Carpenters Ending Ties to AFL-CIO

The main national carpenters’ union is breaking from its affiliation with the AFL-CIO over differences in the direction of the labor movement, the union’s president said in a letter.

“The AFL-CIO continues to operate under the rules and procedures of an era that passed years ago, while the industries that employ our members change from day to day,” said the letter from Douglas J. McCarron to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, based in Washington, has reorganized in the last few years to shift resources to organizing and had hoped the AFL-CIO would make similar changes, McCarron’s letter said.