Teamsters Offer Plan to Reshape Labor Future

[papau]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/09/national/09labor.html?oref=login


December 9, 2004
Teamsters Offer Plan to Reshape Labor Future
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

The Teamsters union heated up the debate over reshaping the labor movement yesterday by proposing to slash the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s budget and finance a four-year campaign of political and union organizing in swing states to help elect a pro-labor president.

Worried about the steady decline of organized labor, the Teamsters, one of the nation's largest unions, recommended withholding half of the $90 million that individual unions give the labor federation each year and using it to recruit more members. The Teamsters proposal, echoing a 10-point plan issued last month by the Service Employees International Union, would reduce the federation's role and responsibilities as many labor leaders conclude that unions urgently need to focus on recruiting more members.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 1.4 million workers, issued its proposal as some union leaders are voicing fears of a schism.

The service employees union, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s largest affiliate, with almost 1.7 million members, has threatened to quit the federation unless its 60 member unions agree to sweeping reforms, among them requiring most groups to spend 20 percent of their budgets on organizing. At the same time, the leaders of many smaller unions strongly oppose the service employees' proposal to force some of them to merge. <snip>

[DireStrike]

1. I think it mirrors what the Dems need to do

Infuse with new blood from the grassroots level. Unions need to be more about laborers and less about unions.

Of course, laborers need to be brought into the process of actively politically campaigning for their interests.

[papau]

2. Union media - read union owned radio outlet - was ignored -a mistake IMHO

:-(

Heck a major paper in a minor city would be a step up. Instead they cited publications that memebers read, but MSM ignores, as evidence of a sucessful media push ongoing!

[DireStrike]

3. It's SORT OF successful...

Compared to what I've seen from other unions... like SEIU, which just tries to forcefeed it's views onto members through their mailings without ever making the case.

More needs to be done of course and everybody on the left is way behind on the media war front.

[Moderator]

4. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1056525