We'll Build A Mighty Union

After 70 years, the AFL-CIO seems on the verge of a breakup.

Everything runs in cycles. Birth, growth, development, stagnation, death. For some reason, though, I felt that organized labor in the United States was immune.

For at least ten years, the only union to be "out front" on women's issues, diversity and other key concerns was the SEIU. No coincidence that they were also the only one showing any decent growth rates.

I bargained with the SEIU in Florida a few years ago. They, like most unions, suffered from internal divisions of opinion, member apathy and, most poignantly, operating in a right-to-work state (where they had to "earn their wings every day" in order to be paid dues by their constituents).

They were an interesting bunch. As they might documentably represent the "best" in American organized labor, they did not do so well, actually. But at least they gestured in the direction of understanding the needs and interests of their members, and responding to them.

And now they allegedly want out of the AFL-CIO. My view is that the AFL-CIO, already shrinking steadily, will now fall apart with this withdrawal.

Actually, my question would be whether the SEIU, freed of the obligations to the AFL-CIO, will redefine American labor. It's possible.

But I would not bet on it without some serious oddsmaking concessions.