Working Life

So, late last night I got a report from the Teamsters big conference in Vegas, where the heads of the five unions composing the “insurgent caucus”— the Teamsters, SEIU, Laborers, UNITE-HERE and UFCW—came together in front of a raucous crowd composed mainly of Teamsters but also including rank-and-file members from each union scattered through the […]

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Late last night, I heard just a bit of information out of Vegas (I had other commitments so cannot be on the scene, unfortunately…need to win back that money from March). There is not yet a candidate to challenge John Sweeney. Obviously, as I reported, John Wilhelm doesn’t want to jump in unless there seems […]

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This week could be the week that John Wilhelm announces that he is running for AFL-CIO president–or not. He’s got the right forum: all the presidents from the unions loosely gathered in the “insurgent” caucus are going to be out in my favorite place, Las Vegas, for a big Teamsters shindig…There will be the usual […]

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It was a grim group that crowded into the President’s Room at 16th Street at 4 p.m. yesterday. Along with many people who participated via phone, the AFL-CIO staff vented their anger at John Sweeney and Bob Welsh, his executive assistant and chief of staff, for the brutal staff cuts announced Tuesday. Black Tuesday is […]

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Okay, folks, here’s what’s coming in. Bob Welch, Sweeney’s executive assistant, and Stewart Acuff, organizing director, have held conference calls with respective staff members (there was a major foul-up with the first call with Welch so he’s scheduling another one for 3:30 p.m.). Field Moblization will be merged with the Political Department into a new […]

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(ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT: SEE UPDATES BELOW) It will not be a happy day at 16th Street and its satellite offices. I’ll be posting whatever information comes my way about the massive layoffs expected to be announced this morning. NOON UPDATE!!! Looks like, from first sketchy reports, that field staff are almost all […]

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I’m troubled after the teleconference John Sweeney held yesterday with the press. It’s not that the whole affair lasted just 30 minutes (and we had to provide our own coffee, doughnuts and Scotch), which included John’s opening statement and, then, a rush to squeeze in questions before, poof, he had to run before anyone really […]

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Right after my previous report on the AFL-CIO’s finances, I got a call from Joe Hill (uh, yeah, a pseudonym), an AFL-CIO insider who told me “it’s quite worse than what you wrote.” Hill pointed out that when John Sweeney took over, the AFL-CIO had no debt; now the debt stands at $28.5 million dollars. […]

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A review of AFL-CIO audited statements for 1996 and 2004 by the coalition pushing for changes inside the labor movement shows some fairly interesting trends. I offer them as they are, with some comment: Under John Sweeney: AFL-CIO Income has grown dramatically, and AFL-CIO Expenses have grown far more dramatically. AFL-CIO income has increased by […]

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I’m wondering…is there a budget at the AFL-CIO and is someone watching the bottom line? Cuz the Federation’s audit firm, “Calibre,” had some pretty worrisome information for the Finance Committee, don’t you think? To wit: the Federation’s assets grew pretty nicely between 1995 and today, around 40 percent—but the reserves are down from over $71 […]

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