO and its affiliated unions and con-stituency groups to raise awareness andeducate their members about HIV/AIDS.CLUW’s Cervical Cancer Prevention Worksproject focuses on empowering unionwomen to be aware of how to prevent thisdeadly disease.

With more than 60 chapters across thecountry, the Coalition of Black TradeUnionists (CBTU) worked to energize andmobilize the African American communityduring the 2004 elections. CBTU, alongwith LCCA, held more than 30 town hallmeetings and issue forums to address keyworking-family issues and to educate com-munity members about their voting rights.CBTU and APRI’s voter protection effortsand get-out-the-vote campaign was particu-larly effective in several Southern states inwhich African American voters continue toface voter intimidation and harassment.

Along with the election efforts, CBTU hasworked with community groups and thefaith community to establish after-schoolmentoring and apprenticeship programs,provide clothing to local homeless sheltersand back initiatives to improve living andworking conditions in African Americancommunities. CBTU also continued inter-national labor solidarity outreach, provid-ing leadership development for tradeunionists in South Africa and Brazil.

The A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI),which also serves as a bridge between theunion movement and the country’s AfricanAmerican communities, supports and promotes workers’ ongoing struggles foreconomic justice, racial equality and equalopportunity, black voter participation andpolitical, economic and social democracy at home and abroad.

During the 2003 and 2004 Dec. 10International Human Rights Day actions,APRI mobilized its affiliates nationwidearound workers’ freedom to join unions,and throughout the 2004 election year continued voter registration drives in citieswith sizeable African American populations.


In 2005, APRI activists took part in demon-strations across the country during the AFL-CIO National Day of Action, protestingsupport for Social Security privatization byinvestment firms Charles Schwab Corp. andWachovia Corp.

APRI conducted regional and national conferences educating and training activiststo be an effective voice for racial equalityand economic justice in their communitiesand unions. In conjunction with APRI’snational conference, the organization helda youth leadership conference, providingyoung people across the country with anunderstanding of the approach to economicand social change initiated by A. PhilipRandolph and Bayard Rustin, the nature of unions and the role of African Americansin them. The conference also inspiredyouths to become activists on their campuses and in their communities withlocal APRI activists.

Alliance for Retired Americans Since its launch in 2001, the Alliance forRetired Americans has grown to a grassrootsorganization of more than 3 million foractivist union retirees and seniors across the nation. The Alliance plays a major public education and political mobilizationrole in such critical working family issues as Social Security and Medicare.

Most recently, the Alliance has been at theforefront of the battle to strengthen SocialSecurity. Actress Olympia Dukakis narratesthe Alliance’s educational video “SavingSocial Security,” released in May 2005 andtranslated into Spanish, with 10,000 copiesdistributed through the Alliance’s stateorganizations, state federations, affiliatedunions, senior clubs, lawmakers and alliedorganizations across the country. More than3,000 copies of the video have been

downloaded from the Alliance website,www.retiredamericans.org.

As part of the union-movement-wide effortto strengthen Social Security, the Alliancelaunched four regional Truth Truck toursthat carried more than 1 million petitionsopposing Social Security privatization to 20 states and more than 60 congressionaldistricts. The 10,000 Miles, 1 Million Voicestours garnered considerable press attentionand activated Alliance leaders and membersacross the country. Over the 2005 MemorialDay recess, the Alliance partnered withAmericans United to Protect Social Security

as part of the Take a Stand campaign.Alliance members called on more than 80members of Congress and urged them toattend town hall meetings and publiclystate their stance on Social Security privati-zation. Since its inception, the Alliance hasmailed more than 14 million leaflets andletters describing the dangers of SocialSecurity privatization and on Medicare


prescription drug issues, and Alliance mem-bers have sent more than 1.8 million peti-tions to the president and members ofCongress.

In the 2004 election, Alliance membersvoted 73 to 24 percent for presidential candidate John Kerry nationwide—a morethan 10 percent increase over the unionretiree vote for Al Gore in 2000. Unionretirees cited Social Security and healthcare/prescription drugs as the two mostimportant issues that influenced their 2004presidential votes, signaling the success ofthe Alliance’s 2003 Medicare campaign, itsvoter contact in 2004 and grassroots fieldmobilization efforts throughout the electioncycle.

In one of its first actions in May 2002, theAlliance mobilized retired union memberson Capitol Hill, for a speak-out to promotea Medicare prescription drug plan thatoffered real benefits to seniors. As the fightfor a Medicare prescription drug planbecame a battle between a pharmaceuticaland insurance industry giveaway bill and adrive to win a real prescription drug benefitfor the nation’s seniors, the Alliance turnedup the heat. In 2002, the Alliance sponsoreda series of RxExpress bus trips to enable U.S.seniors to travel to Canada—where prescrip-tion drugs are substantially cheaper than inthe United States—to publicly highlight theexploding costs of the prescription drugsseniors need to stay healthy. Hundreds ofseniors took part in more than 30 bus trips, garnering more than $1 million inprescription drug savings and highlightingAmerica’s need for an affordable Medicareprescription drug benefit.

By working with union members and com-munity groups to explain the organization’sgoals and train activists in building stronglocal chapters, the Alliance has chartered 21state chapters and expects to charter nearly

30 additional chapters by the end of 2005.The Alliance includes 200,000 dues-payingdonors from outside the union movementand more than 300,000 community-basedactivists.

The Alliance uses its website and e-mailactivist list to educate seniors, sendingweekly e-mail Friday Alerts to some 40,000members and activists (who in turn forwardit to hundreds of thousands of potentialonline activists) on issues critical to seniors.Members can access legislative and otherkey information updated daily on the web-site. The power of senior e-mail activismwas displayed in June 2003, when Housecommittees began marking up a version of the Medicare prescription drug bill. The Alliance sent more than 26,000 e-mailcalls to action urging activists to contacttheir members of Congress to defeat thebill—and more than 7,000 messages wentto Capitol Hill opposing the bill in a singleday. Throughout 2003, on the Medicaredrug issue alone, the AFL-CIO and theAlliance for Retired Americans generatedmore than 100,000 faxes, 31,000 phonecalls and 90 in-state visits to members of Congress; produced customizable worksite fliers that more than 89 unionlocals downloaded; and ran television spots on CNN nationally. Alliance leadersalso keep in touch with grassroots activiststhrough regular conference calls.Approximately every two weeks, as many as 100 Alliance grassroots leaders join a conference call with national Alliance officials to discuss the status of bills and exchange ideas about strategy andpotential actions.

The Alliance now is building on thisgroundwork to create a national organiza-tion of senior activists as the nation movestoward the critical elections of 2006, 2008and beyond.

The Alliance

includes 200,000

dues-paying

donors from

outside the union

movement and

more than 300,000

community-based

activists.



The National Labor College (NLC) is the majorsource of leadership training for union leaders andactivists and recently attained college status aswell. In March 2004, the Middle States HigherEducation Commission awarded the college fullaccreditation, which makes the college eligible for Maryland state operating and capital funds and may allow its students to become eligible forfederal Pell grants.

The NLC, with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney aschairman of the board of trustees, which includesAFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka andExecutive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson,serves thousands of union leaders and activistseach year through its education programs andconference center operations.

The NLC also has taken on the former AFL-CIOEducation Department functions and consequentlyhas expanded its curriculum support work withunions. In 2002 and 2003, the center worked with15 unions and the AFL-CIO on various curricula forunions to use with their leaders and members.

Beginning in 2005, the NLC will offer a cutting-edge, fully online bachelor’s degree in technicaland professional studies. This new distance-learning capacity will be shared with all the unionsaffiliated with the AFL-CIO for use in their ownleadership education and training programs.

A technologically advanced classroom facility, conference center and distance learning facility are slated for completion this year. The newKirkland Center—a tribute to the late AFL-CIOPresident Lane Kirkland—will boast an 8,000-square-foot multipurpose room divisible into fourclassrooms; breakout rooms; casual gatheringspace for student interaction, art exhibits andreceptions; a state-of-the-art computer lab andvideo conferencing center; and campus diningroom and bookstore.

Campus renovation will include 165 newly renovated dormitory rooms, increasing the maximum sleeping occupancy of the campus to 255. Of the project’s total $40 million cost, $15million will be financed, $10 million has been com-mitted by the AFL-CIO, $5 million has been raisedin state and federal grants and $3 million has beencommitted by a combination of union and privatedonors. Fundraising activities are under way toraise the remaining $7 million.

Developing Union Leaders

Building and Construction Trades Department 67Food and Allied Service Trades Department 73Maritime Trades Department 77Metal Trades Department 81Department for Professional Employees 85Transportation Trades Department 91Union Label and Service Trades Department 99


TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL DEPARTMENTREPORTS

S IT APPROACHES its 100thanniversary in 2008, the Building

and Construction Trades Department(BCTD) has continued its diverse and essential functions in legislation, grassrootspolitical programs, organizing and strategicresearch, health and safety, adjustment ofjurisdictional disputes, labor–managementrelations and other activities to promoteand protect building and constructiontrades unions and their members.

In addition, the department has undertakenseveral new initiatives since 2001. Theyinclude but are not limited to:

n Restructuring the department’s staffinto six operating divisions;

n Initiating the Helmets to Hardhats program jointly with management torecruit veterans of the U.S. military into unions and their apprenticeshipprograms;

n Developing a new and ongoing dialoguewith the Construction Users Round-table (CURT), whose corporate mem-bers represent more than $100 billionannually in construction spending. This initiative soon will result in new,uniform national drug-testing protocolsand several “demonstration” productivityjobsites, at which a unique “tripartite”model of labor–management relationswill be implemented;

n Expanding the department’s politicalgrassroots program during the 2002 and 2004 election cycles;

n Updating and modernizing longstand-ing jurisdictional agreements amongBCTD-affiliated unions;

n Sustaining virtually all of the federal laws that protect construction workers,despite a largely hostile Congress andWhite House; and

n Adding a strategic research staff and initiating a national project to uncoverthe flawed and failing apprenticeshipprograms of the so-called open shops.

The BCTD sustained

virtually all of

the federal laws

that protect

construction

workers, despite

a largely hostile

Congress and

White House.


Building and Construction TradesDepartment

A

The national

organizing

campaign will

center on the

continued growth

of nonunion work

in the residential

sector.


The BCTD’s activities are directed by thepresident and secretary-treasurer, and thedepartment is governed by its GoverningBoard of Presidents representing each of 15BCTD-affiliated national and internationalunions.

Organizing: Helping WorkersGain a Voice@WorkThe department’s National Temp Campaign,launched because of the increasing numberof temporary workers at construction sitesand their need for fair treatment and safeworking conditions, came to a close in 2002.The largest temp agency and major focus ofthe campaign, Labor Ready Inc., sufferedlosses due to violations in filing paperworkwith the Securities and ExchangeCommission, the Occupational Safety andHealth Administration on standards forworkers and the Department of Labor.

Currently, the Associated Builders andContractors (ABC) is the largest anti-unionconstruction trade association in the UnitedStates, with some 23,000 members and 80 local chapters. The department has beenactively investigating the group’s poorlyperforming apprenticeship programs andfinancial irregularities in the training truststhat fund these programs.

In September 2004, the department releaseda report on the annual financial reportsfiled by 19 local ABC chapters and their cor-responding apprenticeship programs, high-lighting a failure to fully disclose financialtransactions between ABC apprenticeshiptrusts and local ABC chapters as well as pay-ment from apprenticeship trusts to chaptersin excess of the actual services provided.

In March 2005, the department’s secondreport revealed six of the ABC’s 80 local

chapters sponsored an apprenticeship program that graduated more than half ofits apprentices. In fact, 25 chapters hadgraduation rates below 25 percent andanother 20 ABC chapters either failed tosponsor a program or failed to enrollapprentices in the programs they sponsored.

The BCTD is continuing to investigate thenational ABC, its chapters, training trustsand benefit plans and other ABC-relatedorganizations.

Organizing for the FuturePlans for the next four years for theOrganizing Department include launchinga National Organizing Campaign, revamp-ing construction organizing classes at theNational Labor College (NLC) and increas-ing the number of organizers attendingthese classes.

The National Organizing Campaign still isin the early planning stages. With 57 per-cent of total U.S. construction in residentialdevelopment, the campaign will center onthe continued growth of nonunion work inthe residential sector.

The current construction organizing classesat the NLC have been struggling with out-dated teaching techniques and materials.The Construction Organizing Guide recentlywas rewritten along with the entire curriculafor the construction organizing and laborlaw classes. BCTD-affiliated union organiz-ing directors have assisted the departmentby volunteering to share their experiencesand teach classes. They also are encouragingtheir councils and locals to participate, andas a result attendance has doubled. Byteaching and providing new materials tobuilding and construction trade organizers,they can go out to the field with bettertools to organize new members.

BCTD also worked

on bipartisan

legislation to

overturn Bush’s

prohibition on

project labor

agreements

(PLAs) in federally

assisted projects.


Meeting the Challenges of the Global EconomyThe BCTD does not engage in bargainingcampaigns. Rather, this activity is reserved toBCTD-affiliated national and internationalunions.

Global EconomyLike most other segments of the economy,the construction industry is indeed global.The department entered into extensive dis-cussions with the International Federationof Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW) to explore possible affiliation. Additionally,the department maintains a correspondingrelationship with the Swedish BuildingWorkers Union (BYGGNADS).

The department long has operated the Officeof Canadian Affairs and plans to exploreadditional international relationships.

Political and Legislative ActionIn 2000, the significantly more pro-workerpolitical climate, which included aDemocratic White House and smaller GOPmajorities on Capitol Hill, facilitated thedepartment’s efforts to pursue progressivelegislative initiatives. Those initiativesincluded federal financial support of localschool construction and higher pensionpayouts for multiemployer plan partici-pants under Section 415 of the InternalRevenue Code. The department ultimatelywas successful in achieving the 415 relief,but school construction legislation nolonger is on lawmakers’ agenda. The depart-ment is fighting attacks on Davis-Baconprevailing-wage protections and attacks onBCTD-affiliated unions’ apprenticeship pro-grams and battling anti-salting legislationand bad trade proposals.

In addition to the Section 415 relief, whichwas passed in a package of tax changes, the

department in 2001 succeeded in its effortsto ensure lawmakers included Davis-Baconprotections in Brownfields legislation. TheDavis-Bacon improvements came aboutafter a deal was struck with HouseRepublican leaders that involved fundingprojects in the bill under section 104 ofCERCLA (the Superfund statute), the onlysection of the statute containing such coverage. Also in 2001, the BCTD focusedits efforts on school construction legisla-tion, additional Davis-Bacon battles and legislative proposals covering OSHA, theArctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR),the Patients’ Bill of Rights and apprentice-ship standards. BCTD also worked on bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps.George Miller (D-Calif.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) to overturn Bush’s prohibition onproject labor agreements (PLAs) in federallyassisted projects.

In 2002, a legislative pattern strengthenedand continued in which federal infrastruc-ture bills were prevented from coming to avote because of Davis-Bacon. Congressionalleaders, especially in the House, refused toschedule bills for votes knowing a majorityof House members favored Davis-Baconapplication and any challenges to it wouldbe unsuccessful. This logjam affectedapproximately $80 billion in projects, centered primarily in federal water and rail construction activities. In September,building and construction trades unionsconvinced several friendly Republicans tosupport school construction legislation,H.R. 1076, as an alternative to tuition taxcredit legislation, H.R. 5913. As the sched-uled vote on H.R. 5913 got closer, it becameclear that enough GOP moderates wouldvote for school construction over tax cred-its, which resulted in H.R. 5913 beingpulled from the floor––the only time a taxbill has been pulled from the floor since theRepublicans took control of the House in1995. Throughout the remainder of 2002,

In each federal

election cycle,

the department

has put together

grassroots

political programs

involving all

15 BCTD-affiliated

unions.


the department focused on homeland security legislation (in which the HomelandSecurity Department was created withoutspecific Davis-Bacon protections), unem-ployment insurance (UI), energy, pipelinesafety, nuclear waste repository, asbestos liability, apprenticeship standards and compensation for nuclear workers. Thedepartment succeeded in winning the ini-tial round of federal funding, $3.4 million,for the BCTD’s Helmets to Hardhats (H2H)program.

Building and construction trades unionsfaced ongoing legislative stalemates through-out 2003. Continuing the logjam over federal infrastructure spending, Congressagain failed to pass rail, water and highwayconstruction legislation (the TEA-21 high-way authorization expired Sept. 30, 2004,and by mid-2005 had yet to be reautho-rized). The department spent considerabletime securing the necessary labor protec-tions on these bills as well as on issuesinvolving Medicare prescription drug legis-lation and Taft-Hartley health and welfarefunds. An inadequate, politically motivatedbill affecting Taft-Hartley health and welfarefunds ultimately was passed by both housesand was reported out of the conferencecommittee and signed into law by PresidentBush. The BCTD also focused on asbestosliability legislation, S. 1125, as well as proposed legislation concerning comp time,energy, UI and overtime regulations. TheBCTD won $5.5 million for fiscal year 2004for the Helmets to Hardhats program.

In 2004, continued gridlock on infrastruc-ture spending included several temporaryextensions of TEA-21 because Congresswould not complete action on a surfacetransportation authorization bill. The BCTD focused on winning funding relieffor multiemployer pension plans reelingfrom investment losses incurred during

2000, 2001 and 2002. Ultimately, only single-employer plans were granted mean-ingful relief because of political oppositionto multiemployer relief from the WhiteHouse. Achieving multiemployer pensionrelief also was fueled by the inability ofUnited Parcel Service to get pension conces-sions at the bargaining table and the company’s pursuit of a legislative solutionto collective bargaining. The rest of 2004was spent on issues such as asbestos liability,nuclear workers’ compensation, the MilitaryBase Security Act aimed at preventingundocumented workers from gaining accessto sensitive military installations, energylegislation (including success with $18 billion in federal loan guarantees for theconstruction of an Alaskan natural gaspipeline), immigration proposals and winning another round of funding forH2H––$6 million for fiscal year 2005.

By mid-2005, the BCTD has worked onadvancing a multiemployer pension reformplan proposed by the National Coordinat-ing Committee for Multiemployer Plans,addressing Specter-Leahy asbestos liabilitylegislation (S. 852), advancing surface trans-portation legislation (H.R. 3), improvingMcCain-Kennedy immigration legislation(S. 1033), passing ANWR exploration andproduction authorizations in the House and Senate, addressing comprehensive energy legislation, working against CAFTAand fighting battles involving Davis-Baconapplication. The department plans to secureanother round of funding for H2H and tocarry out additional labor law battles.

In each federal election cycle, the depart-ment has put together grassroots politicalprograms involving all 15 BCTD-affiliatedunions to assist them in educating theirmembers on the issues at stake for working families.

In 2005, the

Committee of

Women in the

Trades, two years

in development,

became only the

sixth standing

committee of the

department.


A Voice in Our CommunitiesSuccess in the current political and economicclimate depends on using new strategies,building new coalitions and offering newinitiatives. The department has been moving forward in these areas with positiveresults.

The department convenes regional meetingsto advise, involve and engage tradesmenand tradeswomen at the state and local levels in its programs and initiatives. These meetings are an effective catalyst forincreasing awareness and collective actionon major issues confronting BCTD affiliatesand their members.

The department has initiated and partici-pated in programs that promote the posi-tive attributes of a unionized workforce.Within the construction community, thetripartite initiative has built bridges ofunderstanding between unions, contractorsand owners that have resulted in a mutuallybeneficial dialogue to solve problems.

In 2005, the Committee of Women in theTrades, two years in development, becameonly the sixth standing committee of thedepartment. Representatives from all build-ing trades unions serve on the committee,which is committed to increasing the number of women in skilled trades careersby promoting strategies for recruitment,

retention and leadership advancement. Thecommittee will provide increased visibilityfor these issues within the department andthroughout BCTD affiliates and industrypartners.

In its third year, the Helmets to Hardhatsprogram spearheaded by the BCTD linksreturning veterans with training and jobopportunities in the unionized constructionindustry. H2H has exceeded expectationsand received national recognition and thedepartment is proud of the extraordinaryeffort of affiliate leaders who incorporatedthis program into their trades. It has paiddividends to thousands of veterans andtheir families.

The department also is supporting the new Crayons to CAD program to encourageinterest in the construction trades fromearly grades. Teaching a math and sciencecurriculum incorporating unionized construction awareness in middle schoolsaround the country serves to enhance our organizations’ visibility and credibilitywith America’s youth.

The BCTD continues to build partnershipsand alliances with numerous national and community organizations to increaseawareness of and support for critical issuesincluding health care reform, pension protection and workers’ rights.

HE AFFILIATES OF THE Food andAllied Service Trades Department

(FAST) represent millions of workers in an increasingly large and diverse set ofoccupations, including nurses, retail clerks, industrial workers, housekeepers,building engineers, flight attendants andmeatpackers. FAST affiliates’ members are as varied as their occupations, representingall ages, races and ethnicities. No matter the industry or need, FAST is dedicated to assisting affiliates in fights againstemployers that trample the rights of workers. The department’s contribution is to provide comprehensive research toallow a detailed understanding of compa-nies, the industry and key players andpower structures, so affiliates can developinnovative and effective tactics and strate-gies to fight and win on behalf of theirmembers.

Information for Organizing and Bargaining

FAST truly thinks—when used correctly—information is power. The more knowledgeworkers and their unions have, the moreeffective they will be. Providing real infor-mation in a timely fashion to decision makers at all operational levels of affiliatedunions always has been and will continueto be a primary function of FAST staff. Tothis end, FAST provides a number ofresources:

The FAST Manual of CorporateInvestigation is one of the foremost sourceson corporate investigations for unionorganizers and researchers. The manual hasbeen online (www.fastaflcio.org) for severalyears now, and it is constantly updated withnew hyperlinks and sources. It is organizedin a step-by-step fashion, walking usersthrough the basics of researching both

The “FAST Manual

of Corporate

Investigation”

is one of the

foremost sources

on corporate

investigations for

union organizers

and researchers.


Food and Allied Service TradesDepartment

T

In addition to

the online research

guides found on

the FAST website,

FAST has amassed

an extensive

collection of

CD-ROMs and

books that

provide even

more specialized

information useful

to affiliates.


public and private companies. The manualincludes state-specific information andguides to regulatory agencies and now hasan extensive list of hard-to-find links forInternet users who want to expand theirsources. All members of FAST affiliates canreceive passwords for access to this manualthat will help them find information abouttargeting, organizing, bargaining and rank-and-file communications.

The FAST Healthcare IndustryManual is a supplement to the Manual of Corporate Investigation. The HealthcareManual, also found on the FAST website(www.fastaflcio.org), is structured in a similar fashion to the full manual and provides much greater depth of informa-tion on researching the health care indus-try. Users can familiarize themselves quicklywith hospital and nursing home ownership-type sources; they can learn how to uncoverquality-of-care issues; and they easily canaccess all 50 states’ health departmentsthrough user-friendly links pages. In addi-tion, the “Finding Workers” section is anexcellent guide to creative ways to identifyhealth care workers employed in differentparts of the industry.

FAST Office ResourcesIn addition to the online research guidesfound on the FAST website, FAST hasamassed an extensive collection of CD-ROMs and books that provide evenmore specialized information useful to affiliates. FAST’s library holdings encompasssuch wide-ranging topics as people finders,corporate affiliations, institutional investorsand import–export data. Many of FAST’sbooks and CDs are updated on a monthlyor quarterly basis. To supplement thedepartment’s library collection, FAST main-tains active subscriptions to many tradejournals and publications useful in gather-ing information for affiliates’ fights.To supplement these information sources,

FAST’s research staff includes some of themost motivated and best-trained investiga-tors in the union movement. FASTresearchers assist affiliates and their localunions in all sorts of projects and campaigns,ranging from matching names and addressesof workers in a potential bargaining unit to spending weeks on the ground activelyhelping during strikes and organizing campaigns.

Labor Database CDFAST developed its first version of the now-ubiquitous FAST Labor Database onCD-ROM in early 1999. Recognized as anindispensable tool for organizers andresearchers across the country, this single-volume CD includes 20 databases contain-ing more the 1.6 million records compiledfrom U.S., Canadian and Mexican govern-ment sources. It includes detailed indices of NLRB petitions, elections and unfairlabor practice charges; Federal Mediationand Conciliation Service contract notifications; and wage-and-hour compli-ance activity, to name a few. The databasecan be sorted and searched in multipleways, which allows an organizer to quicklycreate a history of labor relations at a givencompany or in a certain region or industry.The FAST Labor Database is updated annually, and new databases are added asthey become available.

Information for CommunityCoalition Building and LegislativeChangeOver the years, FAST has honed its expertisein assisting affiliates in community coali-tion building. Whether identifying localgroups and community leaders available to help during an organizing campaign orparticipating in a broad-based coalition toactively support a strike, FAST has workedsuccessfully with its affiliates to help buildpower for workers and local unions acrossthe country. Additionally, the departmentcollects and updates information on

During the past

several years,

FAST has dedicated

itself to expanding

its information

sources on

international trade,

international

investment and

labor solidarity

and to making

this information

available to

affiliates.


regulatory and local development issues of interest to affiliates and their members,including corporate subsidies, urban sprawland environmental compliance. In thebroader national arena, FAST has continuedto work on legislative and regulatory matters ranging from worker health andsafety to food stamps.

Information for International Labor SolidarityFAST’s affiliates form part of an increasinglyunified international labor movement.Union members around the world are joining to fight the expansion of corporatecontrol at the expense of working peopleand to defend the rights of workers every-where. Understanding corporate power istruly global and exposing these internationallinks and relationships is critical to buildingpower in the labor movement. Labor rights,human rights, fair trade and decent jobsand wages are issues that transcend nationalborders.

To meet the needs of affiliates in theseareas, FAST has developed a special under-standing of many areas pertaining to inter-national labor solidarity. During the pastseveral years, FAST has dedicated itself toexpanding its information sources on inter-national trade, international investmentand labor solidarity and to making thisinformation available to affiliates. The FAST corporate library includes numerousvolumes and CDs to help researchers andorganizers identify international productionlocations, subsidiaries and trade data. Inaddition, the FAST Labor Database CD-ROM contains information on Canadianand Mexican unions, which facilitatesdirect cross-border contact between unions.

FAST actively participates in internationalcampaigns for labor rights in regions andindustries that impact affiliate unions. FAST has taken a leading role in the fightfor human and worker rights in China andwill continue to illuminate abuses in thatcountry as well as the corporate-dominatedU.S. foreign policy that supports the denialof those basic rights. FAST has assisted affiliates in NAFTA labor-related cases at the National Administrative Office and atthe Organization for Economic Co-operationand Development.

Moreover, FAST is working to elaborate a strategic analysis of immigration issues of significant importance to its affiliates.Immigrants are filling an increasing numberof low-wage and dangerous jobs, and FAST’s affiliates are rising to the challenge ofhelping these workers organize. To do that,it is important to develop a comprehensiveunderstanding of the forces propellingimmigration––not only questions of whycertain jobs are being filled by immigrantsin the United States, but also the reasonswhy people are leaving their home coun-tries. This ongoing investigation is provid-ing affiliates with important insight to facil-itate the increasing number of organizingcampaigns in which immigrant workers areparticipating.

Staff DevelopmentFAST continues to offer bright and committed young men and women theopportunity to learn the fundamentals ofcomprehensive campaigns and gain variedexperience fighting corporate power. FASTtrains these folks and places them in positions in the labor movement. Many ofthese talented young people now are work-ing throughout the labor movement andare making significant contributions.

HE MARITIME TRADESDEPARTMENT (MTD), which begins

its 60th year of service to working familiesin 2006, is a constitutionally mandateddepartment of the AFL-CIO. It was char-tered in August 1946 to fight for workers in all aspects of the U.S. and Canadian maritime industry. The 29 internationalunions within the MTD represent merchantmariners, shipbuilders, dock workers, vesselsuppliers, office workers and others.

The department provides information andsupport for federal programs and practicesaffecting the U.S.-flag and Canadian-flagmaritime fleets. It also promotes new issuesand ideas that could benefit the workingpeople within its affiliated unions.

The MTD utilizes a network of 24 port maritime councils across both nations to provide grassroots support for these maritime-related concerns and other issuesthat affect the entire union movement.

A Voice@Work for Working FamiliesAlthough not constitutionally permitted to directly run organizing campaigns, theMTD continues to assist affiliated unions in ensuring workers have a voice on thejob. The Port Maritime Councils remain the department’s vital eyes and ears at thegrassroots level. Across the United States,Port Maritime Councils have been workingwith the affiliates and central labor councilsto urge their elected federal officials toendorse the Employee Free Choice Act.From marching in solidarity with UnitedFood and Commercial Workers memberson strike in Southern California to support-ing locked-out dock workers and hotelemployees along the Pacific Coast and inHawaii, they have answered the call.

Councils from New Orleans to St. Louis toNew York were proud of their efforts toensure the success of the 2003 ImmigrantWorkers Freedom Ride. In South Florida,

Port Maritime

Councils have

been working with

the affiliates and

central labor

councils to urge

their elected

federal officials

to endorse the

Employee Free

Choice Act.


Maritime Trades Department

T

During the past

four years, port

councils from

coast to coast

assisted in the

fight to organize

Wal-Mart, Verizon

Wireless and

countless other

drives at the

national and local

levels.


council members marched with thousandsof union members in 2003 to highlight theneed for improved U.S. trade policies.

In Philadelphia, port council membersassisted in IBT picket lines. Norfolk, Va.,and Baltimore councils affiliates stood withSteelworkers and Flight Attendants-CWA tocall attention to their causes. The coffeewagon from the Toledo, Ohio, council provided assistance to brothers and sisterson strike in that Great Lakes town.

U.S. Flag Returns to Cruise ShipsIn the past few years, the U.S. flag hasreturned to the high seas on two passengervessels. These ships, which circle theHawaiian Islands, are entirely crewed byunion members. The renewal of the U.S.-flag passenger fleet has created thousands of new jobs locally as well as nationally—for those at sea as well as along the docksand inland. A third vessel is expected tojoin this fleet early next year.

From the local level at which Port MaritimeCouncils participate, to the internationallevel, at which the MTD national office provides assistance, the department under-stands the necessity of helping all workersgain a better life for themselves and theirfamilies.

During the past four years, port councilsfrom coast to coast assisted in the fight toorganize at Wal-Mart, Verizon Wireless andin countless other drives at the nationaland local levels. The commitment of thisdepartment and its port councils to organizing will continue.

Addressing the Challenges of the Global EconomyThe MTD has been dealing with the realities of the global economy since thedepartment’s inception. In fact, the MTDwas launched in the wake of World War II,when the U.S. government was breaking up the world’s largest merchant fleet at cut-rate prices to help other countriesreturn to the sea.

Since then, U.S. and Canadian merchantmariners––the best-trained workers on thesafest ships in the world––have struggled to compete with runaway flag fleets. Thevessels that fly these flags of conveniencefail to live up to minimum internationalsafety and labor standards. In the mostextreme instances, some crew membersmay go for weeks on diets of rice and wateror months without pay. MTD affiliates inCanada and the United States work withthe International Transport Workers’Federation to assist stricken mariners fromaround the world and bring their plight to the attention of the public.

The MTD also monitors the impact of tradenegotiations on the maritime industry. Thedepartment has worked continuously withindustry and government representatives tokeep maritime issues off the table. OpeningU.S. maritime laws to such negotiationswould have a disastrous affect on Americanjobs and the industry.

The domestic shipbuilding industry hasfaced its own challenges from overseas.Shipyards in China and South Korea areaided by government subsidies, so they areable to offer merchant vessels at rates farbelow those possible by North Americanfacilities. Because of this, numerous ship-yards have shut down along the GreatLakes, Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts.

Despite these challenges, U.S. shipyards aredelivering world-class vessels with new oneson the drawing boards as American marinersaboard container vessels deliver U.S. andCanadian-made goods to ports around theworld while bringing back products for the domestic market. Through the efforts ofthe MTD, the U.S. and Canadian maritimeindustries will remain a force in futureworld trade.

Port Security a PriorityAfter the tragic attack on the United Stateson Sept. 11, 2001, port security has becomea major concern, not just in the maritimeindustry but also across the North Americancontinent. The unions of the MTD havebeen working with local and federal govern-ments to improve conditions at harbors,ports and inlets. The department is review-ing various proposals for a universal trans-portation workers’ identification card. One example from Florida shows the necessity of moving toward this type ofidentification.

Today, a person in the Sunshine State seek-ing to work on a ship or on the dock mustcarry identification cards issued by eachindividual port authority rather than onedocument recognized by all. Acquiring therequired cards costs workers time and money.The unions representing these workersthink there is a more efficient way toaddress this discrepancy and ensure security.

Maritime Security ProgramAs during the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s,the United States, beginning in 2002, onceagain called upon its U.S.-flag merchantfleet to transport supplies and materiel tothe armed forces at the fronts in Afghanistanand Iraq. Since the 1990s, the U.S.-flag fleethad significantly improved its functions andwas better prepared to meet the challenge.

In the wake of the Persian Gulf War, maritime unions worked with the industry,military and elected officials to create theMaritime Security Program (MSP). Thisbipartisan legislation, passed in 1996, created a 10-year program to provide fundsto assist in the cost of maintaining U.S.-flagvessels and their infrastructure that couldbe made available to the armed forces inthe event of a war or national emergency.The MSP proved to be a boon because ofthe operational and construction savingsrealized each year. Because of the program’ssuccess, the U.S. Congress last year reautho-rized it for 10 more years. In addition,Congress expanded the number of vesselscovered from 47 to 60.

The MTD worked hard to ensure passage of the Maritime Security Program’s reautho-rization and expansion. Funding for theprogram must be acquired each year, andthe MTD continues to work with lawmakersto ensure they recognize its value.

The Jones ActThe Jones Act––the nation’s freight cabotage law––continues to be a priority.Although efforts to weaken the law duringthe past decade have not resurfaced, theMTD remains vigilant for any attack at thelocal or federal level. The MTD, along withseveral of its affiliates, is a charter memberof the Maritime Cabotage Task Force, acoalition of labor and industry dedicated topreserving the Jones Act. (The act states thatany cargo transported between two domes-tic ports must be carried aboard a U.S.-flag,U.S.-built and U.S.-citizen–crewed vessel.)

Meanwhile, the MTD is working with the industry and the U.S. Department ofTransportation to create a dedicated coast-wise shipping fleet. As America’s highwaysand railways become more congested,coastwise shipping would reduce the num-ber of containers transported along land

The Maritime

Security Program

has proven so

successful, Congress

reauthorized it for

another 10 years.


The MTD will

continue its fight

to improve the

living and working

conditions of its

affiliates and its

members––the

department’s

mission since

its inception and

its goal into the

21st century.


routes. Domestic transportation plannershave estimated the amount of goods com-ing through America’s ports within the next15 years probably will double. A coastwiseshipping program would create more jobsfor American mariners while providingmuch-needed new construction withinAmerican shipyards.

Cargo Preference LawsThe MTD long has fought to maintainAmerica’s cargo preference laws. The MTD opposes efforts now debated inWashington, D.C., to simply send fundingto nations seeking to acquire grain or otherfood aid rather than sending American provisions overseas aboard U.S.-flag vessels.Such a move would tragically hurt America’sfarmers and mariners. If such provisionshad been in effect last year, victims of thetsunami in Southern Asia would never haveexperienced firsthand the goodwill and trueconcern of Americans.

Energy concerns also affect the unions of the MTD. We have stood for nearly adecade with our brothers and sisters in thefight against electric deregulation policies atthe national and local levels. MTD affiliatesalso have worked with unions from theBuilding and Construction TradesDepartment to allow the safe exploration of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

While the diverse range of issues involvingthe MTD varies, all have one common theme:more and better jobs for our members.

SummaryFor nearly 60 years, the Maritime TradesDepartment has been a vital link betweenthe labor movement and the maritimeindustry. The MTD will continue its fight to improve the living and working condi-tions of its affiliates and its members––thedepartment’s mission since its inceptionand its goal into the 21st century.

The department

relies on the

expertise of staff

from 17 affiliated

unions who are

assigned by

their respective

international

unions to represent

Metal Trades units.


S A CONSTITUTIONAL DEPART-MENT of the AFL-CIO, the Metal

Trades Department (Metal Trades) has fundamental representation and collectivebargaining responsibilities to our 25 MetalTrades Councils and eight Federal EmployeeMetal Trades Councils. These councils areestablished under the Metal Trades constitu-tion and bylaws that provide democraticrepresentation and jurisdictional protectionsto constituent unions within the councils.

The department’s mix of federal and private-sector bargaining units presentscomplex challenges further complicated bythe wide diversity of industries in which themember unions represent workers: nuclearresearch and development, nuclear remedi-ation and cleanup and other Department ofEnergy operations; military reservations andweapons plants; shipbuilding and repair inthe private and federal sectors; petrochemi-cal and refinery operations; mining; andother industrial operations.

Metal Trades has undergone a series of tran-sitions over the past four years. John Meeseretired in January 2002 after nine years asthe department president. On Jan. 10, 2002,the Department’s Executive Council namedRonald Ault to succeed President Meese.

President Ault works with the department’stwo general representatives—Jim Seidl andTom Schaffer—to share the basic collectivebargaining, case handling, training andtravel.

Because of growing demands on the department’s limited resources, the depart-ment relies on the expertise of staff from 17 affiliated unions who are assigned bytheir respective international unions to represent Metal Trades units. In the pastfour years, as in previous years, MetalTrades–affiliated unions have been verygenerous in assisting the functioning of the department.

Metal Trades Department

A

Metal Trades uses

its website and a

growing e-mail list

of activists to alert

councils to new

developments

affecting their

constituent unions

and, ultimately,

their union

members.


Building E-ActivismIn consultation with the Metal Trades’Executive Council and delegates to thedepartment’s annual conferences, PresidentAult adopted several initiatives to better uti-lize technology to streamline communica-tions between constituent councils and thedepartment as well as among departmentaffiliates. Metal Trades uses its website(www.metaltrades.org) and a growing e-mail list of activists to alert councils tonew developments affecting their con-stituent unions and, ultimately, their union members. The website is updatedas frequently as needed. The departmentalso publishes a quarterly newsletter, theMetaletter, as a key communications tool.

Metal Trades held a training session in fall2003 at the Machinists’ WinpisingerTraining Center to launch its new technologyinitiative. Some 60 local leaders took part in this training, which included discussionand information on the department’sefforts to energize communications out-reach among affiliated unions.

Political and Legislative MobilizationMetal Trades’ annual conferences includerepresentational training and practical skillsand information to improve the effective-ness of our councils in the areas of griev-ance handling, safety, contract negotiationsand representation before third parties.During election years, conference emphasisis on legislative developments and votereducation programs.

In a first-ever voter education training out-reach, Metal Trades’ September 2004 confer-ence capped a series of regional meetingscalled to educate councils and the membersthey represent about the issues of the 2004 presidential election. Undertaken with fullconsideration to the constraints imposedon many Metal Trades members by the

Hatch Act, these regional meetings enabledMetal Trades to assess local concerns andcreate an awareness of those concerns bythe presidential candidates.

A Winning Coalition Against Dow ChemicalMetal Trades continues to confront uniquerepresentation challenges by large globalcorporations such as Dow Chemical Co.and federal agencies that, since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, haveattempted to sharply curtail employees’ collective bargaining rights. By adoptingaggressive, multifaceted campaign tactics,including mobilizing and building solidarity,inviting community involvement andworking closely with other AFL-CIO com-ponents, affiliated unions and, in somecases, like-minded industry organizations,the Metal Trades has stood strong againstenterprises that deploy massive resources.

In the case of Dow Chemical, the MetalTrades confronted an extremely volatile sit-uation in Texas City, Texas, involving a1,500-member bargaining unit that facedunacceptable employer demands at the bargaining table. The department receivedsubstantial support from the Steelworkers,PACE International and several MetalTrades–affiliated building trades unions that hold contracts with Dow and its sub-sidiaries. Metal Trades affiliates providedexpertise and assistance in developing ashareholder initiative to confront Dow’sannual meeting. The department created a website and produced e-mails and fliersthat members widely distributed through-out Dow’s U.S. locations to publicize thecompany’s unfair tactics.

The Texas AFL-CIO discussed the situationwith local lawmakers and congressional representatives, and the InternationalFederation of Chemical, Energy, Mine andGeneral Workers’ Unions Employees(ICEM) spearheaded a global campaign.

Metal Trades

is analyzing and

developing a

response to the

threatened base

closures as

advanced by U.S.

Defense Secretary

Donald Rumsfeld

this spring under

the Base

Realignment and

Closure Act (BRAC)

recommendations.


The elements of this multipronged cam-paign eventually forced Dow to back downand negotiate an acceptable agreement.That victory also spawned similar contractsfor two other Texas-based Dow units.

Legislative ActionMetal Trades cultivates congressional relations and monitors appropriations andpolicies affecting workers in Metal Trades–represented units engaged in shipbuildingand related defense activities. The depart-ment has focused on the loss of the U.S.industrial base, especially the effect onAmerica’s national security. Metal Tradeshas worked with legislative representativesfrom affiliated unions in coordination withthe AFL-CIO Legislative and Public Policydepartments, along with a network of U.S.employers that share Metal Trades mem-bers’ concerns. The department’s prioritiesinclude protection and expansion of BuyAmerican statutes. Metal Trades seeks tomaintain an effective mechanism for hold-ing lawmakers accountable and publicizingthe unhealthy reliance on foreign suppliersfor defense and related goods and services.

Metal Trades works closely with affiliatesand other AFL-CIO departments to monitorand respond to congressional or administra-tive threats to circumvent, undermine orthreaten to repeal the Service Contract Act,the Davis-Bacon Act and budgetary issuesrelated to support for domestic shipbuilding.

Among the most significant challenges toU.S. shipbuilding in recent years are effortsby the Bush administration and the U.S.Defense Department to radically cut appro-priations for maintaining a healthy Navyfleet. Metal Trades is analyzing and develop-ing a response to the threatened base clo-sures as advanced by U.S. Defense SecretaryDonald Rumsfeld this spring under the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC)recommendations.

NSPS: Ideology, Not SecurityThe greatest threat the Metal TradesDepartment faces today is the developmentof the so-called National Security PersonnelSystem (NSPS). In November 2003, Congressauthorized the secretary of defense to develop a new personnel system to cover750,000 civilian employees of the DefenseDepartment. Congress acted in response toSecretary Rumsfeld’s request for personnelpolicies that are “more flexible” and “nimble.” The legislation creating the NSPS was tucked into the annual appropria-tion bill for the Defense Department andpassed with little or no discussion of itsimplications.

The NSPS outline is derived from policypapers developed within the ultrareac-tionary Heritage Foundation and presentedto the new Bush administration withinweeks of Bush’s first inauguration. Thetragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, provided theadministration with an opportunity toadvance a policy of dismantling thenation’s civil service system—first withinthe Department of Homeland Security andnow at the Department of Defense. TheHeritage Foundation essentially arguesunion representation, collective bargainingand a voice on the job “compromise”national security. Evidence, facts and experience of the positive value of unionrepresentation for government workersproves conclusively the opposite: Unionmembers have higher morale because theyhave family-supporting wages, job securityand a voice at the workplace. The rights of freedom of association and due processare key principles of American democracy.They must not be subordinated to vague and subjective national security considerations.

The NSPS is an ideologically driven program unrelated to ensuring the nation’ssecurity. It is a blatant effort to create a

The policies

adopted and

action taken in

the past four years

will serve to

strengthen Metal

Trades’ capacity to

assist affiliates—

and most

important, union

members—for

years to come.


template for a union-free environment inthe federal sector that can be transplantedeasily to bargaining environments for anyother federal agency or public-sectoremployer––and ultimately, to any majorprivate-sector employer.

President George W. Bush already has indicated his intention to model all federalcivilian agencies on NSPS. Elements of NSPShave surfaced in the personnel policies ofseveral new Republican governors––high-lighting how this is a threat that extendsbeyond Department of Defense civilianworkers to the entire structure of U.S. labor relations.

Historically, personnel policies of the federalgovernment have served as models for theentire economy. At times, such policieshave had a positive impact—in the area of civil rights, for example. Integration of the nation’s armed services after WorldWar II is recognized widely as a major stimulus for the civil rights movement thatculminated in such milestones as theVoting Rights Act. When federal policieshave a malicious intent, as does the NSPS,the ripple effect could be devastating.

Metal Trades has taken a leading role in the development and operation of theUnited Department of Defense WorkersCoalition, a coalition of 36 affiliated andindependent unions formed to combatNSPS, and has filed a legal challenge toNSPS. With the support of AFL-CIO staff,this coalition has presented the Departmentof Defense with a solid front to preserveand protect the rights of Department ofDefense workers.

SummaryThe Maritime Trades Department, theTransportation Trades Department, theBuilding and Construction TradesDepartment, the Union Label and ServiceTrades Department and the Food and AlliedService Trades Department have providedongoing assistance in the day-to-day operations of the Metal Trades Departmentand have worked cooperatively in develop-ing Metal Trades member programs.Together with these AFL-CIO departments,Metal Trades remains strong and committedto combating attacks on working familiesand advancing the interests of our mem-bers. The policies adopted and action taken in the past four years will serve tostrengthen Metal Trades’ capacity to assistaffiliates—and most important, unionmembers—for years to come.

“If the labor

movement is to

grow and if workers

are to get the kind

of representation

they deserve,

unions have to

retool, restructure

and redirect their

energies. Key

targets in this

endeavor are the

new professional

workers who don’t

fit the mold of

traditional nine-to-

fivers.”

––Edward McElroy,

AFT president and DPE chair,

Speech to DPE Organizing

Conference 2005


Professional Workers in the 21st Century In 2002, the Department for ProfessionalEmployees (DPE) celebrated its 25thanniversary. In the years since its inception,post-industrial America has experiencedseismic changes in the nation’s workforce—a transformation marked by an explosion inthe white-collar world of work.

In 1977, when the AFL-CIO chartered theDPE, 13.9 million professional and highlyskilled technicians were on the job in theAmerican economy. By 2004, that numberhad more than doubled. Analysts project in the 10-year cycle through 2012, thenumber of these professional workers willincrease by 6.5 million—or 23.3 percent—and remain the fastest-growing occupationalgroup in the nation. At the same time,while overall U.S. employment is projectedto increase by less than 15 percent, profes-sional and technical occupations willaccount for an astounding 30.3 percent of all employment growth.

Numerous DPE-affiliated unions alreadyrepresent millions of workers in white-collaroccupations, providing a significant basefrom which the union movement can andshould grow. But many in the public areunaware of the extent to which this white-collar base constitutes the union move-ment’s membership—a paradox that needsto change.

By mid-2005, more than 51 percent of allunion members are white-collar workers,while professional and related occupationsrepresent the largest contingent of unionmembers of any occupational classification.

A Voice for Professional Workers’ Issues DPE’s most aggressive initiatives over thepast four years involved improved internaland external communications. DPE achieveda presence within national, regional, stateand local media on the issues of offshoreoutsourcing, guest worker visas, media

Department for Professional Employees

DPE achieved a

presence within

national, regional,

state and local

media on the

issues of offshore

outsourcing, guest

worker visas,

media reform

and overtime pay

for white-collar

workers.


reform and overtime pay for white-collarworkers. The DPE hosted six major pressevents; appeared on more than a dozen television and radio interviews, includingABC Nightly News, CNN, Voice of Americaradio and Fox News; and was quoted innearly 30 national daily newspapers. DPE leadership debated offshore advocatesin nearly 20 public forums around thecountry. DPE also established its first website as well an electronic newsletter—Newsline—that details DPE’s work and issent to several thousand union leaders, key staff and allied activists.

Dedicating Resources to EnsureWorkers Gain a Voice@WorkDPE focuses its resources on activities toassist its affiliates in connecting to andorganizing the professional, technical andadministrative support workforce. DPE’smajor initiative related to organizing wasOrganizing Professionals in the 21stCentury, a March 2005 three-day confer-ence on organizing professionals in the newmillennium. It brought together some 200participants—organizers, decision makers,researchers and staff—from 19 nationalunions affiliated with DPE, along with rep-resentatives from nearly 25 other unions,allied organizations and universities.Discussions centered on new organizingstrategies, innovative organizational models,successful campaigns and the presentationof ground-breaking attitudinal research by key professionals in nursing, higher education and information technology.Presentations focused on professional asso-ciations and their success in attracting newprofessional members as well as a case studyof the Kaiser Permanente Coalition ofUnions, in which interunion cooperationand aggressive union action have fosteredsuccessful organizing and collective bargain-ing outcomes. The conference laid thefoundation for a broad-based network ofprofessional organizers and set priorities fornew research.

A Voice for Workers in theChanging Global EconomyIn recognition of the profound changesthat globalization, technological innovationand other factors bring to the professionaland technical workforce and workplace, the DPE in 2004 created a Committee onthe Evolution of Professional Careers withrepresentatives from nearly 20 nationalunions. The committee’s goals are to:

n Review and analyze the trends affectingthe future of white-collar work;

n Ascertain the careers and professionslikely to emerge over the next decade;

n Determine appropriate strategies necessary to organize these workers;

n Explore organizational models ofunionism that offer the potential to enhance membership among professional workers;

n Better prepare unions to align them-selves with the workforce of the future;and

n Develop a consensus about appropriatepublic policy, bargaining strategies,organizing goals and tactics as well as other courses of action essential to expanding union density in the professions.

Leadership Development andStrategic PlanningIn the past three years, the DPE augmentedits work by adding new capacity in leader-ship development and strategic planning.DPE’s activities included facilitating:

n Numerous high-level leadership discus-sions between the American Federationof Television and Radio Artists and theScreen Actors in 2002 and 2003 regard-ing the consolidation of the two organi-zations; despite an overwhelming recommendation from the leadership to merge, a 60 percent supermajorityconstitutional voting requirement was

From late 2001

through midyear

2005, the DPE was

involved in nearly

40 different

congressional and

state legislative

issues as well as

several federal

regulatory and

other matters.


easily surpassed in the AFTRA vote butnarrowly failed in SAG.

n Staff training for AFGE in 2003, development of AFTRA’s national staffconference in 2002 and organizing aone-day retreat for the Executive Boardof AFTRA’s Nashville, Tenn., local unionthat developed a consensus about priorities for action (2004).

n Workshops on “Professionalism andUnionism: Are They Compatible?”and “Making a Difference ThroughLeadership and Power” for national andstate leaders at the United AmericanNurses Labor Leader Institute (2004).

n A three-day retreat for the UANExecutive Council, state collective bargaining leaders and OrganizationalStructure Committee (2005) and providing the UAN with an overview of effective union structures.

A Voice for Workers in Legislation and Public PolicyFrom late 2001 through midyear 2005, theDPE was involved in nearly 40 differentcongressional and state legislative issues aswell as several federal regulatory and othermatters. In four key areas—preservation ofFederal Communications Commission(FCC) rules against media monopolies, theoffshore outsourcing of white-collar jobs,professional guest worker visas and over-time pay for professionals—the DPE helpedlead the union movement’s legislative andregulatory efforts.

FCC Media RulesWhat began as an agency effort to eradicatethe ban against newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership became a crusade by the FCC’sGOP majority to eliminate all of the FCC’santi-monopoly rules. Under the leadershipof the DPE’s Standing Policy Committee onthe Arts, Entertainment and MediaIndustry, the department set in motion amultifaceted strategy. The strategy focused

on engaging the entire union movement in the fight; bringing pressure to bear onthe FCC; joining with allies to stop thecommission’s monopolistic efforts; lobbyingCongress to derail media deregulation; andbuilding public awareness through mediaoutreach.

The DPE sponsored major press events with coalition and labor allies on the pro-posed cross-ownership rule, attacking theFCC’s analysis supporting deregulation,unveiling an exposé on Clear ChannelCommunications and releasing a poll ofmedia workers and the impact of industryconsolidation on their profession and worklife. The AFL-CIO Executive Council alsoweighed in on a DPE-drafted policy resolu-tion, “Media Monopolies: A Threat toAmerican Democracy,” which the counciladopted February 2003.

In Congress, the DPE and its allies attackedthe FCC on multiple legislative fronts afterthe commission issued the new deregula-tion rules. In the most significant victory of DPE’s campaign, a bipartisan Senatemajority voted by nearly 60 votes toapprove a rarely used Congressional ReviewAct veto of the rules. But intransigentRepublican leadership in the House refusedto take action. DPE, media unions, stateand local labor councils and public interestallies mobilized massive public protests byhundreds of activists at forums in SanAntonio and Monterey, Calif., at whichFCC commissioners got an earful aboutderegulation. In a major victory for publicinterest, consumers and labor, the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit scuttled the rules and sent them back to the agency for further work.

The collective efforts of DPE unions andallied organizations to stop deregulationspawned a nationwide protest movement as well as a congressional media reform caucus to continue the fight in the

The union

movement and

its media reform

allies rallied

around a new

statement of

principles, the Bill

of Media Rights,

which speaks to

the rights

American citizens

have with respect

to media and the

news, information

and entertainment.


Big Business-friendly 109th Congress(2005–2006).

In anticipation of an oncoming assault ontelecommunications laws and regulations,the union movement and its media reformallies rallied around a new statement ofprinciples, the Bill of Media Rights, whichspeaks to the rights American citizens have with respect to media and the news,information and entertainment that flowsthrough its various pipelines. DPE authoreda comprehensive AFL-CIO Executive Councilpolicy resolution, “The Media ReformCampaign,” adopted in March 2005.

Most importantly, the campaign served asthe foundation for solidifying organizationalalliances at the national level while unitingindividual grassroots unions and allies intoa massive nationwide movement to combatbig media in the years ahead.

Offshore Outsourcing of White-Collar JobsThis issue exploded onto the Americanpolitical landscape late in 2003 in partbecause of the work of the DPE. Early thatyear, reports began to surface about theextent to which white-collar jobs hadbegun to be sent overseas—professional andtechnical jobs that free-trade advocates hadassured the nation would remain in thiscountry, even as millions of manufacturingjob opportunities were lost. New reportsforecast the loss of millions of these jobs as U.S. companies scoured the world forcheap labor.

Working with the DPE, the AFL-CIO set up a task force of key departments and affiliates to devise policies and strategies todeal with this new crisis. The DPE testifiedon the issue before Congress and in statelegislatures and worked with the AFL-CIOto develop federal and state legislativeresponses. At the state level, the issue took

legislatures by storm as efforts focused onbanning the offshore outsourcing of statecontracts and procurement. In addition,activists worked with state governments towithdraw their commitments to the Officeof the U.S. Trade Representative to open uptheir procurement under national free tradeagreements to export. DPE worked withAFL-CIO Executive Council to craft a policyresolution, “Outsourcing America,” adoptedin March 2004.

In 2005 the DPE is continuing its work withthe AFL-CIO in Congress and state legisla-tures as well as with the national media.

Guest Worker VisasDPE continues to lead efforts to defeatindustry efforts to expand the H-1B visaprogram after the statutory cap had recededto 65,000 visas annually. However, in late2004 the Congress added a new visa capexemption for up to 20,000 foreign gradu-ates of U.S. colleges with advanced degrees.DPE wrote a comprehensive AFL-CIOExecutive Council policy resolution“Reform the H-1B and L1 Guest WorkerVisa Programs,” adopted in August 2003.DPE also led efforts to delay for two yearsefforts by the Bush administration todefund the H-1B technical skills trainingprogram that uses visa fees to retrain U.S.workers for jobs impacted by this guestworker visa program.

Overtime Pay RegulationsIn March 2003, the Bush Department ofLabor proposed regulations to cut overtimepay protections. Over the next year-and-a-half, the DPE played a leading role in work-ing with the AFL-CIO, affiliated unions andnumerous union allies to block the rules by highlighting the deleterious impact theproposed rules would impose on white-collar workers. A public outcry and repeatedlegislative victories by unions and theirmembers led the Labor Department to

Since February

2004, the DPE

has sponsored

five sessions

examining the

state of the

nation’s health

care system and

proposals for

change.


revise its proposals, but the final rule stilladversely affects millions of U.S. workers.

The DPE also focused on major legislativeand regulatory issues involving media andtelecommunications; labor law; pay, bene-fits, and job security; and taxes, trade andintellectual property.

A Voice for Workers in Our CommunitiesOutreach and Building CoalitionsDPE has initiated efforts to expand theunion movement’s coalition-building strategies.

Lunch and Learn ProgramsSince February 2004, the DPE has spon-sored five sessions examining the state of the nation’s health care system and proposals for change. Featuring outsideexperts, these programs have attracted morethan 400 participants from labor, govern-ment, academia, community, consumerand women’s organizations, public healthgroups, student organizations, think tanksand foreign embassies. These programs helpenhance the image of unions by bringingtogether many different organizations andtheir representatives with workers to focuson the single largest problem in the U.S.economy—runaway health care costs.

Women ProfessionalsWomen professional employees currentlymake up 47 percent of the labor force andmore than 56 percent of professional andrelated employees––a percentage that isexpected to increase. DPE has developed a range of materials and fact sheets on

salaried and professional women and hasbeen building bridges to the women’s community. DPE contributed to a book, 50 Ways to Improve Women’s Lives: TheEssential Guide for Achieving Health, Equalityand Success for All, published in March2005. DPE’s essay, “Support Labor Unions,”outlines the benefits of union membershipfor professional and other women.

Professional AssociationsDPE continues to assist in building relation-ships with nonunion professional associa-tions and their members—paving the wayfor organizing––by establishing a presenceat their major meetings and conferences.

Outreach to PreprofessionalsRecognizing the importance of young professionals to the future of the labormovement, DPE is continuing to expand its college-based outreach program. This initiative is intended to change the culture,paving the way for future organizing byinforming students of unions’ crucial rolein the United States and highlighting theways in which unions can improve the status of professions and help individualsachieve their career goals.

ResearchIn the past four years, the DPE has issuedsix reports, six detail-rich statistical com-pendiums, five analyses of the benefits of union membership for employees in var-ious professional societies and organizationsand 17 fact sheets that address public policyissues of critical concern to professionalemployees and provide comprehensive portraits of the white-collar work force.

E ARE PLEASED TO SUBMITto the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention

a report on the activities and initiatives ofthe Transportation Trades Department (TTD).Since the AFL-CIO 2001 Convention, trans-portation workers have faced unprecedentedchallenges and attacks within all sectors.While the specific issues confronting thedepartment’s 35 affiliated unions vary, common themes have emerged:

n Globalization is threatening transporta-tion workers as never before.

n Outsourcing of transportation jobs hasexploded in the past decade––a problemexacerbated by the growth of nonunioncompetitors.

n Basic workers’ rights, including collec-tive bargaining rights, continue to beeroded and attacked through hostilepolicy proposals and governmentactions.

n Transportation security challenges sinceSept. 11, 2001, have been neglected.

n The Bush administration and Congressare failing to invest adequately in transportation.

n Privatization of the nation’s transporta-tion system is a growing threat to workers and the public.

n Rollbacks in job security, health careand guaranteed pensions are becomingall too common in the transportationsector.

Despite these challenges, TTD and its member unions have fought back––andeven scored victories––in a tough politicalenvironment.

Taking a Strong StandTTD has made the case that a strong, safeand secure transportation network is a keycomponent of the nation’s economy, andtransportation workers are in the forefrontof that network and deserve support fromelected officials and corporate leaders.

A strong, safe

and secure

transportation

network is a key

component of the

nation’s economy,

and transportation

workers are in the

forefront of that

network.


Transportation Trades Department

W

TTD’s grassroots

and political

programs are

expanding, and

the department

has unified

transportation

unions behind a

common agenda.


The department has better used the powerof the Internet, expanding the TTD websiteand using an online activist network toensure policymakers hear directly fromrank-and-file transportation workers. Thedepartment has increased the size of itspolitical action committee, worked withaffiliates in support of grassroots efforts onpending legislation and ensured candidatesfor elected office took a stand on issuesdirectly relevant to transportation workers.In 2002 and 2004, TTD staff members werereleased to work with state and regionallabor bodies in support of working familyissues.

Since 2001, TTD has seen two of its out-standing officers step down from their positions after leading transportation workersthrough the dark years of Newt Gingrich in the 1990s and overseeing a successfulrestructuring of the department.

Sonny Hall, the retired president of theTransport Workers and Pat Friend, presidentof Flight Attendants-CWA, resigned as president and secretary-treasurer of TTD,respectively, in fall 2003. With the strongsupport of Hall and Friend, the TTDExecutive Committee elected EdwardWytkind as president and Michael Ingrao assecretary-treasurer. TTD’s 2005 Conventionre-elected Wytkind and Ingrao to five-yearterms and named Sonny Hall TTD presi-dent emeritus in recognition of his years of service to the department, TWU and the entire union movement.

Looking ahead, TTD is well positioned tofight and win on behalf of transportationworkers. Policymakers in Washington, D.C.,have come to respect and depend on thesubstantive input TTD and its affiliatedunions offer on transportation policydebates. TTD has built a bloc of supporterson both sides of the aisle who will votewith transportation workers in tough battles––and openly lead the charge. Such

support stems from TTD’s efforts over thepast decade to cultivate a bipartisan bloc ofsupporters who mobilize when transporta-tion workers face legislative attacks.

TTD’s grassroots and political programs areexpanding, and the department has unifiedtransportation unions behind a commonagenda. Whether testifying on Capitol Hill,mobilizing activists or responding to federalregulatory initiatives, TTD always hasfought for policies that enhance the livesand economic securities of transportationworkers. Despite the challenges ahead, TTDplans to continue that fight.

Effects of Sept. 11, 2001,Attacks Shape Agenda TTD’s most recent report, filed just weeksafter the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, predictedthe events of that awful day would be longfelt across the transportation industry anddrive the agenda in Washington, D.C., for years to come. That prediction––both in positive and negative terms––could nothave been more accurate, as transportationworkers have seen their jobs and profes-sions change forever.

Aviation Industry in CrisisThe aviation industry has borne the bruntof the economic impact of the Sept. 11attacks that grounded the airlines and leftthem in financial ruins. These problemshave been worsened by rising fuel pricesand the flawed policy decisions of the Bushadministration. In the days after Sept. 11,TTD worked to save the airline industry by advocating for federal assistance. WhilePresident George W. Bush signed the aidpackage into law, his administration insistedon deep wage concessions and imposedother conditions that were neither realisticnor envisioned by Congress. The result isless than 15 percent of congressionalauthorized loan guarantees were distributedto airline carriers. Four years later, the


airline industry still is in peril, workers’ pensions have been eliminated, 150,000jobs have been cut and wages reduced.

In the face of such economic dislocation,TTD and its affiliates insisted airline work-ers––not only airline corporations––receivefinancial relief. After winning a key vote in the U.S. House of Representatives by 265 to 150 (with 67 Republicans voting to provide financial relief to transportationworkers) and securing an amendment inthe Senate, Congress approved 26 weeks of extended jobless benefits for workers atairlines, aerospace manufacturers (includingBoeing) and airports in the fiscal year 2003budget. The TTD and its affiliates achievedthis victory despite strong opposition byRepublican leaders on Capitol Hill and theWhite House, which referred to such aid as “excessive.”

Fighting for ImprovedTransportation SecurityAfter Sept. 11, 2001, transportation unionsimmediately led the fight for greater trans-portation security, and TTD has achievedimprovements in the airline industry.Airports are better protected, airplanes’cockpits more secure, the federal air marshal program expanded and resourcesinvested to close security vulnerabilities.

Loopholes still remain, and TTD hasdemanded the government’s rhetoric onsecurity match reality. Flight attendantsecurity training has been mandated byCongress but delayed by the Bush adminis-tration, and funding for key programs hasbeen cut back or held up at critical times.The department also has fought cargo carriers’ attempts to exempt themselvesfrom security requirements. Further, theBush administration used the securitydebate to deny—under a phony veil of “national security”—collective bargain-ing rights to 50,000 federalized airportscreeners.

In April 2003, TTD and the AFL-CIO jointlypetitioned the Bush administration to closefacilities abroad that maintain U.S. aircraftuntil security audits could be completed. In yet another flawed policy decision, theadministration summarily rejected the call.TTD and the AFL-CIO then turned toCongress––and achieved the most signifi-cant legislative victory on this issue sincethe 1988 regulations made it easier for foreign stations to work on U.S. aircraft:Passage of a bill authorizing security auditsfollowed a 52 to 42 vote in the Senate and leadership from Rep. James Oberstar(D-Minn.) in the House. But the Bushadministration once again has slow-walkedimplementation of the security auditsrequired by Congress, and TTD is returningto Congress to force government action.

Working for Fairness in Maritime and Rail SecurityWhile aviation has been in the spotlightand has received more than 90 percent ofthe billions of federal dollars allocated bythe government, other modes of transporta-tion have been shortchanged. Congresspassed the Maritime Transportation SecurityAct (MTSA) in 2002, making improvementsto port and maritime operations, but toomany of the requirements mandated by thenew law are not being adequately enforced.For example, worker training and evacua-tion procedures are lacking and cargo containers flowing through the nation’sports are not being checked adequately.

On the rail and transit side, TTD has wonsupport in Congress for many priorities, but a hostile administration and a reluctantRepublican leadership have stymied comprehensive bills. The TTD is seeking:

n Mandatory security training;n Whistle-blower protection for workers;n Financial grants for over-the-road opera-

tors so companies and workers no longerwill have to fend for themselves; and

n Federal oversight for the unique security needs of hazardous materialtransportation.

In response to the host of extensive back-ground checks imposed on transportationworkers in the aftermath of Sept. 11 andreports of worker discrimination and unfairdismissals, TTD took a leadership role todevelop and implement a unified laborposition. TTD argued background checksmust provide workers with basic dueprocess rights, focus on rooting out truesecurity risks, protect workers’ privacy andnot be used to unfairly prevent someonefrom working in his or her chosen profes-sion. During consideration of the maritime security bill, TTD won many of these protections. The department then used thisexperience to fight for fairness for hazmattruck drivers and aviation workers and toimprove maritime security checks. There is little question these checks will spread toworkers in other areas of the transportationindustry, and TTD will continue to lead the fight for fairness as the debate movesforward.

Improving Transportation SafetyAs the rail industry has stood in the way of advances in security, it also has also managed to stonewall meaningful safetylegislation. Worker fatigue is a growingproblem, track maintenance and staffinghave not been maintained, remote controltechnologies are misused and the “dark territory” problem—racks without signalsystems—must be addressed. Too often, the Bush-controlled Federal RailroadAdministration simply has been too cozywith the industry it is supposed to regulate.

TTD has worked with the Teamsters and the Amalgamated Transit Union to ensurehours of service regulations enhance safetyand do not undermine jobs. This effort willcontinue to be an issue in the regulatory

setting and in the pending TEA-21 reauthorization bill. TTD also is workingwith affiliates to make sure commercial vanoperators and so-called curbside operatorsdo not cut corners on safety and school bus safety is taken seriously.

TTD, together with IBT, scored a major victory for safety by defeating a Wal-Mart–sponsored initiative that would haveallowed the company to force longer hoursfor its drivers. Under mounting public criticism, the company and its special-interest legislation were defeated.

For more than a decade, lawmakers, facingfierce industry opposition, have beenunable to reauthorize the HazardousMaterials Transportation Act. With an estimated 1 million hazmat shipmentsmoving by truck, rail, pipeline, air andwater each day, protecting the public andworkers involved in the shipment of thesedangerous goods has never been moreimportant. Yet the industry has stonewalledmeaningful reforms, sought to weaken therole of the Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration (OSHA) in protecting workers and blocked worker trainingrequirements. In addition, the departmentis working to expand training grants forfirefighters and transportation workers anddefeat special-interest exemptions. TTD alsohas been working with flight attendantunions to ensure flight attendants receivethe same OSHA protections afforded toother workers.

Addressing Globalization and OutsourcingIt is impossible to talk about transportationsafety and security without recognizing thethreats globalization and outsourcing pose,not only to the jobs of transportation workers, but to the safety and security standards critical to the country.

TTD has worked

with the

Teamsters and

the Amalgamated

Transit Union to

ensure hours of

service regulations

enhance safety

and do not

undermine jobs.


The department

has actively

defended airline

foreign ownership

and cabotage

restrictions.


Nowhere is this more evident than in thefight over allowing Mexican-domiciledtrucks and buses entry into the UnitedStates as called for under the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement (NAFTA). For morethan a decade, transportation labor has successfully made the case that Mexican-domiciled operators do not meet U.S. safetyand security standards. Despite efforts ofthe White House to allow such unsafe vehicles into this nation, a bipartisanCongress has rejected the president’s viewsand embraced the efforts of TTD and affili-ated unions. Inspection and enforcementcapabilities are not ready for the influx oftraffic generated by full implementation of NAFTA. While the border has yet to befully open, industry and foreign interestsare pushing hard, and TTD and its affiliateswill continue to push back.

The Union Pacific railroad also has attemptedto outsource train inspections to Mexico.TTD defeated this dangerous proposal, butit is only a matter of time before major railcompanies try to take advantage of globaloperations at the expense of safety and U.S.jobs. TTD stands ready to fight these efforts.

The department has actively defended airline foreign ownership and cabotagerestrictions. TTD has defeated attempts by“liberalization” advocates such as RichardBranson to subject airlines and airline workers to the type of unfair competitionthat has devastated American aerospace,steel, auto and textile workers. These andother workers’ issues are on the table as the United States negotiates a new aviationagreement with the European Union.Through official submissions to the U.S.State Department and the Department ofTransportation and advocacy on CapitolHill, TTD and its aviation affiliates havesecured congressional support in oppositionto sweeping reforms of laws designed toprotect national interest.

In the aftermath of the lockout ofInternational Longshore and WarehouseUnion members at West Coast ports, TTD defeated attempts by Wal-Mart and its major shipper lobby to allow the use offoreign-flag vessels in defiance of Jones Actrequirements. This was an obvious attemptby the industry to interfere in an ongoinglabor dispute and do an end-run around theimportant maritime protections included inthe Jones Act.

Defending Workers’ RightsIn a post-Sept. 11 climate marked by severeeconomic and security challenges, somepolitical and business leaders have shame-fully sought to exploit these difficult timesby waging war against workers and theirunions.

Under the Bush presidency, the NationalMediation Board (NMB), the federal agencythat oversees collective bargaining andorganizing in the air and rail industries, has carried out the same politically charged,anti-worker agenda that has marred theNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Infact, the NMB has allowed collective bar-gaining to drag on far past the point of constructive negotiations, forcing workersto wait years for new contracts. It hasendorsed a rail industry effort to tax workers’rights by creating steep filing fees for griev-ances with the intent of reducing the num-ber of workers who protest unfair corporatebehavior. TTD has mobilized against thisproposal, enlisting the support of lawmakersand transportation activists.

Since 2001, TTD has stopped the airlineindustry’s campaign to replace collectivebargaining with winner-take-all, “baseball-style” arbitration. In addition to intensivelobbying on Capitol Hill, TTD, workingwith the AFL-CIO, successfully urgedDemocratic lobbyists––hired by the indus-try to peddle this misguided scheme––to

TTD also has been

busy ensuring

basic worker

protections

remain in place

and are applied

to all federal

infrastructure

programs.


oppose it. When it became clear keyRepublicans weren’t backing this effort, theairlines publicly withdrew their campaign.But it’s possible the industry may resurrectthis effort to weaken workers’ bargainingrights.

TTD also has been busy ensuring basicworker protections, including Section 13(c)bargaining rights and Davis-Bacon, remainin place and are applied to all federal infra-structure programs. In the pending TEA-21reauthorization bill, the Senate bill includesa provision that weakens Section 13(c) protections. In response, TTD has secured24 House Republicans on record against thechange, helped affected unions mobilize agrassroots effort against the provision andraised the profile of this issue with seniormembers of the House and Senate. TTD willdo what’s necessary to ensure these workers’protections are not eroded.

During consideration of the FederalAviation Administration (FAA) reauthoriza-tion bill in 2003, TTD worked closely withthe National Air Traffic ControllersAssociation and the Professional AirwaysSystems Specialists to fight privatizationschemes that would have allowed the FAAto contract out air traffic control services.TTD secured a partial prohibition and sig-nificantly raised the profile of this issue,making the case that putting profits aheadof safety is not acceptable. TTD also hasjoined with FAA unions to fight attemptsby the FAA to unilaterally impose contractterms without fully negotiating with itsunions. This end-run around the collectivebargaining process demonstrates the anti-worker, anti-union bias at the FAA—one that has not served the long-term interests of the agency or the nation’s airtransportation system.

TTD worked with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and the ILWU

when management locked out ILWU members and the Bush administrationissued a Taft-Hartley injunction. The TTDpublicly condemned the White Houseactions, enlisted congressional oppositionand joined the AFL-CIO in pushing for agroundbreaking agreement that protectedthe long-term interests of ILWU membersunder assault from major shippers such asWal-Mart.

Investing in Transportation JobsTTD has long led the fight on Capitol Hilland within the Bush administration forgreater federal investment in the U.S. trans-portation system and infrastructure. TTDhas argued successfully that such invest-ments create and support millions of jobsand ensure the nation’s transportation system can serve as an economic engine forother industries dependent on the efficientmovement of goods and people.

As Congress debates the pending TEA-21reauthorization bill, TTD so far has beensuccessful in ensuring the funding guaran-tees and so-called budget firewalls adoptedin the original 1998 TEA-21 bill are pre-served. While the funding levels currentlyunder discussion fall short, the bill wouldstill represent a major increase in spendingover the objections of a White House thatfor two years has used veto threats to blockrobust highway and transit investment.TTD also has secured major elements of thedepartment’s safety and security agenda. As this legislation is concluded, TTD willoppose any effort to weaken protections for workers, impose privatization mandatesor create special-interest exemptions fromsafety rules.

In the four years since President Bush tookoffice, TTD and its rail unions have keptAmtrak funded despite White House

The Transportation

Trades Department

will continue to

be a bold voice for

transportation

workers.


opposition. The department also hasblocked senseless privatization initiativespushed by the administration, which seeksto eliminate all funding for Amtrak, force a bankruptcy and break up the carrier.Amtrak’s own board has turned on its passengers and employees by pushing aplan that would weaken Amtrak workers’collective bargaining rights and underminethe railroad retirement system. TTD hasmobilized against these proposals andgained support on the Hill, on both sides ofthe aisle, for a plan that would make realand lasting investments in Amtrak and thenation’s entire rail system.

And at a time when more Americans areflying than ever before, the administrationhas attempted to scale back programs tomodernize the nation’s airports and air traf-fic control system. Its FAA administrator hasmismanaged air traffic control moderniza-tion and virtually declared war on FAAworkers and their unions by pressing forcontracting-out schemes and engaging inheavy-handed collective bargaining strate-gies. As a result, the agency has a staffingcrisis and labor–management relations have eroded at a crucial time for U.S. air

transportation. TTD has enlisted all transportation unions to stand with theFAA unions in the face of this blatantattempt by the FAA to break the spirit ofthe employees and weaken the power ofthe unions.

ConclusionWhile TTD has achieved significant successdespite strong opposition, the multifacetedchallenges of the post-Sept. 11 era remainas daunting as ever. Going forward, theTransportation Trades Department will continue to be a bold voice for transporta-tion workers, restoring the power of transportation workers on the job, identify-ing opportunities to increase the size andinfluence of the transportation sector of the labor movement and ensuring a strongand well-funded transportation system.Carrying on its mandate to represent theinterests of transportation workers, TTD willwork to strengthen transportation safetyand security and demand transportationworkers’ rights on the job are protected—and that these men and women are treatedwith the dignity and respect they deserve.

HE UNION LABEL & SERVICETRADES DEPARTMENT (UL&STD)

is the only branch of the union movementcharged with marketing union-made goodsand services to union members and thegeneral public. In addition, the departmentis responsible for publicizing AFL-CIO–endorsed boycotts and explaining the goalsand benefits of trade unionism.

By increasing consumers’ awareness of theirpurchasing power, billions of consumer dollars can be steered toward or away fromspecific employers, augmenting unionorganizing, bargaining and other efforts to promote more just and responsible corporate behavior. Active marketing canopen a whole new front in the struggle forgood jobs and workers’ rights.

The UL&STD marketing mandate also cre-ates unique challenges because of the needto maintain up-to-date information onunion-made products and services. Modern companies often offer a mix of identical

or near-identical products and services,some union made, some not. They shiftproduction between union and nonunionfacilities, move overseas, go out of businessor open new lines of business.

Keeping data accurate and up to date in the midst of these changes is the main challenge facing the UL&STD. Accurate information is essential to effective market-ing outreach and in assisting consumers in identifying and purchasing union-madegoods and services.

A further goal of the UL&STD’s marketingcampaign is reaching consumers effectivelywith the “Union Label message.” In addi-tion to holding numerous press interviewsand presentations at union conferences,conventions and other gatherings, UL&STDpublishes the Label Letter newsletter. Mailedsix times a year to some 30,000 union leaders, members, supporters, reporters andallied organizations, the award-winningpublication features original news articles,

By increasing

consumers’

awareness of their

purchasing power,

billions of

consumer dollars

can promote

more just and

responsible

corporate behavior.


Union Label and Service TradesDepartment

T

The Union-

Industries Show

generates positive

media and

opens the way

for important

organizing

opportunities for

unions while

fulfilling the

mission of the

department.


the boycott list and a “Do Buy” page ofunion-made products and services.

Central to UL&STD communications out-reach are the AFL-CIO Union-IndustriesShow and the revamped Union Label website, www.UnionLabel.org.

The AFL-CIO Union-Industries ShowThe AFL-CIO Union-Industries Show is thenation’s only trade and skills exposition fea-turing exclusively union-made goods andservices. UL&STD has held the show everyyear since 1938, except for a brief periodduring World War II.

Since 2001, the Union-Industries Show hasopened in such working family cities asMinneapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and mostrecently, Portland, Ore. Open to the public,the show draws between 150,000 and250,000 visitors each year, giving them a firsthand look at the wide variety ofunion members’ skills and crafts and themany vital services our unions provide and support.

Each year during the Union-IndustriesShow, one or two companies receive theprestigious Labor–Management Award inrecognition of their outstanding commit-ment to collective bargaining and genuineworkplace cooperation. Since 2001, theaward has been issued to Amtrak West(nominated by the Brotherhood of RailwaySignalmen), Fenton Art Glass Co. (USW),Cutco Cutlery (USW), George Lucas (IATSE),Greyhound Lines Inc. (ATU), CingularWireless (CWA), Rockwell Collins (IBEW),South Side Roofing Co. Inc. (United Unionof Roofers and Waterproofers), GeneralMotors Powertrain, Flint Engine South(UAW) and Georgia-Pacific Corp. (PACE).

The Union-Industries Show generates positive media and opens the way forimportant organizing opportunities forunions while fulfilling the mission of thedepartment. The Union-Industries Show:

n Introduces the public directly to union-made goods and services and to unionrepresentatives. People can touch theproducts and sample the services,which augments their knowledge ofand interest in products they haveheard or read about in the media. Theycan meet union members face-to-face in a positive setting instead of learningabout unions through media reportsthat too often focus on conflict andstrife.

n Allows union companies to meet andnetwork. Unionized producers, suppliersand distributors join forces at theUnion-Industries Show and forge business relationships that can createmore union jobs.

n Energizes the regional labor movement.Unions throughout the region becomeinvolved in organizing this celebrationof the quality products and servicesunion workers proudly produce, whilethousands of union members attendthe show and find renewed pride in theunion movement.

n Generates positive publicity for unionsand their members. For four days, thepress focuses on unions’ contributionsto the community. The Union-IndustriesShow is filled with compelling storiesand irresistible photo opportunities,from union-trained guide dogs for the blind to the latest model Harley-Davidson motorcycle and exquisitehand-etched crystal.

In May 2005, the

UL&STD launched

www.ShopUnion

Made.org, an

eye-catching,

high-speed

website that

enables consumers

to purchase goods

and services

online.


Marketing the Union Label on the WebWith Internet retail sales currently valued at $56 billion a year––and doubling every36 months––the potential for selling union-made goods and services is tremendous.Union-made products are available in manyof the hottest-selling categories, such ascomputers, clothing, auto parts, lawn andgarden supplies, furniture, appliances andsporting goods. Recent research also showsfully one-third of the buying public willspend up to 40 percent more to buy goodsthey think are produced under fair anddecent working conditions.

The UL&STD is deeply engaged in develop-ing new programs to carry the Union Labelmessage far beyond the range of the LabelLetter, the Union-Industries Show and tradi-tional websites. Creative use of the Internetremoves two of the biggest barriers blockingshoppers from finding and buying union-made goods and services:

n The inability of many union companiesto sell through the large retail chainstores. Large retailers demand such low prices it often is impossible for theproducers to pay union-scale wages andbenefits.

n The high cost of advertising. Small- andmedium-sized unionized companiesoften cannot afford to advertisethrough print, radio or TV.

Marketing on the Internet bypasses thelarge retail stores and high-priced ad com-panies, allowing the UL&STD to reach mil-lions of consumers directly and inexpen-sively, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The UL&STD committed to launching ayear-round marketing presence on theInternet and began rebuilding and com-pletely revamping the Union Label database

and website after the tremendous consumerresponse to the department’s all-unionInternet shopping site launched in fall2004. Coinciding with the AFL-CIO-endorsed “Buy Union Week” promotion––a national effort to stimulate sales of union-made goods and services during the 10 daysafter Thanksgiving, the busiest shoppingdays of the year––the site demonstrated thepotential for robust, Web-based marketing.

In May 2005, the UL&STD launchedwww.ShopUnionMade.org, an eye-catching,high-speed website that enables consumersto purchase goods and services online andallows union companies to advertise.Backed by a large and growing database, the all-union Internet shopping site offersconsumers the option of searching for prod-ucts by category––such as automotive,clothing and house and home––or search-ing by keyword. Product information also is available for goods that can be accessedonline or offline, providing consumers withthe widest range of purchasing options.

With ShopUnionMade.org now in place,the UL&STD plans to expand its Web-basedoutreach, building on Buy Union Weekmomentum and promoting special salesevents such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’sDay, Father’s Day, back to school and Labor Day.

Building Support for Organizing and Education Building broad support for good union jobs is the goal of all UL&STD efforts, and the ShopUnionMade website is but onecomponent of the UL&STD presence on theInternet. The department’s redesignedUnion Label home page, www.UnionLabel.org, is focused on educating and organizingthe public in support of unions and pro-worker economic and social policies.


The new website actively promotes numer-ous union programs, including Wake UpWal-Mart, Good Jobs First, the ApolloAlliance, Sweat-free Communities andUnited Students Against Sweatshops.

The new site features breaking news from Workers Independent News (WIN),Press Associates Inc. and other sources;background information on vital issues; theAFL-CIO Boycott List and updates; andlinks to the Economic Policy Institute,Citizens for Tax Justice and other respectedpro-worker organizations.

In addition to communicating with unionmembers, the UL&STD is focused on reach-ing and influencing the tens of millions of people who are increasingly alarmed bythe erosion of jobs and living standards and who are searching for ways to fightback. Polling shows millions of workerswithout union representation would join aunion today if they could, and UL&STD’sgoal is to reach those workers. In addition,the website has the potential to reach mil-lions of others who are indifferent or evenhostile to unions and who may considerthemselves conservative or apolitical butwhose world views are in increasing conflictwith the reality around them. The depart-ment seeks to provide a coherent alterna-tive to the anti-worker ideologies of reac-tionary political extremists by offering amore humane, reality-based explanation ofworld events and multiple opportunities toengage in practical programs for change atthe local, state and national levels.

Looking to the FutureThe www.ShopUnionMade.org websiteshould begin producing advertising revenuesufficient to operate and expand the web-site and finance significant new initiativesto promote union-made goods and servicesand to educate and organize people around

the fight for good jobs. In the near future,the UL&STD will:

n Add thousands of new union-madegoods and services to the database byworking with affiliated unions andthrough the department’s partnershipwith the University of MassachusettsLabor Center in Amherst;

n Consider programming the site so consumers can order goods and servicesfrom multiple companies, place theorders in a single online shopping cartand execute one convenient sale;

n Protect the integrity of the Union Label.Too many companies today blur theline between union- and nonunion-made goods and services or engage in outright fraud. The UL&STD will protect union jobs and honest unioncompanies by promoting proper use of the Union Label;

n Strengthen Union Label Councils andcreate new councils;

n Begin publishing material in Spanishand examine the need to publish inother languages as well;

n Strengthen its working relationshipswith allied groups and organizationspromoting workers’ and union rights;and

n Increase the department’s focus on promoting union services. With morepeople every year holding service-sectorjobs, better information on unionizedservice providers is necessary to findcreative ways to promote union services.This requires involving more service-sector unions in the work of the UnionLabel Department through affiliationsand active collaboration.

Not since the Great Depression have somany wage earners in North America experienced such profound economic dislocations––and the global forces drivingthe turmoil and unrest are bound to

The UL&STD is

committed to

helping the public

understand its

vast untapped

power to alter

the face of the

economy.


accelerate for years to come. Millions of people today are looking for answers;millions of people are looking for some-thing they can do, right now, to make things better.

This was made clear to us in 1999 and early2000 by the overwhelming public supportfor the UL&STD-led campaign to outlaw useof the Made in the USA label on garmentsmade in the U.S. protectorate of Saipan.Public pressure was so intense that in aworker-unfriendly, GOP-dominated Congress,237 House members and 51 senators agreedto sponsor the UL&STD-backed legislation.Only the refusal of Speaker Dennis Hastertto permit a floor vote prevented the billfrom passing in the House.

The UL&STD is committed to helping thepublic understand its vast untapped powerto alter the face of the economy. Sixty-eightpercent of the U.S. gross domestic product—$6.8 trillion of the $10 trillion of wealthcreated annually in this country—derivesfrom personal consumer spending oneveryday products such as toothpaste, diapers and dish soap.

Such consumer power offers the unionmovement a key opportunity to build on the Union Label, educate and mobilizeconcerned consumers and generate a powerful mass movement for good unionjobs.

Documents

TWENTY-FIFTH CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 2005 - AFL … EC Report - Less Fin and Mem.pdfIn March 2005, the AFL-CIO Executive Committee took an initial step toward achieving these twin