A thousand unionists gathered June 7-10 in Minneapolis for the 30th Constitutional Convention of the AFL-CIO. Clad in lanyards and union t-shirts, delegates and alternates from all 50 states and Puerto Rico discussed policy, learned about emerging issues, and were inspired to double down on advocacy for working families.
They came home with a list of priorities for action to build power (see “Labor’s To-do List,” below). The convention may be over, but the work begins now.
We learned about how AI is threatening not only the number of jobs, but also, the condition of workers impacted and monitored by it. We were dazzled by stories of our victories and struggles: Delta flight attendant organizing; the Minneapolis coalition response to the federal government’s “invasion” by ICE; organizing efforts that have driven union membership to its highest level in 16 years.
Delegates heard from such stars as Sean Astin, President of SAG-AFTRA; Brooke Shields, President of Actors Equity; Dolores Huerta, the 96-year-old labor leader and feminist activist is who still going strong; and Julie Su, former acting Secretary of Labor in the Biden Administration.
We celebrated the formation of the AFL-CIO Sports Council and visited the union-built Minnesota Vikings stadium. We heard from our siblings whose passions and power plays on behalf of working people gave us models to emulate and movements to support. Many of us also traveled to the site of George Floyd’s murder, to pay our respects.
We stayed in union hotels, were protected by union security, strolled through union exhibitions, and danced to union music. We walked our talk in every way.
We also re-elected the dynamic team of Liz Shuler, Oregonian and first woman president of the AFL-CIO, and Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer, who has been called the “conscience of the labor movement.” They will lead this coalition of 15 million workers for the next five years.
These four days were all about inspiration and that oft-uttered word “solidarity.” Though internal divisions often plague us, our federation chose to emphasize those things we have in common, our shared values, our fundamental purpose for uniting. By emphasizing who our common foe is and what the work must be to prevail over it, this conference recentered the work on standing up to the billionaire class, the anti-union corporations, and the political forces that threaten workers and our very democracy.
The plea — no, the expectation — is that all of us take home a renewed focus on our shared interests and not on our episodic division. The method: an intense drive to organize not only in workplaces, but in political spaces as well. Ours is a movement that has made an art form of coalition building; it is in this work that the forces that seek to silence us will be met and overcome.
We heard that from Derrick Johnson, CEO of the NAACP. We heard it from union rock stars such as UAW President Shawn Fain, AFGE President Everett Kelley, and AFT President Randi Weingarten. And we heard it in the comments of some of our own, including Oregon Labor Federation President Graham Trainor and AFM Local 99 Secretary-Treasurer Mont Chris Hubbard, both of whom took their turns at the mic.
Maybe the best quotation of the entire convention came from a leader who declared that “unionism isn’t a vending machine where you put in money and get your candy. It’s more like a gym membership where you have to put in the work to see the benefit.” Informed and inspired, 1,000 delegates returned to their respective homes to do just that.
Laurie Wimmer is executive secretary-treasurer of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council.
Labor’s To-Do List
- AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler set a target of organizing 2 million new union members over the next five years.
- She called on our labor coalition to recruit and mobilize an army of unionists to canvass for pro-worker candidates to prevail in the November general election.
- AFL-CIO will increase its focus and funding on local union organizations engaged in state and city political efforts, because strong state and city governments are key to fighting threats against workers.
- Because unions are the only institution with a positive view from voters, according to opinion polls, we should use this goodwill to ensure that our issues and candidates win.
- Shuler challenged members to boost the 14 million union households who voted last time to 16 million this election.
- Because this White House is headed by the biggest union-buster in our country’s history, firing 317,000 federal workers and obliterating the contracts of 1 million more, changing the leadership of Congress is essential to block further erosion.
- Auto Workers President Shawn Fain urged unions to contribute directly to pro-union candidates rather than to party campaign committees, “to put our money where it counts.”
- Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, urged unionists to stop the billionaire-funded and corporatist forces from taking over the country, but to do it “through organizing and non-violence.”
- To combat voter suppression efforts, AFL-CIO wants 50,000 election protectors dispatched to the field or to staff hotlines taking calls about voter intimidation and repression. Shuler wants unionists to start showing up at every voting place ICE appears.
