AFL-CIO in Turmoil As Big Unions Bolt Departure of teamsters and service employees sets stage for building trades showdown
With less than two weeks between the end of the AFL-CIO convention and the start of the Building and Construction Trades Dept. conclave, BCTD leaders are meeting to reshape resolutions that will be considered following the departure of the teamsters and carpenters.
The teamsters, along with the service employees union, withdrew from the AFL-CIO on July 25, the first day of the labor federations 50th constitutional convention in Chicago. The carpenters left the AFL-CIO in 2001 but had been given a convention deadline to reaffiliate. AFL-CIO and BCTD leaders have been perfectly clear: They will uphold the federations constitution, which requires AFL-CIO membership in order for a union to participate in an affiliated department. "The rules are what the rules are," says a BCTD official. Its meeting opens in Boston on Aug. 9.