The Carpenters Join the Insurgents

        Okay, it's going to be official tomorrow (Monday) but you heard it here first: the United Brotherhood of Carpenters is going to join the Change To Win Coalition (The UBC's executive board meeting starts Monday, coincidentally on the same day as a meeting of the AFL-CIO's Executive Council). That puts another union with half-a-million plus members into the coalition (its website says 520,000 but the CTW is saying they have 600,000...I'm not impressed with the website's current info so who knows? Take your pick but it's a lot of folks).    

    This is a big deal in a variety of ways, which I'll explain in a moment. First, for our community here that is a bit less up on labor's internal historical soap opera, here's a bit of background. The Carpenters left the AFL-CIO in March 2001, long before the current rage of unions threatening to bolt from the Federation. Back then, its president, Doug McCarron, basically leveled the same charges against the AFL-CIO that are now the main focus of the CTW coalition's arguments: the labor movement was not doing enough to organize new members and the AFL-CIO was a moribund institution wasting money on an ineffective bureaucracy.     John Sweeney has made a number of attempts to get the Carpenters back--with no success.

    The weird thing is that the Carpenters continue to belong to the Federation's Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD). If you look at the description of the Carpenters on the BCTD website, it doesn't even mention that the Carpenters are not part of the AFL-CIO. Over the past few years, a variety of resolutions and threats and negotiations have volleyed back and forth between the Carpenters and AFL-CIO Executive Council about the Carpenters relationship with the BCTD.    

   And, as of today, the Carpenters still belong to the BCTD because no one wanted to have a complete break...though that may change real quick. More recently, Sweeney has said that if the Carpenters don't come back into the Federation by the July AFL-CIO convention, they'll be kicked out of the BCTD. To which McCarron recently said in so many words, according to a well-placed source, "Well, fine, we stopped paying per capita taxes to the BCTD." And, you may remember the memo I posted from Sweeney regarding the ability of disaffiliated unions to remain inside the Federation's central labor bodies; the poke was probably aimed at the current insurgents, particularly SEIU, but it tracks the tiff with the Carpenters, too.

    So, why does this matter?

1. Numbers. Adding a union with a half-million new members gives the Change To Win folks more heft. And there's been some tantalizing notion that the National Education Association, the big momma of all unions at 2.7 million members, might join up, too. I wouldn't bet on it yet (and this site has already seen thousand dollar bets being thrown around), but even without the NEA, the Coalition is beginning to build a large enough constituency where it could, at some point, equal or surpass the non-Coalition members total. Remember, except for the Carpenters, the coalition members have not disaffiliated from the Federation--yet. But, if the coalition begins to quack like a new Federation, and can even swim like a new Federation, some folks might have fewer qualms about jumping ship.

2. Intensifying the Critique: McCarron is no Johnny-Come-Lately to the critique of the Sweeney Administration. And he can show others what leaving the AFL-CIO did for his union--since going it alone, the Carpenters have completely restructured the union, hiring 700 organizers (which is far more than some unions have that are twice the size of the Carpenters) and bringing in millions by renovating and leasing out their big Edifice right near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. He also hired Richard Bensinger as an organizing consultant--the man who Sweeney fired as the Federation's organizing director after Bensinger relentlessly criticized affiliates for failing to do much in the way of organizing (alert: since Richard is a friend, I acknowledge that I may have a biased view of that chapter, though none of the information on this new development comes from him).

3. It Makes Some Others Real Nervous. So, let's say I'm one of the leaders of the other unions in the building trades (say, Sheet Metal Workers or Painters). Here's what I start thinking: three major unions in my industry are in this coalition-- Carpenters, Laborers and Teamsters--totaling 2.8 million members. "Damn, what happens if they all do end up setting up a new Federation--and organizing in my turf? Sure, I'm supporting Sweeney now but if the Federation is running deficits, might have a whole lot less money if the biggies walk and if the eight cent permanent per capita increase resolution goes south at the convention...am I on the right side or should we try to work out a deal?"

    In many ways, the insurgents have a very strong hand to play, even though they lack the votes--today--to get an alternative candidate elected head of the AFL-CIO and make the changes they've argued for. They can keep applying the pressure internally, while, at the same time, keep broadening the Change To Win coalition. If the coalition survives for the long-haul and makes progress, the coalition members could disaffiliate any time--or avoid the emotional step of severing ties to the AFL-CIO and simply lessen their involvement in the AFL-CIO, keep a token level of membership and treat the AFL-CIO has a sideshow.

    As I've pointed out before, Sweeney has the votes to be re-elected president--today. But, the convention isn't today. And between the large looming questions about the AFL-CIO's financial condition and some unions worrying they could lose members to a newly-formed labor federation, it still *could* get interesting.

Comments

[D Flinchum]

Out of curiosity, how many members has (or is it have?) the Carpenters added since leaving the AFL-CIO? Adding organizers is different from adding members, right?

[Rob]

Is this really all that big of a deal? The Carpenters were among the original NUPsters so I figured they would join C2W sooner or later. I agree the NEA would be a much bigger catch, but do you have any reason to believe they would consider it besides wishful thinking?

[Ben]

I think this article gives some interesting context on the current debate, and how the debate has changed since Bensinger was fired.

http://www.labornotes.org/archives/1998/0898/0898b.html

[Pat Cleary]

Jonathan, you are so far ahead of everyone in covering all the goings-on over at 16th street, but allow us a good-natured tweak to say that if you look at this link: http://blog.nam.org/archives/2005/06/welcome_the_cha.php
from way back on June 17, we said that McCarron was going to join C2W next.

Keep up the good work!

[joe h]

Cash McCarron, okay no surprise, and yes JT the possibilities you sketch are interesting...

But Carpenters members don't get to vote on contracts, there's no power in the locals, construction workers talk about the Carpenters signing sweetheart deals with the contractors.

Business Unionism Coalition, I think.

[Ty]

The drywall strikes in Southern California in the 90s are a good example of the UBC doing militant direct action and "bottom-up" new organizing in a largely immigrant workforce.

Then again, the UBC in LA has not always stood with my union (HERE) against hotel developers who wanted to build union but operate non-union, despite the fact that one of the points of the NUP was to facilitate such cooperation.

Does anybody have any other examples? General inside information about the UBC? Specifics are a lot more informative than rhetoric.

Also, does anyone know where the rumors about the NEA joining Change to Win come from? What's in it for the NEA?

[OnBackground]

Thanks for the info.

For now, this whole debate is impacting the political efforts of the AFL-CIO, as plans to overhaul the campaign plan stall. Lobbying efforts seem to be unaffected.

Political directors for top AFL-CIO member unions have been mulling changes to the political program since December. The early consensus was that they needed a more consistent presence in more states if they are to turn electoral tides, according to a participant.

“The ideas were to have people on the ground,” said the member of the AFL-CIO’s political committee. “And to train and educate those people to talk to friends, neighbors, churchgoers and bowling club members about the issues, so voters don’t have some stranger knocking on the door, two weeks before the election, telling them what to do.”

In late May, the breakaway unions’ political directors skipped a meeting, this one called to discuss fundamental approaches to the federation’s political program.
In a letter to AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman, political directors from the rebel unions urged that the meeting be postponed until after the convention.
Over the objections of the dissident unions, the federation’s executive committee earlier this month approved a more than $250 million budget for the next two years. It calls for spending about $60 million on political activities.

[Josh H. Pille]

I know we're getting a little off-topic here, but on OB's note re: politics...

I think this is a conversation worth having. And I know that Jonathan has come out strong with an experiment to drop politics altogether for a while. And I wholeheartedly agree that the status quo, politics-wise, cannot stand. But there's three distinct proposals out there: a) status quo, b) no politics/all organizing; c) changing politics from election-based to year-round.

I don't know what I think. Except that organizing must be at the heart of any movement. But that's not necessarily incompatible with c) above. --Maybe material for a future thread...

Anyhow, and not that it's any surprise, but a hearty welcome to the UBC!

[Dan C.]

I'd be interested to know why the NEA would fight with this group as well. Many in the AFL-CIO still view them as a 'non-union.' Where are you getting that info?

[Doug]

I will never trust McCarron because he endorsed W for presidency. In fact, I really don't trust anybody in the C2W scheme.

[ben]

I don't really trust McCarron either. However, considering that many of the accusations leveled against the UBC are now being directed at SEIU, which are absolutely false (not to say SEIU is perfect) so now I'm a little suspicious of the critics too. For example, people like to try and say Stern was "happy" bush won because of one interview were he correctly asserted that labor gets complacent when dems win, and because SEIU made a strategic decision to endorse a couple of repub govs. So, can someone, JT perhaps, give us a little more info on the carpenters. DId McCarron actually endorse W? I know he has certainly played footsie with him, but did he ever close the deal? Also, what have the 700 organizers been working on,(ie where and what kinds of construction, which contractors) and how successful has it been so far. can anybody help us out here?

[Tasini]

McCarron has, as I understand, said something along the lines of he will endorse anyone who supports UBC; he's said, if you don't like Republicans, bring him someone better to support. I'm certainly not here to defend Republicans but, let's be real, we could give a long litany of examples of the failure of Democrats to support labor. I believe that the Carpenters endorsed Gore but said nothing in the last election and stayed on the sidelines--but I'm not 100 percent sure on that.

I will say it's hard to get info out of the Carpenters--the website gives almost no information and McCarron rarely speaks to the press. It's just not his thing. I'll try to see what I can dig up.

Look, no union is perfect nor do we live in a world of perfect human beings. But, the question is: can the Change To Win coalition do something new? And, given the almost terminal state of the labor movement, is it worth giving it a chance to try?

[dh]

mccarron did NOT support bush for president. bush courted his support vigorously, even had him on air force one. mccarron had bush to the carpenters labor day picnic. but mccarron spoke at the UNITEHERE merger convention in chicago as the election was heating up, and he gave a very vigorous anti-bush speech.

[bud]

some people are saying that the NEA move has more to do with their conflict with the AFT

[Robb Black]

Re: Politics and Unions

Unions need to realize that there is a third option when it comes to being involved in politics and that is the Green Party. As of right now, the Green Party is the only political party whose platform is 100% pro-labor. You can be guaranteed that a Green Party elected official will ALWAYS vote for a living wage, NEVER vote for free trade agreements, and will ALWAYS work towards the elimination of Taft-Hartley.

Neither the Republicans NOR the Democrats can guarantee that from their party.

[NathanHJ]

Robb's comment: "As of right now, the Green Party is the only political party whose platform is 100% pro-labor."

I don't want to pick nits here, but this isn't true. The Working Families Party in NY is absolutely 100% pro-labor as it should be since it is the creation of a coaltion of labor and community groups and one of its co-chairs is Bob Master of the CWA (who has NOTHING to do with casinos in CA, just FYI).

In fact, in NY, the WFP is the only statewide party you can say this of because the Greens lost their ballot line in the last election.

It is true that the WFP is only in two states (CT is the other), but it is working steadily to expand into states where the concept of cross-enodersment or "fusion" is legal and to extend the legality of fusion in states where it is currently illegal. In fact there is such a campaign going on in MA right now that will try to legalize fusion with a ballot initiative.

Just pointing out that in some cases the Greens aren't the only horse of a pure color.

[BOB]

The Carpenter's did not back anyone but said they didn't back Truman either.
Our local went from 2 business agents to 6 organizers in the last couple of years, yes they are all over the place around Chicago organizing but also they are letting the smaller jobs, they real backbone of keeping our local strong, slip through the cracks- only checking work that has shown up on the Dodge reports.The ABC[non union group] is growing in Chicagoland thanks to this. And our local is going broke paying for all of this manpower, because there is no increase in work to pay for they outlay of funds for salaries and new cars.
As a 40 year union carpenter I say that bud above is 100% right, the Repubs. never liked us and now the Dems just want our money and vote like the AFL-CIO.

[bill davenport]

mccarron left the aflcio because he and his cronies are under corruption probes.the aflcio and umbrella org. dont allow officals to take 5th amendment under guestioning.now that he is free of this restriction and can lie under oath or take the 5th with immputiny.just another dumb carpenter from local 608

[bill davenport]

mccarron left the aflcio because he and his cronies are under corruption probes.the aflcio and umbrella org. dont allow officals to take 5th amendment under guestioning.now that he is free of this restriction and can lie under oath or take the 5th with immputiny.just another dumb carpenter from local 608

[Steve]

What Do you Know? I worked For 7 months in ca.I hurt my knee, at work. I Worked until they laid me off / Reduction in force. I worked for Two months with my Bad Knee. Waited tell I got laid off to get it fixed. Now the insurence company for the company I worked for, says I am A seasonal Worker? Like a farm worker. I Think You need To feel out a I-9 Form , when your a sesanoal worker, thats what I think I know? Do You think the carpenters union should go to Bat for Me? I pay my dues when I work & when I dont. If I could spell I Might not be a Carpenter? Help me out what do you think? our What do you Know? Thanks Brady: