Washington, D.C.
State and local labor movements are the backbone of our collective efforts to run a successful mobilization program on behalf of working families at the state and local levels. State and local central bodies play a critically important role in carrying out and supporting the labor movement’s political, legislative, organizing, and collective bargaining campaigns. The full and active participation of affiliated unions in these organizations is needed to ensure that they have the resources and capacity to do the labor movement’s work in the most unified, coordinated, and effective way possible.
The unfortunate decision by several national unions to disaffiliate from the Federation has had significant impacts on all parts of the Federation, but the loss is felt most acutely in those state and local central bodies where the disaffiliated unions represented a large percentage of the affiliated membership. In these areas, state federations and central labor councils are faced with the loss not only of the financial support the disaffiliated unions previously contributed, but of their active participation in the labor movement’s mobilization work.
The Executive Council has acted to restore unity at the state and local levels by approving the Solidarity Charter program that would allow locals of the disaffiliated unions to re-affiliate with state and local central bodies. The Executive Council reaffirms its support for Solidarity Charters as the means for reunifying the labor movement in a fair, equitable, and principled manner.
Irrespective of Solidarity Charters, however, it is incumbent upon all affiliated unions of the AFL-CIO to support state and local central bodies and their work. In many cases, increased affiliation by the unions of the AFL-CIO would offset most or all of the loss of membership and revenue caused by the disaffiliations. Now more than ever, we must take steps to rebuild from within and to strive to achieve the Federation’s goal of full and fair affiliation with these organizations by eligible local unions. Toward that end, the Executive Council calls on all affiliated unions to take the following actions:
1. Each national and international union should review its own level of affiliation and participation in state and local central bodies, set goals and develop a timeline for achieving the fullest possible affiliation and participation by November 2006 (taking into account each union’s particular structure and issues), and make periodic reports on their plans and progress to the Committee on State and Local Strategies. The National AFL-CIO and its state and local bodies will assist in providing relevant information on the levels of affiliation and participation by affiliated unions in the jurisdiction.
2. The Committee on State and Local Strategies will review the progress of affiliated unions and report on a regular basis to the Executive Council on its findings and its recommendations for further action to achieve the Federation’s policy of full participation and fair affiliation by affiliated unions.
3. The Committee will also review the National Affiliation Fee program through which national unions may affiliate their entire membership with state federations at a discounted rate, to see if adjustments or modifications to the program are warranted.