IN THE NEWS - Major Labor Unions Leave the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

IN THE NEWS - Major Labor¹ Unions Leave the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Saturday, July 30, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Organized labor in America split² apart this week. On Monday, two major unions announced that they are cutting ties with the nation's biggest labor group, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. The two unions are the Service Employees International and the Teamsters.

This was supposed to be a week to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. at its convention³ in Chicago. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. is the American Federation⁴ of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Its president, John Sweeney, says a divided labor movement hurts the hopes of working families for a better life.

 
John Sweeney
On Friday Mister Sweeney got more bad news, this time from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. Its leaders said they are taking their more than one million members out of the federation.

Until Monday, the A.F.L.-C.I.O represented fifty-six unions with thirteen million members. It will lose more than four million of them with the loss of the three unions. Others could follow.

The Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters are part of a group called the Change to Win Coalition⁵. This is a group of seven unions. Labor experts say the coalition has brought more than half the new members into the A.F.L.-C.I.O. in the past ten years.

Andrew Stern⁶ is president of the service employees union. Mister Stern says the American economy has changed but the labor movement has not. To survive, he says, unions must expand efforts to organize workers in areas like health care. Mister Stern says the Change to Win Coalition can appeal to more workers than the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

Officials of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. say the dissident unions are trying to seize power.

The dissidents say the federation spends too much on political campaigns. They say it does not spend enough on efforts to stop losses in union membership⁷. They want John Sweeney to retire.

But on Thursday Mister Sweeney won a fourth term as president. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. this week also approved reform measures including more than twenty million dollars for local organizing efforts.

Fifty years ago, one-third of privately⁸ employed workers were in a union. By nineteen eighty-three, it was down to twenty percent. Now it is around half that. Unions were strongest when there were plenty of manufacturing jobs. Service-related jobs are now the big target for labor organizers.

But organized labor has lost much of its political power, traditionally tied to the Democratic Party. Unions have lost one battle after another. They failed to stop the North American Free Trade Agreement. And, just this week, Congress gave final passage to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, though by only two votes.

CAFTA will lower trade barriers for American exports to six countries. Unions expressed concern for American jobs and for Central American labor protections.

To learn more about the labor movement, listen to THIS IS AMERICA on September fifth -- Labor Day in the United States.

IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Nancy Steinbach.  I'm Steve Ember.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

3 convention   

n.惯例，习俗，常规，会议，大会

参考例句：

• How many delegates have checked in at the convention?大会已有多少代表报到？
• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 stern   

adj.严厉的，严格的，严峻的；n.船尾

参考例句：

• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
• The headmaster ruled the school with a stern discipline.校长治校严谨。

7 membership   

n.成员资格，会员全体，从属关系

参考例句：

• I must renew my membership of the sailing club.我必须延续我的航海俱乐部会员的资格。
• He made up his mind to apply for membership in the Party.他决心申请入党。

8 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。