More on AFL-CTW Peace Talks

    I had gotten this yesterday (see below) and was trying to track down some more info but figured it was worth putting out as is. We've been watching the various efforts at peace making, most recently in an exchange of letters between Anna Burger and John Sweeney.

    What I see here is some compromise and a spirit of trying to iron out the rough edges--and maybe some lingering bad feelings--between the two federations. In return for CTW leaders being able to hold elected office in AFL-CIO state and local bodies, CTW has accepted the idea of paying money to defray costs of the work of those bodies. Seems cool to me.

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TO:                 Principal Officers of AFL-CIO State and Local Central Bodies
FROM:            John J. Sweeney
RE:                 Solidarity Charters
DATE:            October 14, 2005

I am pleased to report that we have made progress in our discussions with the Change to Win unions concerning the terms of the Solidarity Charter Program.  With respect to the two major issues remaining in dispute, the AFL-CIO has agreed that members from CTW unions who have Solidarity Charters may run for and hold office in the state and central bodies; and for their part, the CTW unions have agreed with the concept of paying for cost sharing at the national level to support the work of the state federations and central labor councils, with the understanding that it remains to negotiate a mutually acceptable method of payment.

In view of the agreement that we believe we have in principle, the AFL-CIO has agreed to extend the deadline for reaching final terms through the November elections, to November 15.  In the meantime, the AFL-CIO will not object to members of CTW locals that intend to apply for Solidarity Charters running for office in the state and central bodies in question.