Photo by David Pokress of Nassau County 406C

AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney addresses GCIU General Board members after swearing them in on June 4. From left are GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau, Sweeney, GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi, and Richard L. Whitworth, executive assistant to the GCIU president. In the background is Executive Secy. Kathy Smallwood.

Organizing and political action are the heart of labor unions.

So advised AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney after he swore in newly elected GCIU officers and General Board members on June 4.

"You know that the responsibility for organizing in your industry is yours," Sweeney said, adding: "If there is any way we can help, as we do with other affiliates, we want to do that.

"I was saying earlier to [Pres.] George [Tedeschi] that while the number one priority has to be organizing, we can't lose sight of the importance of politics. We really have to change the leadership in the [U.S.] House of Representatives if we're going to be able to achieve some of the labor law changes that have to be made in order to put organizing on a more level playing field."

Sweeney said the affiliate international unions are cooperating with the federation's political action program.

Given the AFL-CIO's planned emphasis, Sweeney predicted that organized labor will be able to change the House majority from the Republican to the Democratic party.

He also said he believed that "we're going to be able to elect Al Gore as president and hopefully pick up a few Senate seats. I don't think we'll be able to get a majority [in the Senate]."

He figured with a Democratic majority in the House as of 2001, organized labor can make progress in organizing, changing striker replacement clauses, and changing labor law. Sweeney said health care, education, and Social Security are also issues vital to labor.

Regarding organizing, Sweeney cited his home Service Employees International Union as a prime example of a union committed to organizing. He said when he became president in 1980, there were 625,000 SEIU members. When he became AFL-CIO president in 1995, the SEIU had grown to 1.1 million members. Now, he said, the SEIU has 1.4 million members.

Sweeney said the SEIU has been able to add members by organizing through "regular growth, constant growth, constantly looking at themselves to see how they can change. What do they have to do? Where can they find more resources to undertake campaigns?"

"I really believe," he said, "that we have turned the corner and that we are on an upward path." Sweeney said, for example, that the addition of 250,000 members to federation rolls taking normal attrition into account means that 600,000 workers have to be organized. "I believe that we're starting a trend that will show modest growth but for the long term," he said.

Sweeney added that the AFL-CIO offers programs for training organizers, developing strategies for campaigns, and working with affiliates to evaluate their programs. "I think . . . we're going to see a reversal of the trend of downward decline.

"It's going to require a lot of effort, and no one knows that better than your new president. We've talked briefly about it, and it's going to require assessing the way you do organizing. It's going to require assessing the changes that have taken place in the workplace and the opportunities for organizing. It's also going to require resources," Sweeney noted.

Sweeney was departing later on June 4 with U.S. Labor Dept. Secy. Alexis Herman for the annual International Labor Organization conference in Geneva.

Turning to globalization, Sweeney cited "child labor and the right of people to organize. We've got to pay a lot of attention to the global picture, as well as to our own domestic picture."

Although labor did not prevail in the China trading partner issue, Sweeney took heart that "we're working in solidarity with the international labor movement.

"The bottom line is that we have to fight against corporations that are taking good jobs and reducing them to the lowest possible level. This is not about trade. This is about whether we take the high road or the low road. This is about whether good jobs with decent wages are going to become 13-cents-an-hour jobs and the effect that is going to have on our country, as well as the effect that it has on the exploitation of workers in other countries.

"There has to be more of a linkage between our domestic program and the international program. We have to be prepared to face up to the challenges that so many employers are really placing before us. I know that your union is very much concerned about globalization requirements. I know the struggles you've had," Sweeney said.

Regarding former GCIU Pres. James J. Norton, Sweeney said: "I do want to thank Jim Norton. Jim Norton has been a good leader. He has been a strong supporter of AFL-CIO programs, together with those of you who have been in office together with your union. I thank him for all his good work."

Referring to the GCIU, Sweeney said: "No union has been more courageous. And no union has had a stronger, more dedicated, committed leadership, as well as rank and file activists. I see it as I travel around the country. People come and introduce themselves to me and identify themselves with their union. And they're proud of the work that their union is doing. Thanks to each and every one of you for the role that you've been playing in all of this." Sweeney said.

In opening remarks, Sweeney said: "I am especially pleased to congratulate George [Tedeschi] and to welcome another New Yorker to the leadership of our labor movement. And to Jerry [GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau] and all the vice presidents of the [General] Board, I say congratulations."

In closing remarks, Sweeney reiterated his emphasis that "the two most important issues that we really have to be focused on is organizing and politics. And I look forward, together with [Sec.-Treas.] Rich Trumka, [Executive Vice. Pres.] Linda Chavez-Thompson, to working with you on that. And I know that we're going to have a great relationship."