By GREGORY N. HEIRES

As the ranks of the country’s union members stagnate, the AFL-CIO is deepening its commitment to organizing. Two hundred leading organizers from several unions gathered Jan. 10-11 for the AFL-CIO National Organizing Summit in Washington, D.C., where they held a remarkably frank discussion about the barriers to recruiting new members and the steps needed to resuscitate the labor movement.

AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney tacitly acknowledged that the labor movement bears much of the responsibility for the low union representation in the country. He dryly noted that the last time the AFL-CIO held a national meeting about organizing was in 1959 (before this middle-aged reporter was born).

But while unions represent less than 14 percent of the work force, Mr. Sweeney and the organizing leaders at the summit expressed optimism about the future of the labor movement. And certainly, Mr. Sweeney may claim success for putting organizing at the top of the labor movement’s agenda, whereas years ago it wasn’t even on the radar screen.

Get aboard—or get out
Speakers emphasized that unions have shifted millions of dollars of resources into organizing since Mr. Sweeney’s “New Voice” slate took over the AFL-CIO in 1997 with the support of DC 37’s national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

National and regional leaders have booted out longtime local union chiefs who refused to get with the program, and they have let go staffers who failed to adapt to the changed climate. AFSCME is involved in a successful multi-union effort that will eventually result in the unionization of 200,000 public workers in Puerto Rico. Two years ago, SEIU won a massive organizing drive of 70,000 home health-care workers in the biggest union victory since the 1930s.

Yet conferees also acknowledged that only a limited number of unions — AFSCME, SEIU, UNITE!, HERE, UAW and CWA, among others — have turned toward organizing in a big way. A turnaround in the labor movement’s numbers will require a more widespread commitment to a “culture of organizing,” a change of mentality in which activists, leaders and staff will no longer be content with just servicing members but will aggressively recruit new ones. And members will need to be deeply involved in organizing.

“We must build our labor movement faster than ever,” Mr. Sweeney said. “We are not spending enough money on organizing,” he said. Unions, he said, must “retool” themselves “from top to bottom to support organizing.” Each year, 1 million new members must be recruited to add to the percentage of the labor force represented by unions. To merely tread water, unions need to add about 300,000 members each year. Over the first six months of 2002, unions organized 200,000 new members.

In workshops, organizers shared war stories and identified pitfalls. They complained about a lack of financial and ideological commitment on the part of union leaders; employers’ growing use of anti-union law firms to thwart organizing drives; competition among unions for the same workers; opportunistic politicians who accept union political support but don’t back organizing efforts; a failure to generate community support; and labor laws that are stacked against unions.
Several participants at the conference said organizing won’t take off on a grand scale until the rank-and-file is convinced of the need to sharply expand the membership. Some organizers faulted their unions for not educating their members and the community enough.

“What we need is an army,” said Paul Booth, an assistant to the president at AFSCME. “And that can only come from within our own ranks.” Mr. Booth said AFSCME would rely heavily on universities and the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute to find organizers to help the union meet its goal of devoting 30 percent of its resources to recruiting new members. AFSCME signed up 60,000 members in 2001 and 50,000 in 2002, he said.

Despair amidst hope
Despite outbursts of anger, despair and outrage, the feeling at the summit was mainly upbeat. Discussion was rich with anecdotes about organizing victories, innovative strategies and creative organizing techniques.

Among the success stories highlighted at the conference:

• Jobs with Justice, which is known for its in-your-face organizing efforts aimed at shaming employers into recognizing unions. Jobs with Justice is active in 30 states, has collaborated with 700 local unions and worked with 260,000 workers in 123 organizing campaigns. Its success rate is 66 percent, significantly higher than the average.
• The New York State AFL-CIO, which successfully lobbied the State Legislature and Gov. George E. Pataki for “card-check” legislation. The law will allow unions to organize workers at new casinos on Native American reservations by convincing a majority to sign a card in favor of unionization rather than going through the usual cumbersome electoral process.

Stewart Acuff, the AFL-CIO organizing director, who chaired the conference, plans to use the Jan. 10-11 proceedings to present recommendations to the federation’s executive council for improvements in the labor movement’s organizing efforts.