Teamsters, SEIU quit AFL-CIOTwo major unions become first of disenchanted groups to abandon labor federation.
July 25, 2005
CHICAGO (CNN) - The Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union voted Monday to withdraw from the AFL-CIO.
The announcement came on the first day of the 50-year-old labor federation's annual meeting.
James Hoffa of the Teamsters and Andy Stern of SEIU told reporters they each notified AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Monday morning in a letter after their executive boards unanimously agreed to disaffiliate.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/25/news/economy/boycott/?cnn=yesLaboring to Stay Together
The odds on the AFL-CIO's dissolution
by Harold Meyerson
June 26, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC - At the topmost ranks of American labor, the great game of chicken proceeds apace. Dissident unions threaten the AFL-CIO with dissolution in the immediate aftermath of the Federation's late July convention. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney clearly commands the votes to win re-election, but in a Monday press conference here, took pains to assure his critics that he still wants to meet with them. He is also open to increasing the funding for organizing - one of the dissidents' chief demands.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=8166