The Main Wire, March 24, 2005, Thursday

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The Main Wire

March 24, 2005 Thursday

HEADLINE: Reality Check: US Labor Unions Face Challenging Times -2-

DATELINE: NEW YORK

BODY:
By Gary Rosenberger
Another looming issue in the world of labor
relations is the way legacy airlines use bankruptcy "to change the
contours of labor agreements and free themselves from obligations they
had agreed to," the AFL-CIO's Richard Bank said. "There's very little in
bankruptcy law that gives workers and unions protections."
Bank singled out defined pension benefits as an area hit hard by
airline bankruptcies and fears "a domino effect" could result when
bankruptcy "strips employees of their rights and gives bankrupt airlines
a competitive edge."
He sees these as bleak times for unionized and non-unionized
workers alike. "I keep hearing that this is a full recovery. But I don't
see any diminishment in the problems and issues that we had when we were
in a recession. The recovery does not seem to be trickling down to
people working every day. It's not a recovery for the average working
person," he said.

"The average worker is doing worse than before 2001," Bank
continued. "Wage increases are moderate, healthcare costs go up and the
demands for concessions by management are relentless. The improved
economy has not mollified aggressive employer attitudes at the
bargaining table."
Even amid labor shortages in some sectors, like trucking, wage
increases appear to be moderate. James McCall, special counsel for the
Teamsters, noted that a master freight contract signed in 2003 continues
to apply through 2008, with hourly earnings up just 50 cents in the last
year to $20.25 an hour.
The increase in healthcare and benefits was triple that amount, a
reflection of driver shortages that were becoming apparent two years
ago. An aging workforce aggravates the shortage, with unionized drivers
averaging 48 to 51 years of age, McCall said.
In order to attract and retain younger drivers, who might be
hesitant to engage in a career that takes them far from home, trucking
firms have begun to remove progression clauses in the master agreement
that offer new drivers just 75% of the full rate of pay, McCall said.
But the issue overshadowing everything these days is the contest
over the future direction of the AFL-CIO after suffering defeat in last
fall's presidential elections. Several union officials stated that the
quadrennial convention in Las Vegas in July is likely to be highly
contentious.
There is anger aimed at the AFL-CIO leadership over its emphasis on
political action in lieu of needed investment in grassroots organizing,
with the SEIU, the Teamsters, UNITE-HERE and others clamoring to have
more say over how union dues are spent.
Andy Stern, president of the SEIU, who garnered 40% support during
a contentious Executive Council meeting earlier in March, is at the
forefront of the rebellion. "There is no question the labor movement is
in trouble and has been in trouble for a long time," said one source.
"Everyone is wondering, what if Stern pulls out of the AFL-CIO? Will he
be able to take other people with him? What are the prospects for labor
unity when the labor movement is shrinking and needs all the unity it
can get? There might be a revolution."
Andy Stern was unavailable for comment but keeps a blog in
www.unitetowin.org that explains his proposals to reinvigorate the labor
movement. The plan begins with "an initial $25 million per year to
challenge Wal-Mart's low-wage, no-benefit business model that threatens
to drag down standards throughout the economy."
The plan also seeks to ensure health coverage for everyone,
including efforts to win reforms at the state and local level. He and
others also demand a restructuring of the AFL-CIO to unite workers by
industry, prevent overlap, and consolidate unions with fewer than
100,000 members -- and ultimately question the heavy donations to the
Democratic Party.
Stern has blasted the AFL-CIO for attempting to water down a
Teamsters proposal that aims to shift more union funds toward local
organizing. "To ward off the Teamsters' proposal, they passed an
alternative resolution that would shift more of members' dues money to
the same political strategy the labor movement has been following for
the past 10 years," he complained.
"Our proposal to restructure the AFL-CIO has drawn support from
SEIU, UFCW, the Laborers and UNITE-HERE," said Teamsters spokeswoman
Leigh Strope. (The complete proposal can be found in www.Teamster.org,)
"The Teamsters are committed to strengthening the AFL-CIO, not
tearing it down," Strope stated. "Our vision is to empower workers. We
must change to strengthen their voice on the job, because the status quo
is not working. We can build power for workers by growing the labor
movement. There is strength in numbers. We cannot continue to rely on
politicians to do this for us."
Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor scholar at Cornell University, paints
a grim picture of labor's struggles. "Wages are stagnant. There's a
great disparity of wealth and incredible cutbacks in benefits," she
said.
"Workers are working harder and longer. Fewer workers have health
benefits and more have lost their defined pension plans. The American
worker is truly stressed," she continued. "If this is a recovery, it's a
recovery for corporations. It's not the kind of recovery that gives
workers confidence. Workers are scared."
By her estimate, 400,000 jobs were lost to Asia and Latin America
in the last year, including high-skilled, high-end, non-manufacturing
jobs -- and all this happened amid an election "disaster" from the
standpoint of the labor movement.
Labor now finds itself angry and divided. "Last year labor poured
money into elections instead of into organizing. It was a devastating
defeat and it's divided the movement," she said. "There's a lot of
introspection and debate over what to do next, and how much resources
should go to politics and how much to organizing."
She foresees the AFL-CIO's July convention as embodying a clash of
egos, testing old relationships and generating competing visions about
the labor movement's future.
Beyond that, she places health care as the big issue dominating
collective bargaining. "The problem can no longer be resolved at the
bargaining table. We have to deal with it at the legislative level. We
are out of step with modern society. The taxpayer pays when Wal-Mart
doesn't provide health coverage. We're paying for it one way or
another."

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Editor's Note: Reality Check stories survey sentiment among
business people and their trade associations. They are intended to
complement and anticipate economic data and to provide a sounding into
specific sectors of the U.S. economy.