Organizing Priorities and Strategies
May 04, 1999
Washington, DC
The mission of the AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families -- to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our nation. To accomplish this mission, we will build and change the American labor movement.
Our number one goal, in accomplishing this mission, is to build a broad movement of American workers by organizing workers into unions. The AFL-CIO Executive Council reaffirms its commitment to growing union membership and increasing union density. We believe that the labor movement must continue to change, to increase resources committed to organizing, and to target those resources in strategic ways.
In recent years, we have seen a general decline in union density in both industrial and geographic terms. In industries where we have relatively higher union density, we are either falling behind continued employment growth or facing continued de-unionization where membership losses account for a disproportionate share of shrinking employment. In industries where we have relatively lower union density, employment gains are racing ahead of us, and we represent a smaller and smaller share of the workforce.
Most unions have a very large proportion of their membership working in industries (and occupations) where the union is either a lead union or a major union. And every union faces a large number of unorganized workers in the industries where it is either a lead or a major union.
The AFL-CIO recognizes that national unions are organized along both industry and occupational lines. We also recognize that a union can be a major union in an occupation or industry in a specific geographic area, and that occupational affinity, community of interest, and geographic density can be significant factors in a successful organizing strategy.
The Federation should forge cooperation among lead and major unions organizing in the same industry or occupation so as to reduce unnecessary competition, as well as to insure that standards of employment for union members are maintained. The Federation should also make sure that sufficient resources are available to organize in every major industry by working with the major unions in these industries and with other unions where appropriate in specific situations.
The Federation as a whole needs to strike a balance -- it needs to defend industries where it is under attack, and it needs to find ways to invest in growth in those industries that are expanding. In the short term, the Federation as a whole should focus on major industries where we already enjoy higher union density -- both in industries that are expanding and in industries that are forecast not to grow or to shrink. In the long term, however, we need to focus on major industries and occupations that are forecast to grow but where we now have little union presence.
The labor movement as a whole needs to invest organizing resources in those areas of the country where the population is growing but we are now weaker; but in the short-run, resources ought to be focused on those "rust belt" states where our political strength is under immediate attack.
All national unions should have a "Change to Organize" program that moves significant resources into organizing. Unions should also use their bargaining, political and financial power on a comprehensive basis to support organizing efforts.
National unions have a primary responsibility to organize in those industries and occupations where they are the lead or a major union. Unions should develop industry organizing strategies that focus first on their core industries and occupations -- where they are already the lead union or a major union in the industry. Even in industries that are not growing, or projected to see a decline in the workforce, there are many unorganized workers that need a union, and defending workers in these industries requires organizing the now unorganized workers working in those industries. National unions should pay special attention to internal organizing where there are many workers already covered by union agreements that can be recruited as union members.
Individual national unions may want to pursue a strategy of diversification -- but such a strategy should be undertaken for the purpose of long-term stability and should not distract the union from organizing its core industrial or occupational jurisdiction.
The AFL-CIO should pursue policies and practices that encourage national unions to pursue these basic industrial and occupational jurisdictions and to invest in these strategic campaigns.