Teamsters Make Bold Proposals to Save AFL-CIO

Teamsters Make Bold Proposals to Save AFL-CIO

Restructuring Plan Would Increase Resources Devoted To Organizing

December 8, 2004

Key Documents:

• The Teamster Plan (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader)

• General Executive Board Resolution on Teamsters Union Proposal to Restructure AFL-CIO

• A Vision for Change: A Statement of Principle

• PBS NewsHour Examines Labor Movement Revitalization

• DetNews: Hoffa's Demand: Fix AFL-CIO

• NYTimes: Teamsters Offer Plan to Reshape Labor Future

• AP: Labor Splits on Focus on AFL-CIO's Efforts

(Washington, D.C.) – The Teamsters General Executive Board today endorsed a bold plan presented by General President James P. Hoffa to restructure the AFL-CIO to focus more resources on organizing. The plan would unite the broadest coalition of AFL-CIO affiliates at the same time as it would dramatically streamline the AFL-CIO so that greater resources could be focused on growing the labor movement.

The Teamster Planincludes the following key elements:

• Streamline the national AFL-CIOby eliminating those functions that are duplicated by the affiliates or which are more appropriately done by the affiliates;
• Reduce the effective per capita taxby half for those unions that allocate a minimum of 10 percent of their national union dues revenue to organizing, and devote rebated resources to organizing in core industries;
• Create incentives to accelerate the merger processin order to create economies of scale and free-up more resources for organizing;
• Reform AFL-CIO jurisdictional dispute mechanismsto establish area standards in key industries and sectors to inhibit unions from growing their unions by undercutting contract standards established by other unions;
• Streamline AFL-CIO state and local field operations and structuresby eliminating bureaucratic duplication of effort and resources between central and state bodies and the national AFL-CIO;
• Cut the size of the AFL-CIO Executive Committeeand give it real governing authority so that the largest AFL-CIO affiliates, not the AFL-CIO leadership alone, are able to have a real impact on policy; and
• Develop a strategic political and organizing plan for “swing states”to increase union membership and political influence in order to produce a pro-labor White House and Congress in future elections.

“Combined with other important proposals—such as focusing our political efforts on building a movement for national health care and a workers right to union representation, expanding our efforts in new sectors and globally, developing stronger shop steward structures, and many others—we believe our restructuring proposals will allow us to build a more unified and more effective labor movement,” Hoffa said. “We hope that these proposals will contribute to the process that will lead to a stronger labor movement as we head into the coming AFL-CIO Convention and we look forward to discussing them with our brothers’ and sisters’ throughout the movement in the weeks and months to come.”

For a copy of the Teamsters proposals, go to www.teamster.org.