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 crowd.

My source, who is quite knowledgeable, reports that there is still no candidate to challenge John Sweeney. But, there was a growing sense that the insurgent unions are growing stronger and are unified. “The real leverage here is that people don’t want to see the movement split. If John Sweeney can’t keep the movement together, he’ll be gone.”

But, of course, that would require a shift of ten percent from those now supporting Sweeney to those supporting the so far unannounced candidate. That’s still a tough order for the insurgents and it may be bravado. But, I’ve argued here before that it’ a long way to July. If you look back at where the opposition started, it’s still startling how far the insurgents have gone in a labor establishment that is mostly known for unanimity of voice. To have 40 percent of the vote is still a significant block. Frankly, I wonder, on a human level, why Sweeney, at 71, even wants to go through this.

The labor movement is certainly good at one thing: when deals are there to be made, people will run to cut the best deal they can, regardless of loyalty or previous promises. If even one significant union now counted in the Sweeney camp moves, even over to undecided, it could trigger a bigger rush. Admittedly, that’s still in the realm of hypothetical and the current bet would be for Sweeney to hold his majority but hold on to your hats—it could get wild. It may be that a time is coming soon where behind-the-scenes discussions begin to figure out a graceful way for Sweeney to exit.

The anti-AFL-CIO rhetoric was fairly strong. The speeches took on Sweeney directly, as well as his supporters. Jim Hoffa, for example, attacked the Machinists for signing sweetheart contracts in a bid to grab members from the Teamsters (I should say I have not verified that claim). Terry O’Sullivan, the president of the Laborers, said the labor movement was “on life support.”

As for whether John Wilhelm of UNITE-HERE will jump into the race, that still seems unclear. My source says that Andy Stern made a commitment that SEIU would stay in until the convention—but I assume that if no candidate steps forward, then, SEIU might leave before the convention.

The New York Sun quoted Wilhelm’s tough speech to the gathered crowd:

The American labor movement at the level of the AFL-CIO has lost its way. They’ve lost this vision. It’s lost its energy. It’s lost its hope. And that’s a crime. Too much of the leadership of the labor movement in this country – the so-called leadership – thinks that we have to accept the fact that workers in this country are in trouble…. We aren’t going to accept it. You’re not going to accept it. None of these unions are going to accept it. And we’re going to teach the AFL-CIO that they shouldn’t accept it either.

Since this was all going down in Vegas, here’s a bet you could have cleaned up on if you had the courage to make it a year ago: that the Teamsters would play an anchoring role among a group of insurgents, who would all show up, in a show of unity at a major Teamsters conference, to unleash a fusillade against the AFL-CIO leadership and their brethren on the Executive Council.