andy's big ten : more detail on andy 's latest jive-fest

here's 
 the future  wage world 
  according 
to the stern gang .....


  hand job andy's 
      been 
to the mountain top

he's visited 
John L Lewis's grave


and 
 he's brought back  A TABLET 
        with  ten commandments 
    fot uz wagery-doos 

======================

1. Build New Strength by Stopping the "Wal-Marting" of
Jobs

Good jobs are the foundation 
of strong and healthy
families and communities. 

But today
 the Wal-Mart business model
 of providing low wages and few benefits,
shifting jobs overseas 
to exploit workers 
under poverty conditions,
 and viciously opposing
 workers' freedom to form unions
 is setting a pattern 
that undermines 
good jobs for all working people
 at home and abroad.

Principle:

 A key function 
of the AFL-CIO 
should be to
support a strategy 
to win good jobs in America
 that is larger 
than the members
 of any one union 
could accomplish on their own. 

The AFL-CIO should establish
a center to support such projects 
and should allocate
to the center 
all of its $25 million annual royalties
from Union Plus credit card purchases

 Challenging WalMart
 should be its first project


-----------------------------

2. Build New Strength 
by Leading a National Campaign
for Quality Health Care for All

Out-of-control health care costs 
and declining quality
have become one 
of the leading threats 
to every family
in America.

 At any given time,
 45 million people have
no coverage at all, 
and even those that do 
see needed
improvements in wages
 and other benefits 
undermined by
the rising cost of health care.

 Health care costs are
now a leading issue 
in virtually every strike
 or
lockout.

Principle:

 The AFL-CIO 
and 
its affiliated unions 
and
allies 
should unite behind 
an all-out national strategy
to win access 
to quality health care for all. 

The AFL-CIO should lead 
a grassroots campaign
 for this purpose 
with dedicated funding, 
campaign staff,
 and other
necessary resources.

---------------------------------
3. Build New Strength
 by Protecting Workers' Free Choice

Independent polls show 
that between 40 and 50 million
workers
 would choose to have
 a union if they could do
so without employer intimidation,
 pressure from their supervisors,
 and the threat of firing.

 The laws
protecting worker choice 
were created over 70 years ago
and need to be modernized 
for the 21st century.

Principle: The AFL-CIO 
and 
its affiliated unions 
and
allies 
must make it a top priority
 at both the national
and local level
 to reestablish 
the right of workers
 to freely choose 
to form a union without employer
interference. 

Far more resources 
and focus must be dedicated 
to that goal,
 and no elected official 
should receive labor support,
 including an AFL-CIO
endorsement, 
unless they actively support
 free choice for workers.

------------------------------------
4. Build New Strength 
in National Unions 
That Match
21st Century Employers

Today's employers are more regional, national, and
International in size.

 While they pursue united
strategies,
 workers' strength 
is divided in two key
ways.

First, workers who do the same work
 and are in the same
industry, market, or craft 
often are divided
 into multiple unions 
and have their strength divided
 in dealing with employers
 and public officials.

Second, many union members 
are divided into national unions 
that do not have 
the size, strength, resources,
and focus 
to win for workers
 against today's ever
larger employers.

Transportation union members 
are divided into 15
different unions, 
and the same is true in construction.

There are 13 unions 
with significant numbers of public
employees 
and 9 major unions in manufacturing. 
Health
care union members 
are divided into more than 
30
unions. 
In 13 of the 15 major sectors 
of the economy
there are at least 4 significant unions,
 and in 9 of those sectors 
there are at least 6 unions.

Meanwhile, only 15 of the 65
 AFL-CIO national unions
have more than 250,000 members 
and 40 have less than
100,000.

 Many of these unions,
 even with good
leadership, 
do not have the strength 
to unite more
workers in their industry 
and change workers' lives.

At the same time,
 most of the 15 largest unions 
that
now represent more than 10 million 
of the 13 million
union members 
in the AFL-CIO 
are increasingly becoming
"general unions," 
organizing pockets of workers 
in a
wide variety of industries 
and further dividing
workers' strength. 
In a recent four-year period,
 at
least 16 national unions 
each conducted organizing
elections in at least 5 different sectors.

The AFL-CIO has repeatedly produced reports 
during the
past 20 years 
recognizing the need 
for unions to have
the size, strength, 
and focus 
to win for workers in
their industry, sector or craft,
 but the leaders of
affiliated unions 
have not adopted meaningful reforms.

True union democracy 
is impossible when workers 
who do the same type of work 
and deal with the same employers
don't have the opportunity
 to decide how to pool their
strength behind common strategies.

Principle: 
The unions of the AFL-CIO 
should involve
union members 
in a process to develop 
and implement a
plan by 2006 to 

1) unite the strength of workers 
who do
the same type of work 
or are in the same industry,
sector, or craft 
to take on their employers,

 and
 2)
insure that workers are in national unions 
that have
the strength, resources, focus, and strategy 
to help
nonunion workers 
in that union's primary area of strength 
to join 
and improve 
workers' pay, benefits,
and working conditions.

To achieve these goals, 
the AFL-CIO Executive Council
should have the authority 
to recognize up to three 
lead national unions 
that have the membership, resources,
focus, and strategy 
to win in a defined industry,
craft, or employer,
 and should require 
that lead unions
produce a plan
 to win for workers 
in their area of
strength.

In consultation with the affected workers,
 the AFL-CIO
should have the authority 
to require coordinated
bargaining
 and to merge or revoke union charters,

transfer responsibilities 
to unions for whom that
industry or craft 
is their primary area of strength,
and prevent any merger
 that would further divide
workers' strength.

The unions of the AFL-CIO 
should work together 
to raise
pay and benefit standards 
in each industry.
 Where the
members of a union
 have clearly established contract
standards 
in an industry or market
 or with a particular
employer, 
no other union should be permitted 
to sign
contracts that undermine 
those standards.
-------------------------------------------
5. Build New Strength 
Where Unions
 Already Have Some
Strength

One urgent need 
is to unite all workers 
in each
industry, sector, or craft 
where union members already
have some strength.

Principle: 
Lead unions 
whose members have built
strength 
in an industry or craft
 should be required to
develop a strategic plan 
to help more workers organize
and build new strength 
and unity in that sector.

To concentrate resources 
to help carry out those
strategic plans, 
the AFL-CIO should return 
to those
unions half of what they now pay 
in AFL-CIO dues ("per
capita") each year.

 Those unions' plans 
must include
using at least 10% 
of their national union revenue for
organizing and uniting more workers 
in their particular
industry, sector, or craft by 2006, 
15% in 2008,
 and at
least 20% beginning in 2010.
 Their local unions would
have to be using at least 10%
 of their income for this
purpose by 2008
 and at least 15% by 2010.

These changes will build 
new strength for workers 
by
reallocating from union members' current dues 
at least
$2 billion 
over the next five years 
for uniting more
workers with us in each industry,
 sector or craft.

--------------------------

6. Build New Strength 
Where Unions Have Little Strength
Now

The economy has changed substantially 
in the 50 years
since the founding of the AFL-CIO.
 Globalization and
new technologies 
have reshaped work. 
In whole sectors
of the economy, such as finance, 
insurance, and non-
food retail, 
workers are in unions 
in other countries
but have less union history 
in the United States.

In addition, few workers 
have unions in certain regions
of the country, 
especially in the South, Southwest, and
Rocky Mountain states. 

That undermines standards won
in more unionized parts 
of the nation,
 produces more
anti-worker politicians 
who dominate national policy,
and makes it difficult 
to elect pro-worker candidates
in national elections.

Principle: Key unions 
that have seen massive changes 
in
their own industries 
that have left them 
with few
opportunities 
for uniting more workers
 with our
movement 
should have the option 
of being provided
additional,
 matching resources 
to focus on uniting
workers and building strength 
in new and growing
sectors.

The AFL-CIO should help workers 
create new unions in
sectors where they are needed 
and experiment with non-
traditional forms of organization 
in industries with
little history of unions.

The unions of the AFL-CIO 
should jointly develop
 a
strategy to help workers 
in highly nonunion regions to
join strong national unions 
for their industry or
craft.

7. Build New Strength in Politics

The members and unions of the AFL-CIO 
have in the last
decade become more active and effective 
in political
action. 
Using political action 
to create opportunities
for more workers 
to unite with us 
and then using that
new strength to change workers' lives through
legislation and bargaining 
is a proven and essential
strategy.

Principle: Member involvement 
and alliances with other
organizations 
that share our goals 
should be the
engines of our political action efforts.
 The AFL-CIO
should allocate 
at least 10% more resources
 to its
political member-mobilization fund 
and involve members
in achieving 

1) public policies that help more workers
unite with us 

and 

2) other major national legislative
goals, such as health care 
and good American jobs, that
improve the lives of all workers.

-----------------------------------

8. Build New Strength at the Local Level

National strategies
 to change workers' lives cannot
succeed without vibrant,
 democratic, and accountable
local labor movements. 
Uniting the strength of members
in each local union, 
in each community,
 and in
alliances with other community organizations 
is crucial
to growing stronger 
and winning changes on issues that
affect everyone.

Principle: Key leaders of the AFL-CIO's
 community-based
organizations,
 the Central Labor Councils, 
have
proposed that every local labor council
 be required to
have a strategic plan 
for political action, 
supporting
organizing campaigns
 by unions that are uniting workers
in their industry or craft, 
and developing deep and
ongoing community alliances.
 Their proposal calls for
all unions in a metropolitan area
 to be required to
participate in 
and support the local labor council, 
and
for the councils to be accountable 
to the affiliated
unions and the AFL-CIO 
for carrying out their strategic
plans. 
Their proposal also calls 
for the AFL-CIO to
ensure that each council
 is provided with training to
help carry out 
its plan and develop 
the next generation
of leaders. 
This proposal should serve
 as a starting
point for a renewed discussion 
about how to build
strong local labor movements 
and community alliances.
Consideration should also be given 
to new ways of
bringing together stewards
 and other activists from all
unions in a local area 
to help develop 
and carry out
their council's strategic plan.

9. Build New Strength
 by Drawing on Our Diversity

In today's America,
 no labor organization 
can be strong
and united 
unless it draws on 
the diversity of our workforce
 and our communities. 

The AFL-CIO and its
affiliated unions 
must be leaders 
in demonstrating that
regardless of the color of your skin,
 the language that
you speak,
 or your age, gender, 
ethnicity, sexual
orientation, disability, 
or immigration status,
 you are
empowered to play
 an active role 
as a member or leader.

Principle: The AFL-CIO 
and each of its affiliated
unions should have concrete goals 
and training programs
to insure that the diversity 
of their membership is
reflected in membership participation, 
elected
leadership, staff, 
and conventions 
and other decision-
making bodies.

10. Build New Strength 
by Uniting a Global Labor
Movement

The big corporations 
that dominate today's economy 
have
gone global,
 moving from country to country, 
without
national loyalties,
 to find and exploit the cheapest
labor.
 "American" companies 
now do much of their
production in countries 
such as China, Mexico, and
India,
 while corporations originally 
from Europe and
Japan are shifting operations
 to the U.S. 
where the
rate of unionization 
and standards for pay,
 health care
benefits, and pensions 
are so much lower.

 Global
corporations have won trade agreements 
that make it
easier for them to move production
 from place to place,
while providing no rights 
to help workers improve pay,
working conditions, and job security.
 The result of
globalization 
is that workers 
in any one country cannot
set and maintain high labor standards
 without uniting
to raise standards everywhere.

Principle: U.S. unions 
must join with others
 around the
world to form a global labor movement
 that unites
workers by industry, sector, and craft
 to have the
strength to win for workers 
for common employers.
Friendly relationships
 between national labor
federations, 
along with occasional international
expressions 
of support during particular union crises,
are not enough.

 Unions in each country 
that have the
focus and the capacity 
to effectively use resources
 to
build strength in their industry 
or craft must jointly
carry out international strategies 
to unite all the
workers in their area of strength 
to win higher
standards and stop
 the corporations' global race to the
bottom.

 In addition, a new global labor movement
 must
fight for trade agreements
 that raise labor and
environmental standards 
to the highest level 
instead of
bringing them down to the lowest.



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