NYT: Labor Leaders Reject Rival Plan to Shift More Money to Organizing

Labor Leaders Reject Rival Plan to Shift More Money to Organizing
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Published: March 3, 2005


LAS VEGAS, March 2 - In a vote likely to create deeper tensions inside the labor movement, the leaders of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. rejected a proposal on Wednesday to cut in half individual unions' contributions to the federation to free up more money for organizing.

The 15-to-7 vote against the proposal put forward by five large unions came during the federation's winter meeting here, which was taking place under a threat by the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s largest union, the Service Employees International Union, to leave the organization.

The unions backing the proposal vowed to continue fighting, saying they hoped to secure a majority before the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s quadrennial convention in July. Several also left open the possibility of a leadership challenge to John J. Sweeney, the federation's president, who has tried unsuccessfully to stem the erosion in organized labor's ranks.

On Tuesday, Mr. Sweeney proposed a cut of 17 percent, or $15 million, in individual unions' contributions, money that the unions would then use for organizing and match on a basis of four to one.

But the five unions argued that a 50 percent cut in contributions was important to get unions to invest more in organizing, to shake up the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s bureaucracy and to demonstrate a commitment to far-reaching change....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/03/national/03labor.html

and either he or SEIU or both will look real silly if SEIU drops out of the AFL-CIO. Looks like the snakes in the pit are turning on each other. (No, that's not an anti-union statement. It's just acknowledging how SEIU, AFSCME, UMW, and even some of the building trades are.)