Laborers Join In Disaffiliation From AFL-CIO

Laborers Join In Disaffiliation From AFL-CIO

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

The Laborers' International Union, already a member of the breakaway Change to Win coalition, announced May 22 that it would disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO June 1.

The union took with it 365,000 active members, 200,000 retired members and 50,000 associate members, costing the AFL-CIO approximately $3 million in annual dues.

Other Defectors

That's on top of the six million workers and retirees the AFL-CIO lost last year when the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, the United Farm Workers, and UNITE HERE - an amalgamation of textile and industrial employees with hotel and restaurant employees - disaffiliated.

Those unions and the Laborers, citing disagreements with AFL-CIO officials over organizing and leadership, formed the Change to Win Coalition.

Laborers' General President Terence M. O'Sullivan, who left the AFL-CIO executive council last year, said then it would be only a matter of time before his union officially broke away.

Richard Greer, a spokesman for the Laborers', told reporters after the disaffiliation was announced that the union was going "to put all our efforts and focus on uniting millions of construction workers who are struggling to improve their lives."

The Laborers' Union delayed its departure for a few months to resolve some internal issues, said Mr. Greer. The union was reportedly concerned over the impact disaffiliation would have on its 50,000 mail handler members, who as of June 1 are divided from the remainder of the nation's postal workers unions belonging to the AFL-CIO.

Denise Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the federation, said the move was disappointing but not surprising.

"We think that with everything working people are facing today, we need a united labor movement," she said.