Friday, April 29, 2005
News From the AFL: Dying Union Admits it is in Tremendous Financial Trouble
The American economy has been destroyed over a period of decades by the machinations of unions - including the head honcho of aggravation, the AFL-CIO. Formed as Communist fronts during the 1920s and 1930s, these two groups collaborated to form a mighty destructive machine, forcing hundreds of thousands of American jobs to vanish here in the US and then materialize in such union-friendly places as Mexico and China. When you see "Made in China" on something you buy today, you have the AFL-CIO and its brother unions to thank for it.
So when news comes out that the union is not only in massive financial trouble but so is its nascent leader, John Sweeney, a sickeningly disgusting liberal, one can smile with the satisfaction that what goes around comes around:
AFL-CIO Has Money Problems; Labor Federation Could Be Forced to Lay Off Staff, President Acknowledges
Sweeney's end as head of the union is coming, and coming fast. Whether the union picks a younger man to succeed him or a member of the old guard, the union will still see a waning of its influence.
40 years ago a union endorsement for a political candidate mattered. Today, it draws not even the raise of an eyebrow except by the laughable liberal media.
The American economy has been destroyed over a period of decades by the machinations of unions - including the head honcho of aggravation, the AFL-CIO. Formed as Communist fronts during the 1920s and 1930s, these two groups collaborated to form a mighty destructive machine, forcing hundreds of thousands of American jobs to vanish here in the US and then materialize in such union-friendly places as Mexico and China. When you see "Made in China" on something you buy today, you have the AFL-CIO and its brother unions to thank for it.
So when news comes out that the union is not only in massive financial trouble but so is its nascent leader, John Sweeney, a sickeningly disgusting liberal, one can smile with the satisfaction that what goes around comes around:
AFL-CIO Has Money Problems; Labor Federation Could Be Forced to Lay Off Staff, President Acknowledges
AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney, who is facing challenges from some of the labor federation's largest member unions, yesterday acknowledged that the organization is financially squeezed and may have to lay off a quarter of its workforce.
Sweeney, who was first elected in 1995 as an insurgent who promised to increase the percentage of the workforce represented by unions, has presided over a decade of union decline. Signs of the AFL-CIO's precarious financial condition could make Sweeney more vulnerable to challenges to his leadership at the federation's July convention in Chicago.
Sweeney's goal in a teleconference with reporters was to focus on efforts by the AFL-CIO to halt the decline in union membership. "We must increase the size of our membership and restore union density -- especially in key industries -- or no other strategies to strengthen our movement will work," the federation said in a report released yesterday.
In the nearly 50 years since the AFL-CIO was created by a merger of two labor federations, union membership fell from about 33 percent of the workforce to 12.5 percent. The decline of organized labor has a ripple effect in the economy because union members usually receive higher pay and better benefits than unorganized workers in their industries. Labor's weakness has damaged the strength of its ally, the Democratic Party, and weakened the lobbying muscle of labor in Washington and in state capitals.
Sweeney's end as head of the union is coming, and coming fast. Whether the union picks a younger man to succeed him or a member of the old guard, the union will still see a waning of its influence.
40 years ago a union endorsement for a political candidate mattered. Today, it draws not even the raise of an eyebrow except by the laughable liberal media.
