[/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=]

THE AFL-CIO CAN BE REFORMED  
[[link removed]]


 

Steve Early
February 14, 2024
Submitted to xxxxxx
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Locally and from the Bottom-Up! _

, PM Press

 

Changing the leadership, structure, or functioning of any U.S. labor
organization is no easy task. Activists and experts have long argued
about whether dysfunctional unions are best reformed from the
top-down, bottom up, or some mix of the two approaches.

For the past 65 years, the main locus of union democracy and reform
struggles in the U.S. has been local unions, which hold leadership
elections every three years and are closest to the membership.
Thousands of rank-and-file workers have campaigned for more militant
unionism by running for and winning local office.

Some have had the backing of national networks of like-minded
dissidents, including Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) and Unite
All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), a TDU-inspired reform caucus within
the United Auto Workers. And, in recent years, TDU and UAWD supporters
even ousted national headquarters officials in Washington and Detroit,
with the result being more effective contract campaigning and/or
strike activity at major employers in the trucking and auto
industries.

Very few modern-day reformers have mounted similar challenges to the
status quo in city or state labor federations chartered by the
national AFL-CIO. Representing workers from different AFL-CIO
affiliates, these central labor councils (CLCs) may be just as
bureaucratic or dysfunctional as the individual unions that belong to
them. But, structurally, most are too far removed from workplace
struggles to generate many electoral challenges to incumbent AFL-CIO
officials, at the local, regional, or state level.

As a result, there have been few contested elections, like in the
Teamsters and UAW, with opposing slates offering alternative programs
for union revival. In AFL-CIO leadership votes, officers and executive
board members are chosen by convention or council delegates, the same
method used by most national unions.
[[link removed]]
The rank-and-file has little or no say about who runs AFL-CIO bodies.

A RARE LABOR INSURGENCY

One notable exception is the Vermont Labor Council, which represents
20,000 public and private sector workers. In the Green Mountain State,
due its small scale, most state AFL-CIO convention delegates are
working members or retirees, not full-time officials. Since 2019, they
have cast ballots in several hotly contested elections which resulted
in a mandate for change.

Most recently, last September, they elected an all-female leadership
team to three top officer positions and made Katie Maurice
[[link removed]]
the youngest state AFL-CIO president in the country and the only one
who belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Maurice took over last fall from David Van Deusen, a fellow member of
the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME). In a new book from PM Press called Insurgent Labor
[[link removed]], Van Deusen
describes how a group of local union officers and staff members
created a reform faction called “Vermont AFL-CIO United!” five
years ago. These rank-and-file activists were frustrated by their
labor council’s lack of militancy and creativity, plus its inability
to aid new organizing, contract campaigns, or strikes.

Fourteen United candidates got elected in 2019—taking all the top
officer jobs, forming a majority on the executive board, and winning a
national AF-CIO-ordered re-run of the original election. Their goal
was to revitalize a moribund organization through membership
education, mobilization, and direct action. They favored greater
internal democracy and transparency, independent political action and
more labor support for social and environmental justice.

But, inside and outside Vermont, that progressive agenda proved to be
surprisingly controversial. Rather than welcoming and applauding the
election results, the national AFL-CIO —then headed by the late
Richard Trumka—threatened to remove the reformers from office and
put their council under the control of appointed staff members from
Washington.

As Van Deusen recounts in his book, this trusteeship
[[link removed]]
was averted and union activists in Vermont have continued to make
their state labor council a model for the rest of the nation. Last
Fall, a second United! slate again won a majority of the seats on the
labor council executive board. Van Deusen’s successor, 31-year old
Katie Maurice hailed the results as an “affirmation of our desire to
continue to focus on rank-and-file organizing within the state of
Vermont over political lobbying.”

New organizing, plus a major affiliation with the long independent
Vermont State Employees Association, has nearly doubled the state
fed’s dues-paying membership since 2019 (although the VSEA did not
support the United! candidates last fall and instead backed the
building trades slate that lost).

A RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

What else have Vermonters accomplished in the last four years-- in
addition to fending off a hostile take-over from Inside-the-Beltway?
As Van Deusen reports in _Insurgent Labor_, state labor council
meetings were opened up to all union members, not just elected
delegates, and began to attract their largest turnouts ever.

The reformers worked with building trades unions to pass so-called
“responsible contractor ordinances” that require prevailing wages
on major public construction projects in multiple Vermont cities and
towns.

Vermont became the first state labor federation in the region involved
in the “Renew New England Alliance.” This six-state “Green New
Deal” coalition is campaigning for the creation of thousands of good
union jobs—for workers building affordable housing, installing
rooftop solar panels, cleaning up pollution, and slashing the carbon
emissions responsible for climate change.

The new leadership’s savvy use of social media, radio shows, and
local TV appearances enabled organized labor to reach a bigger
non-labor audience—and build stronger relationships with community
allies. Within the broader Vermont labor movement, Van Deusen aided
rank-and-filers in non-AFL-CIO unions during their fight against a
public employee pension cut favored by Republican governor Phil Scott
and leaders of the Democrat-controlled state legislature. Labor
council organizers used Vermont’s annual May Day rally in Montpelier
to build support for the state’s immigrant workers, who are mainly
Latinos employed on dairy farms.

The new and improved state AFL-CIO has given Vermont Democrats a
much-needed dope slap by endorsing more third-party candidates for
state and local office. As Maurice explains, “since 2019, we have
strengthened our ties with the Vermont Progressive Party
[[link removed]],
which has not only focused on workers’ rights but also championed
broader social justice causes, in a political landscape often
dominated by powerful corporate interests. “

According to Maurice, “The VPP’s role as a party for the working
class is not just about rhetoric; it's about tangible actions. It's
about supporting legislation like the VT PRO Act that would protect
the right to organize, about standing up against union-busting
tactics, and ensuring that union members have a seat at the
policy-making table in Montpelier.”

MISCONDUCT OR MODEL BEHAVIOR?

Before his death in August, 2021, Rich Trumka had an opportunity to
support an exemplary CLC initiative, calling attention to the still
looming threat of fascism in the U.S. In anticipation of
then-President Trump’s likely rejection of the 2020 election
results, Vermont labor council delegates issued a bold call for “a
general strike of all working people in our state” if there was a
right-wing coup aimed at keeping Trump in office.

AFL-CIO headquarters tried to block any discussion of such a
contingency plan in response to a possible constitutional crisis (of
the sort which did occur, shortly thereafter, on January 6, 2021).
After Vermont labor leaders debated the subject anyway, Trumka ordered
an official probe of their alleged non-compliance with national
AFL-CIO rules applying to local affiliates.

In response, then state fed president Van Deusen urged AFL-CIO
headquarters to investigate “how the example we are setting in the
Green Mountain State could serve as a model for what a more engaged,
more member-driven, more democratic, more anti-racist, more
pro-immigrant and more organizing centered labor movement…could
actually look like in other parts of the country.”

As readers of _Insurgent Labor_ will discover, this tug-of-war had a
happy ending, temporarily. Vermont labor reformers got a “final
warning” from Trumka shortly before his death, but none were removed
and replaced by appointees from Washington, D.C. Under Trumka’s
successor, Liz Shuler, an organizing subsidy was resumed and relations
with the national AFL-CIO took a welcome turn for the better--until
late January.

In a Jan. 22 letter, President Shuler informed the council’s new
officers and e-board that she was investigating last Fall’s
“election process” based on a “protest appeal” filed by an
affiliated union. She also directed them to “refrain from any
discussion of the investigation…with the general public or entities
and individuals not affiliated with the Labor Council.”

This attempted gag order is directed at United! supporters who have,
in past internal disputes, tried to enlist allies on the AFL-CIO
national executive board or keep labor media outlets
[[link removed]]
informed about interference from Washington. Their impressive record
of internal democracy and worker engagement should be a source of
inspiration for trade unionists elsewhere, not further headquarters
harassment and meddling.

Yet this new controversy does help amplify _Insurgent Labor’s_
bottom line message: the ability to make real change rests in the
hands of grassroots activists. To meet the challenges facing Vermont
workers, Van Deusen and his reform caucus built on the best of
organized labor, at the local and state level. They didn’t wait for
top-down solutions or instructions from the national AFL-CIO, which
has, consistently, been no friend of bottom up change in Vermont.

(STEVE EARLY WAS AN INTERNATIONAL UNION REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE
COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA FOR THREE DECADES IN NEW ENGLAND AND
WORKED CLOSELY WITH CWA MEMBERS IN VERMONT. HE IS A LONGTIME SUPPORTER
OF THE VERMONT PROGRESSIVE PARTY AND CAN BE REACHED AT
[email protected]. THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN CAPITOL HILL
CITIZEN. FOR ORDERING INFO, SEE:
[link removed]
[[link removed]])

* Union Democracy
[[link removed]]
* Vermont
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[/contact/submit_to_xxxxxx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=]
Submit via email
Frequently asked questions [/faq?utm_medium=email&utm_source=]
Manage subscription [/subscribe?utm_medium=email&utm_source=]
Visit xxxxxx.org [/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]