Establishing Basic Principles for the Formation and Operation of Industry Coordinating Committees

As corporate consolidation and globalization continue to expand, the labor movement must develop and implement new strategies to confront and respond to this growing corporate power. We need mechanisms to bring together unions representing workers within in the same industry, occupation, region, or employer, in order to harness and apply their collective strength in support of workers in the most coordinated, effective way possible. Working together, unions in an industry can identify and develop strategic growth opportunities and plans to build their unions, strengthen the labor movement, and improve wages and working conditions for working people across the land. Together, they can resist the downward pressure on wages and benefits caused by rampant corporate greed, by developing new bargaining strategies and by agreeing to respect strong contract standards.

The Executive Council endorses the creation of Industry Coordinating Committees (ICC's), and hereby adopts the following principles for their formation and operation. These Committees will create the vehicle and provide the opportunity for vitally important strategic collaboration and growth to occur.

Formation of Industry Coordinating Committees (ICC's)

1. At the request of and in consultation with affiliates, the AFL-CIO shall establish, on a three-year pilot project basis, Industry Coordinating Committees (ICC's) in industries (or geographic, employer-based, occupational, or other appropriate subdivisions thereof) strategically important to labor movement growth.
2. All ICC's shall operate under the oversight of the Executive Council or its designated committee.
3. All affiliates recognized or certified as collective bargaining representatives of workers in an industry shall become members of that industry's coordinating committee; member affiliates that choose not to participate in ICC proceedings shall nonetheless be bound by its organizing plan, the contract standards it sets, and other decisions it may make, subject to appeal as provided in paragraph 10, below.
4. Following formation of an ICC, AFL-CIO affiliates outside the ICC may not organize workers within the industry, except by permission of the committee. If permission is granted, such affiliates must become members of the ICC and be bound by its determinations.
5. Only AFL-CIO affiliates may become members of an ICC or participate in its activities and efforts. No member of an ICC shall aid or work with any non-AFL-CIO union in any activities or efforts that involve workers in the same industry, except upon request of the ICC, with the approval of the Executive Council.
6. In the event of significant changes in the structure of an industry, or industry subdivision, the AFL-CIO shall review an existing ICC to determine whether a change in its scope or structure would be appropriate.
7. Trade Departments and the Industrial Union Council shall continue to perform their existing functions.

ICC Purpose

1. The purpose of ICC's shall be to unite workers and their unions on an industry basis to enhance strategic growth opportunities and improve working conditions for all workers in that industry. ICC's shall plan all future organizing and bargaining in each particular ICC's industry.

ICC Activities and Standards  

1. ICC's shall meet regularly upon the call of the chair selected by the ICC, and shall have the following functions:
    
   1. They shall develop a strategic audit and analysis of their industry;
   2. They shall develop and implement a strategic growth plan that incorporates the following elements:
      1. Coordinated organizing, including approval of an annual organizing plan for the ICC's unions;
      2. Coordinated bargaining, including, without limitation, exchanging information, pursuing common contract goals, utilizing unified standards and tactics, and/or bargaining under coordinated structures and procedures;
      3. Establishing enforceable contract standards, which shall take into account such variables as first contracts, legitimate trade-offs, adverse economic conditions affecting particular employers, local labor market conditions, and differences among job classifications, crafts, and other classes within the industry;
      4. Global links with labor organizations in the same industry;
      5. A strategic plan that integrates politics with organizing;
      6. If applicable, a general legislative plan to advance the interests of workers and unions in the industry.
    

ICC Governance

1. ICC's shall strive to reach consensus among participating unions to the maximum extent possible. Where consensus cannot be reached on a particular matter, ICC's shall make decisions by a per capita vote or modified per capita vote formula, as determined by the ICC. ICC's decisions may be appealed to the Executive Council or its designee, and may be overturned if found to be unfair, unreasonable, or contrary to trade union principles.
2. Each ICC shall choose its own chair and decide for itself the number of representatives for each member affiliate.

Enforcement of ICC Contract Standards

1. Significant violations of contract standards established by an industry coordinating committee shall deprive the violator of Article XX protection as to members of the committee who seek to represent workers covered by the contract standards that the violator currently represents in that industry. The process for enforcing this provision is as follows:
    
   1. An ICC that believes an affiliate has significantly undermined contract standards established by the committee may initiate a proceeding under Article XX, Section 17 of the AFL-CIO Constitution and seek a determination by the Executive Council that the violating union should lose Article XX protection with respect to units covered by the committee contract standards that the violator currently represents in that industry. (Under Article XX, this is called a “justification” proceeding). If the Executive Council finds that an affiliate has significantly undermined committee contract standards without a satisfactory basis or explanation, the Executive Council shall issue a decision depriving the violating affiliate of Article XX protection for the covered units. In addition, such a decision shall entitle the committee to exclude the violator from the committee's coordinated organizing efforts for the period of the violation.
   2. An ICC member affiliate may also raise as a defense in an Article XX proceeding brought against it by another union a claim that the complaining union has significantly undermined contract standards established by an ICC. If the Impartial Umpire finds that an affiliate has significantly undermined committee contract standards without a satisfactory basis or explanation, the Impartial Umpire shall not issue an Article XX award in favor of the complaining union.
   3. ICC's may adopt, subject to Executive Council approval, additional Article XX procedures and remedies, including expedited procedures for resolving disputes among participating affiliates relating to violations of committee contract standards (e.g. bench decisions) and for addressing potential violations that are imminent but have not yet occurred (e.g. injunctive orders).
    

Enforcement of ICC Organizing Plans

1. ICC's shall also have the authority to enforce the organizing plans they implement, as follows:
   1. One or more affiliates that are actively engaged in, and devoting resources to, a coordinated organizing campaign developed by and implemented under the auspices of an ICC shall be given Article XXI protection in any Article XXI proceeding. This protection shall not apply against ongoing organizing campaigns that were initiated significantly before formation of a committee.
   2. A committee member that is engaged in organizing an employee group within the industry covered by the committee shall be given automatic Article XXI protection against an affiliate that is not a member of the committee and that is engaged in organizing that same employee group.
   3. ICC's may adopt, subject to Executive Council approval, additional Article XXI procedures and remedies, including expedited procedures for resolving organizing disputes within that industry, both ones that have occurred and ones that appear to be imminent.
    

Industry Coordinating Committee Staffing and Finances

1. The AFL-CIO shall aid and support ICC efforts by assisting in the following activities:
    
    
   1. Mobilizing support for such efforts from the labor movement and its allies;
   2. Forging global alliances with appropriate foreign unions and trade bodies;
   3. Participating in development and implementation of organizing, bargaining and strategic campaign plans;
   4. Acting as a clearinghouse for organizing, bargaining and strategic campaigning best practices, and convening meetings of appropriate affiliate officers and staff to disseminate such best practices;
   5. Providing support staff and coordination of ICC activities, as appropriate.
2. Committee members shall be responsible for staffing and financing ICC efforts and activities on a basis determined by the committee.

Sunset Provision

1. These principles, and ICC's established pursuant to these principles, shall
    expire three years after their adoption, and the Executive Council shall determine whether, and in what form, they should be continued or modified.