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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 12:02:01 -0800
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From: Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: UNION REVIVAL IS FALLING ON HARD TIMES
X-UID: 1860
The Philadelphia Daily News October 22, 1998
REPORT: UNION REVIVAL IS FALLING ON HARD TIMES
From the Financial Times
Efforts to revitalize the labor movement are running into serious
obstacles, threatening any significant fightback after more than 20 years
of trade-union decline.
That's the main finding of an internal report commissioned by the AFL-CIO.
There is "shallow support" in many unions for campaigns to recruit new
members, the report said, citing ill-prepared organizers with poor
management and leadership skills at all levels, a high turnover among union
organizers and poor planning and evaluation of membership campaigns.
The report, coordinated by Cornell University industrial relations
professor Richard Hurd, said that more often than not, "union leaders,
staff and activists have struggled to respond to crises associated with the
change process."
After the 1995 election of John Sweeney as AFL-CIO president, unions
launched a highly publicized campaign to restore lost power and influence
through membership drives. But figures show private-sector unionization
continues to decline from 10.8 percent three years ago to only 9.7 percent
in 1997.
The AFL-CIO strategy seeks to encourage affiliate unions to shift their
resources from servicing existing members to recruiting new ones.
"There is a widespread resistance to change from staff," the report says.
"They accept and even support the shift to organizing, but are concerned
the quality of representational efforts on behalf of current members is
suffering as a result."
The report also speaks of a disconnection between union organizers and
other staff: "The most extreme criticism is that organizers do not care
about current members, and this is given credence by the interview
responses of some organizers who display a cynical attitude about the
apathy in established units and the conservatism of staff."
The report found widespread reluctance among union leaders locally to risk
loss of support among existing members by an over-commitment to organizing
new ones. "The net result of political concerns is that the form of
organizational change is not matched by the substance."
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
