AFL-CIO and Building Trades Elect Leaders at 2005 Conventions

Kevin Manning/ St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BAC President John J. Flynn, left, with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

In late July and early August, union members and leaders came together for Conventions of the AFL-CIO and the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD). BAC was represented by President John J. Flynn, Secretary Treasurer James Boland, and Executive Vice Presidents Ken Lambert, Gerald O’Malley, and Gerard Scarano, as well as several Local officers.

AFL-CIO Convention: Leadership to Reflect Diversity of Membership

In late July, union representatives gathered at the AFL-CIO’s Convention in Chicago, which marked the 50th anniversary of the merger of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. More than 800 delegates representing the unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO attended the Convention where AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, and Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson ran unopposed for reelection.

Convention delegates instituted a number of structural changes to the governance of the AFL-CIO. These included reducing the size of the Executive Council from 54 to 46 seats, reserving 15 seats for under-represented groups to ensure diversity; and empowering the Council’s Executive Committee (composed of 19 union leaders including 10 of the largest unions) to advise the AFL-CIO between meetings of the Executive Council.

“The leadership of the union movement needs to accurately reflect the diversity of our membership and communities,” said Sweeney. “We must lead the way for employers and government on openness, fairness, and opportunity.”

Convention delegates also implemented a Constitutional Amendment to allocate resources for state federations and central labor councils affected by the disaffiliation of the SEIU and Teamsters. The Convention urged unions to merge, when appropriate, to increase union bargaining strength and has set up a Blue Ribbon Panel to study and recommend such mergers.

“What these changes will mean for the labor movement is still unclear, but in the short-term, BAC was able to make progress at the Convention to protect our interests and get some issues of concern to our Union and members addressed,” BAC President John J. Flynn told the Executive Council at its fall meeting. Specifically, he noted that BAC led the successful effort to omit the building trades from Industry Coordinating Committee proposal, because it would have threatened BAC’s trade jurisdiction. As a result of BAC’s effort, President Sweeny wrote a letter making it clear that the Building Trades Department has sole authority to regulate any ICCs in the construction industry. The BAC delegation also successfully fought to provide representation for smaller unions on the AFL-CIO Executive Committee.

Building Trades Host 67th Convention

Boston, Massachusetts was host to the 67th Convention of the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department in early August. Over 300 delegates representing the building trades unions and state councils attended the Convention.

BCTD President Edward C. Sullivan and Secretary-Treasurer Joseph Maloney were elected to another five-year term. Sullivan thanked the General Presidents for their work to preserve solidarity within the Building Trades, and
reinforced the need to remain united to improve the industry’s organizing and political efforts. Just weeks after his reelection, however, Maloney announced that he would step down from his post on October 31st due to family health concerns.

The active participation in the BCTD Convention by BAC leaders allowed several issues of concern to be acted on in BAC’s favor, including:

• Having a resolution that would have allowed the Building Trades to collect a cents-per-hour fee on national agreements withdrawn;
• Having a resolution calling on the Building Trades Department to audit affiliates withdrawn;
• Stopping a resolution mandating that local unions affiliate with state and provincial trades councils;
• Amending a resolution concerning asbestos legislation to protect the rights of silicosis victims.

AFL-CIO President Sweeney told attendees, “The unions of the building trades are the heart of the AFL-CIO and have been for nearly 100 years…You are the stand-up leaders of the union movement.”