Tuesday, April 2, 1996
Recently elected AFL-CIO president endorses militancyBy Richard
L. Lesher
The election of John Sweeney to succeed Lane Kirkland as
president of the AFL-CIO heralds a new era of militancy in which
organized labor will mount a concerted effort to reverse its
sagging fortunes.
Without question, Sweeney assumed the helm of the AFL-CIO at a
critical moment in the history of the union movement  when
its fortunes seem trapped in a downward spiral. Last year,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 10.7 percent of
the private sector work force was unionized, the lowest percentage
since 1954. This year, according to the bureau, the union
contingent represents only 10.4 percent of private sector
workers.
Labor’s ebbing fortunes clearly played a role in the AFL-CIO’s
decision to seek more militant leadership, and Sweeney is nothing
if not militant. "I believe that unless we make some drastic
changes, membership is going to decline and we are going to be less
of a political force in this country," he told a reporter, adding,
"I think we can turn it around."
For starters, Sweeney has promised to create a $20-million fund
to increase fivefold the number of union organizers trained
annually, and also to set up a new organizing department. "We must
first organize despite the law if we are ever to organize with the
law," he said.
Sweeney’s aggressiveness is reflected in his new management team
of the AFL-CIO, which includes United Mine Workers President
Richard Trumka as the federation’s new secretary-treasurer.
"Something historic’s about to happen," Trumka told the AFL-CIO
convention. "You are about to see corporate America’s worst
nightmare come true."
Whether Sweeney will be able to revive labor union fortunes is
an open question. I have long contended that what labor needed most
was not a renewed commitment to militancy, but rather a new vision
of working with management to promote efficiency and productivity.
Workers are more aware of the world around them than they used to
be, and hence, less responsive to anti-management rhetoric. Unlike
their union bosses, they seem to understand that their employers
must be competitive with businesses in Asia and Europe in order to
survive. Within that context, union demands or restrictive work
rules and compensation unconnected to increases in productivity are
irrational and self-defeating.
As a political matter, however, the new Sweeney regime at the
AFL-CIO demands business respect and concern. It should be noted
that despite labor’s sagging membership, it wields tremendous clout
in Congress and knows how to use it. Though it lost important votes
on the North American Free Trade Agreement and General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade during the 103rd Congress, it has prevailed on
every important union issue to come before the 104th Congress. It
blocked efforts to repeal the absurd Davis-Bacon Act, which
artificially inflates wages on federal construction projects. It
stifled efforts to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act,
which is often used to advance union anti-management campaigns. And
it has thus far prevented enactment of the TEAM Act, which would
legalize joint management-labor efforts to promote quality,
efficiency and productivity.
Organized labor remains politically active. Union members
operate telephone banks and invest millions of volunteer hours
getting out the vote on election day. They contribute generously to
union political action committees. They are a force to be reckoned
with.
Any business person who believes labor unions have become
irrelevant is whistling past the graveyard. The unions are still
here, they are still engaged and they will be heard from next
November.
Lesher is president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.