Two of America’s largest unions, representing 2.5 million workers, broke away from the AFL-CIO Monday in an effort to change the philosophical direction of the labor movement.
The Teamsters, the SEIU and five other unions have formed a coalition called Change to Win, with a mission to dramatically emphasize organizing over supporting like-minded politicians, which has been the pattern of the AFL-CIO, with poor to mixed results in recent elections.
UNITE HERE and UFCW may follow. The Teamsters and SEIU will, among other things, focus on organizing non-union firms like Wal-Mart. In other words, they will be far more militant than the asleep at the wheel AFL-CIO.