andy jumps

sleeves here :



  the purple tide just left the building 

             bluff ?


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

  San Francisco

  The board of the nation's largest labor union on
  Saturday gave its leadership the authority to break
  away from the AFL-CIO, citing a "fundamental and
  apparently irreconcilable disagreement" over how to
  rebuild the ailing labor movement.

  Meeting in San Francisco, the executive board of
  the 1.8 million-member Service Employees
  International Union authorized its executive
  committee to decide if and when to "disaffiliate"
  from the AFL-CIO, though no decision has been made
  about whether SEIU will leave the federation, said
  spokesman Ben Boyd.

  The board said it acted after executive boards of
  local unions representing 70 percent of SEIU
  membership adopted resolutions authorizing
  disaffiliation from the AFL-CIO, the national
  federation of more than 50 unions formed five
  decades at the height of organized labor's power.

  "The union movement must focus on uniting with the
  9 out of 10 workers who have no union," the board
  said in a statement. "We cannot help workers make
  major advances in each industry as long as the AFL-
  CIO structure and rules condone and reward union
  strategies that divide workers' strength in each
  industry."

  AFL-CIO officials could be reached for comment on
  Saturday.

  The SEIU board's move comes as labor leaders debate
  how to reform the labor movement and stem a steep
  decline in union membership. While more than 30
  percent of American workers belonged to unions 50
  years ago, only about 12 percent are union members
  today.

  Labor leaders blame a variety of factors - trade
  agreements, poor enforcement of labor laws,
  Republican tax policies and the shift away from an
  industrial-based economy.

  SEIU leaders have threatened to leave the AFL-CIO
  unless the federation commits to a dramatic
  reorganization. The SEIU wants the AFL-CIO to cut
  its budget by more than 50 percent and use the
  savings to boost organizing by member unions.

  "We fundamentally think the AFL should devote more
  time, energy and resources to organizing," Boyd
  said Saturday. "But it's not just about AFL
  resources. It's about structural reforms and how
  you achieve those growth goals."

  AFL-CIO President Sweeney, who faces a tough re-
  election bid this summer, has said he's done plenty
  to increase membership over the past ten years, and
  has pledged to do more.

  During a speech Monday in St. Louis, Sweeney said
  he supports restructuring the AFL-CIO to build more
  powerful state and local labor movements, while
  creating a permanent way to mobilize members to
  organize, carry out political activities and back
  up contract campaigns and strikes.