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News :: Miscellaneous |
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AP Reports Carpenter Union Leaving AFL-CIO |
Current rating: 0 |
by Commandante Lucas
(No verified email address) |
29 Mar 2001
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Rumors of strange goings on in the Carpenters Union have apparently come to pass. There is a lot more to this story than is in the AP version of the situation. I thought everyone should have an "official version" for reference purposes. |
Union Breaks Away From AFL-CIO
at 1913 EST
by LEIGH STROPE
AP Labor Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The main national carpenters' union is
breaking from its affiliation with the AFL-CIO over differences in the
direction of the labor movement, the union's president said in a letter
Thursday.
''The AFL-CIO continues to operate under the rules and procedures of
an era that passed years ago, while the industries that employ our
members change from day to day,'' said the letter from Douglas J.
McCarron to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
A message left on McCarron's voice mail Thursday at the Washington
headquarters of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America was not immediately returned. A communications employee
said the union had no statement.
The carpenters' union had 323,929 members last year, according to the
AFL-CIO, which is a voluntary federation of 65 unions, after the
carpenters' departure, with about 13 million members.
The carpenters' union board voted unanimously to end the affiliation
after meeting with Sweeney and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer
Richard Trumka, the letter said. The union has reorganized in the last
few years to shift resources to organizing and had hoped the AFL-CIO
would make similar changes, McCarron's letter said.
''After five years I have seen nothing to indicate the AFL-CIO is
seriously considering changes that would cure these problems, nor do I
see any realistic chance that an investment of more time or resources by
the UBC will alter those facts,'' the letter said.
Sweeney said in a statement that disaffiliation would be a loss for the
carpenters' union and the labor movement.
''I believe that we have an important and mutually beneficial
relationship, and that today's unions need to be unified to provide a
strong voice for Carpenters members, other union members and all
working families,'' he said.
Sweeney said he asked the union to reconsider its decision and has
offered to continue meeting with its officials. |
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Very sad. |
by Peter Miller
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
30 Mar 2001
|
We've expected this for a while, but it's very sad to see that McCarron is following through with his plans. This is another example of the need for more democratic unions--McCarron gave himself the authority to pull out of the AFL-CIO at the union's international convention in Chicago last summer. The delegates--many of whom are employed by the union--let their boss do what he chose. Nobody knows where the rank and file stand on this, but it's not very likely that they support him.
A rank-and-file caucus to democratize the Carpenters exists and should be supported. Carpenters for a Democratic Union can be reached in Champaign at 217-356-8247. A CDU website is here: http://members.tripod.com/asilins/ |
