Territorial Dispute at AFL-CIO Highlights Obstacles in Holding Federation Together

A territorial spat between two of the nation’s largest unions that was discussed Thursday at the AFL-CIO’s semiannual leadership meeting underscored the potential difficulties in holding the labor federation together.

Union fights over which can organize and represent certain workers aren’t uncommon, particularly in these days of dwindling membership. But while labor leaders universally lament the waste of energy and resources, they have yet to figure out an effective way to resolve the disputes.

This quarrel, over an effort in Illinois, is significant because it involves leading protagonists in a fierce debate over the federation’s future, with one threatening to pull his union out of the AFL-CIO. Both cite the tussle as reason not to trust the other.

Andrew Stern, president of the 1.8-million-member Service Employees International Union, complained that his union worked for 10 years to lay the groundwork for organizing 49,000 child-care workers in Illinois, only to be undercut at the last minute by the rival American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which has 1.3 million members.

In late February, AFSCME filed a petition with the state that delayed the certification of about 20,000 workers who had signed SEIU union cards. AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said his union, already representing a significant number of child-care providers, was running a comprehensive national campaign to organize more.

“We’re the largest child-care union in the United States,” McEntee said. “That is our core industry.”

Stern, he said, should heed his own call to limit unions’ organizing to their core industries -- or at least allow the Illinois workers to vote on which union to join.

The talk grew heated Thursday, the final day of a three-day AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting that was supposed to build labor unity.

Stern said both unions could reasonably lay claim to the growing field of child care and should be considered equals in that field. But because of all the work it put into the Illinois campaign, he said, SEIU should have sole jurisdiction there.

At the final closed session of the executive council, made up of most national unions, Stern asked AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney to intervene.

“I wanted President Sweeney to speak on behalf of those workers and use every power he has to convince Mr. McEntee to withdraw his petition,” he said.

Sweeney put the matter off, saying he would try to resolve the problem through discussions with both parties.

McEntee is a close ally of Sweeney’s, whereas Stern has openly questioned the labor chief’s leadership abilities and threatened to pull his union -- the nation’s largest -- out of the federation unless dramatic changes are made.

That puts Sweeney in an awkward position, McEntee said.

“It’s awfully hard to play mediator in a situation where one of the parties is trying to take you out of the job you have,” he said.

The deeply personal tiff was emblematic of the split between union leaders who back Sweeney’s more cautious proposals and those who favor a dramatic change in the federation’s budget, priorities and staff.

Four major unions -- Teamsters, Laborers, United Food and Commercial Workers and Unite Here -- have sided with Stern. Together, they represent about 40% of the federation’s members, not enough to win a majority of executive committee votes.

But they said they would seek support from other unions in the coming months and hoped to gain a majority by July’s AFL-CIO convention in Chicago, where delegates will vote on the federation’s budget and leadership.

John Wilhelm, Unite Here’s president for hospitality services and a Stern ally, is rumored to be considering a challenge to Sweeney’s presidency. But he said this week that he had not yet made a decision. Some speculate that Wilhelm is waiting to see whether his side can line up the needed votes.

Sweeney vowed Thursday to fight to keep his job and said he was confident he would have sufficient backing in July.

“I want to lead the change process,” he said.

He said union leaders made progress during discussions here, even though no detailed plan was offered on how to reallocate the federation’s $120-million annual budget to make it more effective in organizing and political work.

A general draft approved by a majority of executive council members would slightly increase the amount spent on organizing and allow individual unions to apply for rebates to fund their own drives. The draft also calls for increasing the political fund while streamlining other AFL-CIO programs.

“We’ve taken some big first steps here, but there is a lot more work to be done,” he said.

Frustration among SEIU officials was building during the three-day meeting, and by Thursday they were saying Sweeney and his backers glossed over significant problems with general, meaningless rhetoric.

“They’re not making change, they’re faking change,” said Stern, whose threat to quit has dominated discussions here. “This just gives me another reason why this AFL-CIO doesn’t work.”