more moige tripe

the  big print shops 
are all a blaze 
with purple ink these days

seems our cousin andy 
is todays 
 darling of the liberal  wing
  of the  haute  middle klass 

with  his latest
master plan in ten points
andy boy gets
to wear the liberal press gang's 
"  biggest boldest 
union  maverick "crown
               

  at least for the moment...... 

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Angered by  cases of
-----------" yellow union rat outs"----------------
 Andrew L. Stern  
has ignited a debate throughout the labor movement
 by arguing that labor needs 
a sweeping overhaul,
 including the merger 
of many unions
 and a vast increase 
in organizing,
to reverse its long decline.

Last week, Mr. Stern,
 president of the Service Employees International Union,
 called on the A.F.L.-C.I.O. 
to adopt a 10-point plan,
 and the debate he began 
could lead to the most far-reaching changes
 in the labor movement in a half-century

Mr. Stern complained 
that unions were doing far too little
 to help American workers
 because they were organizing
 too few workers
and were often undercutting one another 
in negotiations. 

He also complained 
that many unions were too small
 to contend with giant companies, 
noting that 40 of the 60 unions 
in the A.F.L.-C.I.O. 
had fewer than 100,000 members. 

Mr. Stern,
called for the  60 unions to merge 
into fewer than 20,
 so that each would be large enough
 to square off against
 big corporations. 

Alarmed that labor's ranks 
are shrinking,
he also proposed that the A.F.L.-C.I.O., 
whose unions represent 13 million workers,
 be authorized to set ambitious goals 
on how much money each union 
should spend on organizing. 


He made his call for change
 a week after President Bush won re-election,
 notwithstanding labor's all-out efforts
 to defeat him.
 Many union leaders
 agree that labor badly needs 
to take steps to reverse its decline,
 but they favor far less sweeping 
and painful change than Mr. Stern advocates. 

He has warned
 that unless the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
 embraces bold changes,
 his union,
 with more than 1.6 million members, 
may leave the federation.

The director of the U.C.L.A. Labor Center
, Kent Wong,
 said labor's weakened state 
has had important repercussions. 

"Unions put together a very impressive campaign 
to unseat George Bush,''
 Professor Wong said.
 "But the reality is 
when they represent just 13 percent
 of the work force, 
even with their huge effort,
 they were unable to prevail." 

He suggested that if unions represented 
more of the work force, 
like the 22 percent level
 it did three decades ago,
 the Democrats might have 
won the election.

Mr. Stern's proposals have set off 
a fierce debate. 
Some labor leaders 
have accused him 
of arrogantly seeking 
to dictate to others.
 Many accuse him 
of favoring a top-down approach 
in which the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
 would tell long-autonomous unions
 what to do. 

Mr. Stern's plan would,
 for example, 
force unions to recruit
 members only in their core industries,
 barring them from raiding 
those where other unions dominate. 

Some labor leaders 
say Mr. Stern
wants service unions 
to dominate the A.F.L-C.I.O. 
at the expense 
of fast-shrinking manufacturing unions.
 The president of the machinists' union,
 R. Thomas Buffenbarger,
 has even threatened 
to quit the federation 
if Mr. Stern gets his way. 

Some labor leaders
 complain that Mr. Stern's proposals
 to merge unions 
would allow the big fish 
to swallow the little fish.
 His defenders say 
the heads of some small unions, 
despite their puny bargaining power,
 oppose mergers
 because they desperately want 
to cling to their positions,
 power and salaries. 


"Stern is absolutely right
 that the status quo isn't acceptable,
 that it's a recipe for oblivion,"
 Paul F. Clark,
 a professor of labor relations
 at Penn State University, said.

 "But I don't see how the consolidations 
he's calling for will get done.
 You'll find resistance 
because a lot of union leaders
 don't want to give any 
           of their power to the A.F.L.-C.I.O."

 John W. Wilhelm,
 the longtime president 
of HERE
the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees 
International Union,
 which merged last summer 
with Unite,
 the textile and clothing  workers' union,
 urged leaders of other small unions 
to follow his example. 

"The fundamental problem is that
 too many unions don't have the resources 
to meet the challenges," 
Mr. Wilhelm said.
 "We're dealing with global corporations
 in virtually every industry.
 I was very proud of our union. 
We had 265,000 members.
 We were doing great stuff. 
But we didn't have the size,
 strength and resources that we needed."

How far Mr. Stern goes 
with his push for change 
will depend on his one-time mentor,
 John J. Sweeney, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

If Mr. Sweeney, 
Mr. Stern's predecessor 
as head of the service employees,
 pushes hard to sell the proposals 
to other unions, 
the federation's executive council 
might adopt many of  them 
at its meeting in February. 

Last week, Mr. Sweeney said 
a new committee he heads 
would take a hard look 
at proposals by Mr. Stern 
and others and 
would make far-reaching recommendations.

"It will be a very serious effort," 
he said. 
"The labor movement has through the years 
tried to change with changing times." 

He said there might be resistance. 

"We have to recognize and acknowledge
 the fact that individual unions are autonomous," 
Mr. Sweeney said. 
"There may be some differences 
of opinion about the degree of change."

Larry Cohen,
executive vice president 
of the Communications Workers of America,
 who is widely expected 
to win its presidency next year,
 has his own proposals,
 which focus on expanding
 the right to bargain collectively.
 He complained that many companies
 break the law in fighting unionizing 
and that public employees 
in many states 
do not have the right
 to form unions. 
"What we should focus on 
is strengthening bargaining power,"

 he said.

In Mr. Stern's view,
 one factor undercutting bargaining power 
is that in some industries 
10 or more unions are active
 and often trip over,
 and undercut, one another.
 He has proposed giving the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
 the power to designate two or three unions 
in each industry 
to take the lead in bargaining and organizing.

To show how well this strategy can work,
 S.E.I.U. officials point to a contract
 approved recently by many workers
 at the Valley Medical Center in Renton, Wash.
 Four unions represent workers at the hospital,
 and they agreed that the service employees,
 which represents the registered nurses 
and some other employees 
and is the largest union at the hospital,
 should lead the talks. 

The service employees 
btained an agreement 
that its members would not have to pay
 health insurance premiums,
 paving the way for similar provisions
 in contracts for the other unions, 
many of whose members
 had previously paid about $1,000 a year
 for family coverage.

"This shows that if you have a dominant union 
that's willing to fight 
and sets a standard,
 management usually has to bring everybody up,"
 said Diane Sosne,
president of District 1199 Northwest. 

Shannon Halme,
 an official with a union
 for Valley Medical office 
and clerical workers,
 said:
 "I don't think we could have gotten
 this by ourselves.
 We flew on the coattails
 of what the nurses got."



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