Posted on 12/06/2005 11:47:45 AM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The AFL-CIO is organizing rallies around the country and overseas this week to try to energize a labor movement that has been losing membership for years.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said Monday that American workers have lost their right to organize — pointing to lost manufacturing jobs, companies' increased hostility to unions and government policies that don't weaken unions' strength.
"The ability to form unions is the key to this nation's middle class," Sweeney said. "Yet, the right to come together in a union is a fundamental freedom that has been eroded beyond recognition."
More than one- third of American workers, about 35 percent, were union members in the mid-1950s, and that number is now 13 percent. Only 8 percent of those in private industry now are union members.
The AFL-CIO, an umbrella group that includes more than 50 unions, and dozens of allied organizations are putting together a mobilizing campaign with more than 100 rallies around this country and a dozen overseas.
Rallies are set all over the country, with some of the larger events in Philadelphia on Tuesday, New York City on Wednesday and Boston and Washington D.C. on Thursday. One of the largest international events is set for Hong Kong on Saturday — International Human Rights Day.
Almost a dozen Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including former President Carter, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Lech Walesa of Poland, will announce their belief on Tuesday that freedom to form unions is a basic human right.
Sweeney said he expects the week will draw attention to the importance of unions and help educate the public about the difficulty some workers' face getting a fair deal at work and trying to organize unions.
"The labor movement is in a deep crisis in terms of organizing," said Gary Chaison, a professor of labor relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "It's a vicious cycle. As membership declines, there is less revenue and less to spend on organizing new workers."
Veterans of the labor movement say it has been under siege for almost a quarter-century, since President Reagan fired federal air traffic controllers in 1981 during a prolonged strike. The steady loss of manufacturing jobs overseas, corporate hostility to unions and government policies that make organizing new unions a slow and difficult process have all contributed to labor's problems.
About a half-dozen unions cited declining membership for their decision this summer to break away from the AFL-CIO and chart an independent course focused more on organizing new members than on political activism.
The problem for organized labor is that union jobs are disappearing faster than new members can be recruited — a difficult and very expensive activity, said Chaison.
"They're on a treadmill," he said. "They're trying to run and run, and the treadmill is going faster and faster."
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On the Net:
AFL-CIO — http://www.aflcio.com
While I agree that organized crime is a time-honored human activity practiced in all cultures and places, I would hesitate to call it a "fundamental freedom."
The AFL/CIO is toast.
I think somebody missed that because it doesn’t make much sense.
Veterans of the labor movement say it has been under siege for almost a quarter-century, since President Reagan fired federal air traffic controllers in 1981 during a prolonged strike
They forgot to refer to it as an illegal strike rather than a “prolonged” one. I recall that it was very short.
In fact, I think that incident should be used in some manner to rid ourselves of the Wagner Act. Hey, if the government can terminate its relationship with surly, belligerent employees then EVERY private business should be able to act in that manner.
Companies cannot survive when you pay the lawn mower guy $65 an hour.
Or pay Longshoremen $110 an hour to pull levers.
Die, unions. DIE!
Bwahahahah!
How would Sweeney like if I took money out of his pocket to pay for benefits for, say, Wal-Mart executives and fire him if he complains.
World Red, Revolutionary, Evil, Procrustean Communism mobilization. Name the beast what it is.
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