Whither Labor?
Jerry Tucker Reports on the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention
Note: this concluding report on the AFL-CIO Convention and events
surrounding it will be offered in two parts. First, a summary and catch-up
on certain events and impressions of the week in Chicago; second, an attempt
to sort out and analyze these events, what they represent in a larger
context, and what it all could mean to this country’s working class.
One of the many reporters covering the AFL-CIO’s “50th Anniversary
Convention” commented on its conclusion: “well, it’s ended here, but it’s
just beginning out there!” He waved with his hand as if fanning a far
horizon. His point was clear: now the rupture in top labor’s ranks
precipitated by the breakaway of several large unions at the start of the
week was coursing its way to the union base. Open fault lines would now
appear in subordinate labor bodies in states, cities, and towns all over the
country.
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