Breakaway Unions Set to Go After Wal-Mart

Leaders from unions that broke away from the AFL-CIO pledged Tuesday to organize Wal-Mart Stores Inc. workers and reach out to those who lost their jobs because of Hurricane Katrina.

The Change to Win Coalition met for its founding convention in St. Louis. In between official business -- adopting a new constitution and electing leaders of the new federation -- the event resembled a rally for the 460 delegates.

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa and Unite Here President Bruce Raynor called on the coalition to organize workers at Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer.

Wal-Mart “contributes nothing to America but more poverty and they’ve got to be stopped,” Raynor said.

Labor leaders said they weren’t just repeating the same old message about Wal-Mart, but formulating plans to help those workers gain the right to organize.

Wal-Mart executives said the average employee earned twice the federal minimum wage, and three-quarters of its store management team began as hourly workers.

“Wal-Mart is committed to making a positive contribution to working families and we do it every day,” spokeswoman Christi Gallagher said. “We’re disappointed that some continue to ignore the facts and fail to provide any real vision for the future.”

Hoffa also said the new coalition would do what it could to assist hundreds of thousands of workers who lost their jobs when their Gulf Coast communities were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

“We have a strategy to train workers to rebuild their communities,” Hoffa said. “We must learn from this tragedy and help these workers start over. We must help our fellow Americans build new communities and new lives.”

He said unions would aid workers in hard-hit areas, from Teamsters training drivers to carpenters helping construction workers learn new skills.

Organizers hope the new coalition will revitalize the nation’s labor movement.

The delegates adopted a new constitution by a voice vote. The 10-member leadership council then elected the federation’s leaders in official recognition for Chairwoman Anna Burger and Secretary-Treasurer Edgar Romney.

“Union power puts bread on our tables, roofs over our heads. It sends our children to college, and union power helps us retire with security,” Burger said.

The seven unions -- including the Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, and the United Food and Commercial Workers -- represent about 5.4 million workers.