Well, well…turns out my posting from yesterday about the International Labor Communications Association caused a bit of a stir. I talked about the ILCA’s decision to pass a constitutional amendment that now allows non-affiliated unions to have full membership in the ILCA.

There was a little bit of heat about the decision. And the ILCA asked that I post a clarification about the background and meaning of the vote. I’m pleased to do so:

“In November 2003 – many months before the current disputes erupted within the AFL-CIO — the International Labor Communications Association drafted a constitutional amendment to build closer working ties with union publications, the pro-worker religious press and other labor-friendly media outlets not affiliated with the AFL-CIO. ILCA delegates adopted a final version of that amendment July 23 in Chicago, allowing full membership to publications from non-AFL-CIO unions on a case-by-case basis, subject to approval of the ILCA executive council.

Our International unions have always had internal disputes, sometimes sharp; sometimes not. It was never our intent to intervene or take sides in the current debate. Quite the contrary.

As labor communicators we seek to build stronger unions and to address the needs and aspirations of workers, organized and unorganized. We do everything possible to keep such disputes from dividing workers and weakening labor solidarity at the local level, and we feel this is the right and proper stand for ILCA.
— ILCA Executive Council, July 24, 2005, Chicago, IL”

The ILCA’s point is that it was considering this change for some time and it’s just coincidence that it came up at a time when there is a debate about whether non-affiliated unions can belong to Federation bodies such as central labor councils. I absolutely believe the ILCA.

But, it’s more of a comment on the sign of the times that the ILCA vote was noticed and/or wasn’t greeted with a general appreciation. I still commend the ILCA for taking a step that I’ve long argued makes a whole lot of sense–if legitimate non-AFL-CIO unions wants to put time, energy and money into Federation bodies in a way that strengthens them, shouldn’t they be praised and welcomed? This seems like a no-brainer.