LaborTalk for July 13, 2005

Exec Council Incumbents Are All in Hiding, But Still Expect to Get Re-Elected - LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
Only 11 days are left before the start of the AFL-CIO convention, and we still haven't heard a word from the 51 incumbents on the Executive Council. In fact, they haven't announced they're running for re-election. They just assume that if they remain silent, convention delegates will give them all another four years in office, just as they did in four previous elections.

To prevent that from happening, I decided to seek a seat on the Executive Council, forcing the AFL-CIO to conduct an election with a printed ballot and secret voting. I believe that my credentials for serving on the Council are superior to most of those who have occupied that office. And I will be happy to debate any Council member on the issues affecting labor's future.

In their ten years in office, the Executive Council has little to brag about. Its members have failed to come up with policies that could reverse the decline in labor's membership and economic power. They can point to no legislative victory that has improved the quality of life for workers, either on or off the job.

Council members have not come up with a single idea on how to improve union organizing, except to pour more money into campaigns. None of the national labor leaders seem to understand that the only way they are going to organize on a massive scale is to involve union members who know how to talk to unorganized workers.

The Sweeney and Stern camps are engaged in a power struggle in which, no matter who wins, workers will suffer. In fact, neither group has tried to involve rank-and-file workers of other unions, who have the most to lose by any further decline in labor's strength.

The AFL-CIO needs articulate, well-informed leaders (I include myself) who are capable and willing to tell labor's story on national radio and television and refute anti-union propagandists who are constantly attacking us. Unfortunately, nearly all Council members have preferred to keep a low profile and have rarely spoken to a national audience.

I sent a certified letter to AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka on June 29, asking for the opportunity to send convention delegates a message about why I am a candidate for a seat on the Executive Council and asking for their support. Thus far, Trumka has not responded.

I have also sent e-mails and faxes to 20 international union presidents, asking them to make a "courageous and principled decision to serve as one of my nominators," so that the "labor movement should be seen as standing for free and open elections, in which every candidate will have an equal chance to compete for a Council seat."

I also warned that "if the undemocratic conduct of the three last elections for Executive Council is repeated in 2005, it will be a massive public and media disaster, and will increase the growing cynicism among union members and unorganized workers."