LAS VEGAS, March 3 - The president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. came out of its annual winter meeting on Thursday having fought back, at least for now, the biggest internal challenge he has confronted since taking the federation's helm a decade ago.þþNot only did the labor leader, John J. Sweeney, round up a majority of union presidents on Wednesday to defeat proposals by dissidents that would have cut the headquarters budget by $35 million, some 50 percent, and returned that money to individual unions for organizing. He also won preliminary support at the meeting for his own proposal seeking a major increase, to $45 million a year, in the amount the federation spends on political and legislative activities.þþÿI have been a champion of change throughout my years in labor,ÿ Mr. Sweeney said at a news conference Thursday as he trumpeted his victory and promised an aggressive effort to win re-election this summer and revive the movement.þþBut the challenges will no doubt continue as Mr. Sweeney begins running for a new four-year term. And his critics say that despite prevailing here, he has been weakened: in a direct slap at his leadership, support for a deep cut in the federation's budget came from several of the largest unions, representing 40 percent of its membership.þþThe A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s biggest member organization, the Service Employees International Union, is still threatening to bolt unless the federation does far more to step up organizing. Further, three of the federation's four largest unions vow to continue their efforts to cut its budget sharply, saying they want to shake it out of complacency. And John W. Wilhelm, president of the hotel and restaurant employees' union, is threatening to challenge Mr. Sweeney in the election for federation president, this July.þþThe dissidents say that Mr. Sweeney's leadership has grown tired and that the federation has done far too little to reverse a decline in which unions now represent only 12.5 percent of all workers in the private sector, compared with 35 percent in the 1950's.þþWhen Mr. Sweeney was first elected president, in 1995, he pledged to serve no more than 10 years. Now, at age 70, he says he is the best candidate to unite organized labor and move it forward.þþIn an effort to lay out his vision, he offered more new proposals in the last week that at any other time in his presidency. þþFor one thing, he promoted transforming and expanding labor's political programs so that they become permanent rather than merely materializing just before elections for Congress and the White House. He promised that organized labor would spearhead opposition to President Bush's plan for personal accounts within Social Security.þþIn addition, he pushed through a proposal to strengthen the dozens of state and local labor councils so that they are more effective politically and in helping unions to organize. And he made initial proposals to encourage the merging of unions and to create clearer lines so that they do not undercut one another in organizing and negotiating contracts.þþÿWe're certainly focused on change in the labor movement,ÿ he said at the news conference Thursday. ÿWe've taken some big first steps here in the direction that we hope to be going.ÿ þþMr. Sweeney's allies say he has shown strong leadership - the best way, they say, for him not only to turn back the internal challenges he faces but also to deal with the biggest challenge of all, the long decline in labor's power.þþÿWhen you're facing a challenge, you show people what you're really made of, and John has certainly done that,ÿ said one Sweeney ally, Gerald W. McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.þþAt the root of the struggle within labor are profound differences over how to reinvigorate it. Andrew L. Stern, the service employees' president, wants far more done to increase organizing and would radically remake the structure of the labor movement through aggressive efforts at union mergers.þþMr. Sweeney, while calling for more organizing, wants the federation to put emphasis on a political route, saying unions need allies in Congress and statehouses to win legislation and the appointment of regulators who can create a more favorable organizing climate.þþMr. Stern has threatened to pull his 1.7-million-member union out of the federation and to ÿbuild something stronger.ÿ Those threats generated widespread anger at the winter meeting, but even some of his opponents grudgingly thank him for stirring a fierce debate about what needs to be done.þþSome leaders who backed the effort to cut the unions' financing of the federation have said privately that they will support Mr. Wilhelm if he challenges Mr. Sweeney for president, believing that he would do more to shake up the movement. Mr. Wilhelm's supporters say he is a brilliant organizer and speaker; his critics say he has little experience running a large organization or staff.þþOn Thursday, Mr. Wilhelm again declined to say whether he would run against Mr. Sweeney. But, sounding much like a candidate, he was unusually chatty with reporters, talking about the ÿcomplacencyÿ of the federation, the crisis he saw facing organized labor and the squeeze on the middle class.þþÿThere is an uncomfortable number of people at the top levels of the labor movement who think a little change of rhetoric is sufficient,ÿ Mr. Wilhelm said.þþMr. Sweeney acknowledged at his news conference that Mr. Wilhelm might run against him. Mr. Sweeney has said he has the votes to win, but some allies of Mr. Wilhelm say that if he declares, he will start with the backing of unions representing more than 25 percent of the federation's membership.þþÿI always run,ÿ Mr. Sweeney said, ÿas if I'm in the toughest battle of my life.ÿþþ
Source: NY Times
