The United Farm Workers has jumped on board the insurgents’ campaign. The official announcement was going to be held up until 3 p.m. so Arturo Rodriguez, the UFW’s president, could notify John Sweeney before it became public. But, it’s started to leak out so the dam is bursting…and the embargo was off (so I can let that secret I was keeping out to you’all too)

So, why is this significant? It’s not about numbers—the UFW is tiny in the scheme of the internal political dealings. But, the union carries an enormous amount of credibility and emotional weight because of its storied history. Beyond that, the UFW is still seen as a fighting union, one that is out there trying to organize and defend the lives of some of the most exploited workers in the land.

The UFW is not going to pull out of the AFL-CIO. But, this is also a psychological blow for the Sweeney camp. Size in this case doesn’t matter (the UFW has 31,000 members)–it’s perception. It’s just another signal to other unions who might want to think about joining up to the Coalition–at a time when John Sweeney and his supporters want to minimze any additional momentum the Coalition might like to generate as they approach Sunday night when SEIU, UNITE HERE, the Teamsters and the UFCW pull out of the Federation.

I’m going to try to chat with Arturo (pictured here with Anna Burger, the chair of the Coalition and secretary-treasurer of SEIU, just before the two of them spoke on a media tele-conference) and hear more about his perspective on this later this afternoon.

Here’s the official announcement:

UNITED FARM WORKERS OF AMERICA
JOINS CHANGE TO WIN COALITION
CHICAGO, IL — The United Farm Workers of America (UFW) announced today that it was joining the Change to Win Coalition, the new workers organization devoted to transforming the American labor movement.

“To realize our goal of organizing significant numbers of low-to moderate-wage Latino and immigrant workers in the face of fierce employer resistance during the next decade, we must move aggressively to apply new resources and make changes in our own organization,” said UFW President Arturo Rodriguez. “We are convinced the Change to Win Coalition mirrors our commitment of finding new ways to refocus on organizing and vigorously pursue anti-worker employers.”

“The Coalition is thrilled to have the Farm Workers join our efforts to improve the lives of millions of American workers,” Coalition Chair Anna Burger said today. “This is a significant moment in American labor history. The Union of Ceasar Chavez is the heart and soul of the labor movement, and its affiliation with our Coalition sends a powerful signal that we are on the right course.”

“The Farm Workers represent the highest aspirations of all American workers,” Burger said. “Their historic commitment to organizing low-to moderate-wage workers is the essence of the Change to Win Coalition’s vision of giving hope to millions of workers seeking the American Dream.”

The Change to Win Coalition was formed on June 15, 2005 to marshal the collective strength of its unions (listed below) to develop and implement strategies to bring the labor movement into the 21st century. Since its inception, two additional unions, the Carpenters and the Farm Workers, have joined the original five. The Change to Win Coalition unions represent nearly 6 million workers.

Change to Win Coalition:

Teamsters
UFCW

UNITE
HERE
SEIU

Laborers
Carpenters
Farm Workers