The debate over the future of the AFL-CIO

From The Black Commentator, Bill Flectcher, Jr. on the debate over the future of the AFL-CIO

…The US trade union movement has badly needed a debate about its own future, but the culture of the US union movement generally precludes honest debates. When individuals or groups of individuals raise allegedly unpopular positions — or positions critical of the leadership — they can often find themselves isolated or undermined. Rather than a free flow of constructive ideas, most union leaders surround themselves with a protective bubble to keep out any “bad news” and/or provocative suggestions. Thus, it should not surprise anyone that the union movement has, over time, become pickled in its own juices. With leaders who stay in office for what to many feels to be an eternity, and with the suppression of dissent, too many of those who wish to see change introduced are forced out, or, as a friend of mine says, are “beached.”

It is, therefore, amazing to witness the spectacle of some unions threatening to leave the AFL-CIO and others threatening to drive others out after so little and so pitiful a discussion. All this is taking place while rank and file union activists find themselves increasingly alienated by the debate or outright fearful of the outcome. No attempt has been made by either side in this debate to bring the debate to the members. The members have not been asked their opinions, nor has there been much effort toward constructive and principled debates. Instead members find themselves feeling that they are at the base of Mount Olympus while the gods fight out the final battle thousands of feet above their heads…

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