Labor Rift At Union Convention

Four major unions decided Sunday to boycott the AFL-CIO convention, setting the stage for one or more to bolt from the 50-year-old federation in a battle over how to reverse organized labor's decades-long decline, The Associated Press has learned.

The unions, representing about one-third of the AFL-CIO's 13 million members, planned to announce the decision Sunday afternoon, a day before the convention opens, according to three labor officials familiar with the failed negotiations to avoid the walkout.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss the decision.

The protest is led by Andy Stern, president of the federation's largest union, the 1.8 million-member Service Employees International Union.

Joining him will be the Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE HERE, a group of textile and hotel workers, according to the labor officials.

It was unclear which, if any, of the unions would take the next step and leave the AFL-CIO altogether, although CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports that Service Employees International is said to be considering a permanent break.

The four unions already had formed the Change to Win Coalition to pressure AFL-CIO President John Sweeney to undertake major changes to the federation.

The boycotting unions, which represent mainly service and retail workers, blame the steep decline in union membership on the current AFL-CIO leadership and its failure to deal with the change from an industrial based economy, Bowers reports.

"We have to change, and we believe we need more members if we're going to have an impact on helping working families have what they deserve in America," Teamsters president James P. Hoffa told CBS News.

Three others unions that are part of the dissident coalition had not planned to leave the Chicago convention: the Laborers International Union of North America, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and the United Farm Workers.

Officials said Stern's group probably would sever ties with the AFL-CIO, perhaps as early as Sunday, with hopes of bringing the Teamsters, UFCW and UNITE HERE along.

The other three unions may delay deciding whether to leave the federation, officials said.

In addition to seeking the ouster of Sweeney, leaders of the dissident unions have demanded more money for organizing and the power to force mergers of smaller unions.

Sweeney's allies contend he has taken steps to reform the AFL-CIO, meeting many of the dissidents' demands in an effort to avoid a split. They say a divided House of Labor will embolden employers and anti-union Republicans at the worst possible time for workers.

Globalization, automation and the transition from an industrial-based economy have forced hundreds of thousands out of unionized workers out of jobs, weakening labor's role in the workplace.

When the AFL-CIO formed 50 years ago, union membership was at its zenith with one of every three private-sector workers belonged to a labor group. Now, less than 8 percent of private-sector workers are unionized. Of the total work force, including government jobs, about 12 percent belong to a union.

Stern's allies and some outside labor experts note that labor reached its peak in the 1950s while the AFL and CIO were competing against each other. Still, the prospect of a dividing labor movement worries Democratic leaders who rely on the AFL-CIO's money and manpower on Election Day.

In the 2004 elections, households with union members accounted for 24 percent of the votes, and people from those households sided with Democratic candidate John Kerry by 5.8 million votes.

Unions ran nearly 260 phone banks and mailed out at least 30 million pieces of political literature in 16 states, a massive effort that primarily benefited Democrats.

"Anybody who thinks that a divided labor movement is going to make them better off ought to join George Bush's administration, because the only people who would applaud this perilous adventure is George Bush and Karl Rove," said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest union backing Sweeney.

Rove is the president's chief political adviser.

Democratic Party leaders were reluctant to take sides, fearing the wrath of whatever faction emerges strongest from the fight. Most agreed that a divided AFL-CIO would be harmful to the party in the short term. Privately, some said they could only hope that the battle jolts the House of Labor from its decades-only slump.

"Anything that sidetracks us from our goals ... is not healthy," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the House campaign committee.

Added Democratic consultant Steve Elmendorf, who has long ties to the AFL-CIO: "Obviously, if you have a disunited labor movement, you're not going to have as good of a political operation."

Labor experts predicted a rough road ahead for both factions.

"What a divided AFL-CIO would do is signal to opponents of the labor movement that the House of Labor is in disarray and therefore is vulnerable," said Gary Chaison, industrial relations professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

"Employer opposition to organizing might increase and I think that political opponents might feel emboldened, because they would see it as a sign of weakness."