Photo by Bill Burke of Page One Photography

AFL-CIO leaders at the 2001 AFL-CIO convention from left are: Secy.-Treas. Richard L. Trumka, Executive Vice Pres. Linda Chavez-Thompson, and Pres. John J. Sweeney.

Organizing, political action, community outreach, and global economic activism were the focus of the AFL-CIO's 24th biennial convention.

Meeting in Las Vegas, the nearly 1,000 delegates also approved resolutions that supported economic investment for workers; amnesty and rights for immigrant workers; civil liberties; a stronger social safety net; a federal ergonomic standard; and U.S. manufacturing jobs.

A tribute to union heroes of Sept. 11 and everyday on the job kicked off the convention.

"We honor those who perished doing their jobs," AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney said. "We honor those who stepped forward to repair the damage and to help their neighbors. We honor all workers who are heroes every day simply by doing the work that keeps our country open, free, and democratic. We honor all those who have lost their jobs and who are struggling with such dignity in the backwash of terrorism."

"The union members who sacrificed their lives to save others will stand forever in testimony to the courage and solidarity that have always been the fiber of our nation and our movement," Sweeney said. "Those weren't strangers who perished in the planes and in the rescue attempt. They were all of us, because, in our movement, we are one."

To workers who have been laid off in the economic fallout from Sept. 11 and in the recession, Sweeney pledged: "Whether you are in tourism, or high-tech, or manufacturing, you can count on us. You can count on your brothers and sisters. We will not rest until every one of you is back at work."

Sweeney: 'Stronger than ever'

In his keynote address, Sweeney declared: "In spite of incredible hardships, our movement is today stronger than ever. We are smarter and tougher and more united than ever. And we are building the power that working families in our country and around the world need and deserve."

Sweeney congratulated delegates and their unions on their accomplishments over the past two years. He said unions and their members:

• Organized some 2.5 million workers in the past two years.
• Brought 4.6 million new working families to the polls in the last election. According to AFL-CIO exit polls, union households accounted for 26 percent of the vote in the November 2000 elections, up from 19 percent in 1992. About two-thirds of those voted Democratic.
• Elected Jim McGreevey governor of New Jersey, Mark Warner governor of Virginia, Shirley Franklin mayor of Atlanta, and Lee Brown mayor of Houston in November 2001.
• Marched in Watsonville, Calif., until the strawberry pickers finally got a contract.
• Defeated fast track trade legislation three times.
• Sparked the anti-sweatshop movement on college campuses.
• Marched in Seattle and Washington, D.C., and "changed the debate over globalization forever."
• Won the right for workers in Puerto Rico to join unions.
• Helped win a contract for 5,000 shipyard workers in New Orleans and helped free five dock workers arrested for union activities in Charleston, S.C.
• Defeated "paycheck deception" in California, Oregon, and 33 other states.
• Took back the legislature in Colorado and defeated proposed "right-to-work" laws.
• Participated in more than 1,000 "Labor in the Pulpits" sermons.

Corporate greed condemned

While commending President Bush and his administration for "doing an excellent job of waging war on the terrorists," Sweeney lashed out at the continuing greed of corporations and congressional conservatives.

"Corporate behavior and congressional inaction during our time of national crisis stand in sickening contrast to the heroism and sacrifices of working families," Sweeney said, adding:

"At a time when workers are being laid off by the hundreds of thousands and families are mourning loved ones and sending others into combat, corporate America is on the prowl for more profits. At a time when senior citizens are being hammered by the cost of prescription drugs, pharmaceutical companies are flooding the halls of Congress with lobbyists looking for bioterrorism business."

"While airlines and insurance companies are being bailed out, layoff victims in the travel and tourism industry are being left out. And while our sinking economy cries out for lifelines, conservatives in Congress are competing over ways to shell out tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthy."

Addressing remarks by House Republicans who refuse to support worker relief, Sweeney said: "Workers bore the brunt of the attacks." He added: "Workers are repairing the damage, fighting the war and losing their jobs, and the sleaziness of the Republicans in the House is the same of a nation."

Taking the offensive

Sweeney urged union members to take the offensive against the assault on workers at home. "We won't be using guns or rockets. We'll be using the strength of our solidarity, the power of our protest and the authority of our ballots. . . . let us change the face of American politics by electing thousands of union members to office and change the course of government with the biggest legislative and political counter-attack in our history. Let us eliminate the low ground by rewriting the rules of the global economy. Let us turn back the tide of corporate influence and recapture the high ground, with an organizing revolution that brings 1 million new members into our unions every year."

Delegates re-elected Sweeney as president, Richard L. Trumka as secretary-treasurer, and Linda Chavez-Thompson as executive vice president of the federation.

Speakers addressing the convention included Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) via satellite; Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.); the Rev. Jesse Jackson; Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn of Nevada; and union leaders from around the world.

To delegates' cheers, Republican Gov. George E. Pataki of New York joined the convention via satellite as he signed a new law to ensure that recently approved casinos in the state will be built by union workers and to allow casino workers to get union representation through a card check process.

Convention resolutions

In convention resolutions and other actions, delegates:

• Reaffirmed AFL-CIO grassroots initiatives to build local union and member involvement across communities and states. Delegates heard organizing, bargaining, and political action success stories related to alliances involving multiple unions, central labor councils, state federations and community groups to build the Street Heat, Union Cities and New Alliance programs in regions around the nation.
• Approved a 10-point program for political and legislative victory. Strategies include linking politics and organizing, year-round political mobilization, assigning local and worksite political coordinators, discussing worker family issues in union publications and websites, increase voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, and build rapid response networks. Sweeney announced the launch of "Target 5000" to double the number of union men and women in office nationwide.
• Renewed the federation's commitment to its Campaign for Global Fairness that includes making corporations accountable for their actions and policies, providing broad-based education for workers, and creating international solidarity among working people and their allies.
• Expressed support for American troops engaged in the war on terrorism.
• Called on Congress to pass an economic stimulus bill that supports manufacturing and infrastructure investments, sound tax and spending policies, and improving service-sector jobs instead of laying tax breaks on corporations and the wealthy.
• Called on Congress to pass immigration reform to enable undocumented workers from all countries to attain permanent legal citizen status and to "reverse mean-spirited laws that bar taxpaying citizens from receiving benefits they have earned. Delegates reaffirmed the AFL-CIO's commitment to help more immigrant workers form and join unions.
• Resolved to fight for "one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" in a resolution supporting voting reform, condemning hate crimes, banning workplace discrimination, and other measures to address discrimination and acts that target and exclude individuals and groups.
• Called on the federal government to protect U.S. manufacturing jobs, more than 1.3 million of which have been lost since July 2000. The resolution demanded that the government enforce existing laws against the "dumping" of steel in the United States by other nations, which have cost some 300,000 Steelworkers jobs.
• Demanded that the Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) of 1970 cease to be used as an anti-union weapon.
• Called for stronger safety and health regulations and enforcement, including a strong federal standard to prevent ergonomic injuries, passage of legislation to protect whisteblowers, and stronger enforcement efforts in the service sector.
• Vowed to protect Americans' hard-won civil liberties and constitutional rights against government attempts to weaken them. For example, the FBI has been handed expanded powers to monitor domestic political and religious groups through covert phone and Internet surveillance.
• Supported legislation to end Hatch Act restrictions that limit political activities for public employees.
• Held a fundraiser for the 15,000 members of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees/Culinary Workers Local 226 in Las Vegas who lost their jobs in the wake of Sept. 11.
• Urged Israel and the Palestinian National Authority to end the cycle of violence.
• Supported Machinists in their struggle to get a contract with United Airlines.
• Amended the AFL-CIO constitution to hold conventions every four years instead of every two years and reduced required AFL-CIO Executive Council meetings to two times a year.

– Compiled by Susan Zachem