Two Trade Unions Break From AFL-CIO Alliance
In a new sign of dissatisfaction within organized labor, two national trade unions broke away from an alliance affiliated with the AFL-CIO after complaints about declining membership and misplaced priorities.
The Laborers International Union and the International Union of Operating Engineers, representing more than 1 million members, are breaking from the umbrella group known as the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO as of March 1. The umbrella group still has 11 unions representing about 2 million workers.
The Laborers and Operating Engineers will join with four other unions in the construction business -- the Teamsters, Carpenters, Iron Workers and Bricklayers unions -- to form the National Construction Alliance, a confederation aimed at expanding union membership in the construction field.
The two trade unions remain in the AFL-CIO.
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