SEIU Bolts AFL-CIO

Service Employees International Union president Andy Stern answers questions from reporters at a press conference for the Change to Win Coalition, Sunday, July 24, 2005, in Chicago. Four major unions representing one-third of the AFL-CIO’s 13 million members decided to boycott the organizations convention, which begins Monday

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has decided to bolt from the AFL-CIO. The ASSociated press has, Largest Union Decides to Bolt AFL-CIO.

The AFL-CIO succumbed to division Sunday, with its largest union deciding to bolt the 50-year-old federation and three others poised to do so in a dispute over how to reverse organized labor’s long slide.

The four unions, representing nearly one-third of the AFL-CIO’s 13 million members, announced Sunday they would boycott the federation’s convention that begins Monday. They are part of the Coalition to Win, a group of seven unions vowing to reform the labor movement – outside the AFL-CIO if necessary.

The Service Employees International Union, with 1.8 million members, plans to announce Monday that it is leaving the AFL-CIO, said several labor officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the developments.

The Teamsters union also was on the verge of disaffiliating, and would likely to be the first to follow SEIU’s lead, the officials said. Two other boycotting unions were likely to leave the federation: United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE HERE, a group of textile and hotel workers.

This is probably NOT good news for the union movement nor the Democrat Party.

Jaques Loveall, vice president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union pumps his fist at a press conference for the Change to Win Coalition, Sunday, July 24, 2005, in Chicago. Four major unions representing one-third of the AFL-CIO’s 13 million members decided to boycott the organizations convention, which begins Monday