Should the United Auto Workers of America ("UAW") organize workers in the health care industry? Should the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees ("UNITE") organize workers in the restaurant industry? This is what has been taking place in various union organizing drives across the country. Unions are organizing outside of their core industries in an effort to increase membership as quickly as possible. However, the question remains whether this strategy is beneficial for the members if the union who organizes them does not have strong leverage in their industry, and is unfamiliar with issues that typically arise in the industry. It is also unclear whether or not this strategy is truly beneficial to the long-term growth and development of the labor movement.
Recently, the AFL-CIO Executive Council adopted a platform that encourages unions to concentrate organizing efforts in their core industries. The platform set out a number of strategies that call upon its members to; 1) forge cooperation among lead unions in the same industry so as to reduce competition; 2) insure that sufficient resources are available to organize in every major industry; 3) defend industries where labor is under attack and invest in growth in those industries that are expanding; 4) focus on industries where unions already have high density, and on major industries that are forecast to grow, but where there is little union density, and; 5) invest resources in organizing in regions where population is growing but the labor movement is weak. Instead of the UAW organizing employees in the healthcare industry, the AFL-CIO prefers that the UAW seek to organize more workers in the auto or related industries.
During the AFL-CIO Council meeting in February there was disagreement on whether the AFL-CIO should identify jurisdictions for its affiliates. Some affiliates argued that unions that are strong in one industry should take the lead in organizing that industry; while others were opposed to the AFL-CIO placing limitations on the industries that a union could organize because regulation would be difficult and impractical.
In some instances unions have taken it upon themselves to establish jurisdictional agreements to avoid competition. Recently, the Service Employees International Union ("SEIU") entered into an agreement with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union ("HERE") wherein HERE agreed not organize building services or health care workers, while the SEIU agreed not organize hotel workers or gambling employees. Proponents of this approach point out that unions gain better leverage in negotiating when they remain within their core industries. Additionally, they believe unions that have achieved a high level of success in organizing their core industry should be rewarded for their accomplishments and not be undermined by competition from another union.
Although the AFL-CIO’s encouragement of unions to organize in their core industries is a logical strategy, the real problem for the AFL-CIO is the general decline of the labor movement. Undoubtedly, if union interest was high among hotel workers, HERE would not be expending its resources organizing workers in unrelated industries. The same is true for other unions. In any event, this is likely to be a recurring issue since AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has set a goal for all international unions and their locals to commit to spending 30 percent of their budget on organizing by the year 2000.
The information provided herein is for general guidance on matters of interest only. While every effort has been made to insure the information provided herein is accurate and timely no decision should be made or action taken on the basis of information without first consulting with an Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. professional.
