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LOCAL News :: Labor

AFL-CIO Convention: A Revolt by the CLCs and State Feds

Maybe the Federation's top officers are going to need to hire a mass police force or enforcement bureau. Because the word at the convention is that many big Central Labor Council and State Feds are not going to be kicking out SEIU and Teamsters' locals.
I chatted with my buddy Mark McKenzie, a firefighter and long-time president of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO. He said that he has 5,000 SEIU members in New Hampshire, about 25 percent of his per capita payments. "It would be an enormous loss. I don't know what we're going to do. I think SEIU wants to work with us. This is a fight that's happening at the national level. This is not our fight."

Mark said he would follow the rules but I didn't get the sense that he's going to go out of his way to boot his SEIU and Teamsters affiliates out of his council. He also pointed to Maine, where a referendum is on the state ballot to turn Maine into a right-to-work state. The Maine state federation secretary-treasurer is from SEIU--would it make sense to force such an important player from the state fed just as a life-or-death struggle begins in Maine over union rights?

And, as I was talking to Mark, the head of a big city central labor council wandered by. He was pretty adamant--"It's the national's fight. It's going to be up to them to make me throw anyone out of my council. And I talked to a lot of other big city council presidents and with only one or two exceptions, all of them said they are not going to throw SEIU or Teamsters or anyone else that leave the Federation out of their council.
 
 

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