Whew…it just keeps coming. Another game of political chicken is afoot.
The Laborers executive board is going to meet this afternoon to authorize its president, Terry O’Sullivan, to pull out of the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD). Which may lead to the Laborers leaving the AFL-CIO–by being forced out by a Sweeney-backed Constitutional amendment that will be considered today by the Constitution Committee. I’m scratching my head on this one.
You know, a lot of this structural stuff is kind of mind-numbing and has almost nothing to do with organizing workers (which is one reason I’ve found that part of the debate pretty tiresome). But…for the record, and for those who really care…
The BCTD pushed this amendment which says, in part, “National and international unions that are members of a department must maintain membership in such department in order to remain affiliated with the AFL-CIO, unless waived by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Council.”
This makes no sense–other than in the political pissing match underway. Why would you force an affiliate to remain in a department–in which membership until now was voluntary–as a condition for staying in the AFL-CIO?
UPDATE: It’s not clear whether the amendment has enough support to pass on the
convention floor. But, the whole tug-and-pull about this has probably a
lot more to do with the campaign to push the Carpenters out of the
department. And more than a few people think I’m all wet for suggesting that John Sweeney supports the amendment. I may be completely off the reservation here but I would find it surprising that the BCTD leadership would move ahead with something as potentially consequential as this amendment without passing it by Big John and it seems directly linked to the effort by Big John to force the Carpenters out of the department (the Carpenters have continued to exist inside the building trades despite leaving the AFL-CIO a few moons ago). But, if I’m wrong, I’m wrong…
A quick backgrounder to why this matters: the building trades councils around the country play an active role in the daily lives of their members because employers negotiate project agreements through the councils. But, if you force the Carpenters out of the councils, that plays havoc with the industry because employers won’t negotiate the project agreements if the Carpenters aren’t at the table.
