WASHINGTON (AP) — The Service Employees International Union is returning to the AFL-CIO after 20 years, betting that a united labor movement will do more to lend a hand workers overcome legal challenges to organizing and joining unions.
The leaders of the union groups each unanimously approved the merger Wednesday and planned to formally announce the merger at a roundtable discussion Thursday in Austin, Texas, with workers seeking to become union members. There are approximately 2 million SEIU workers in health care, janitorial and food service sectors, among others. Their addition would bring the total number of AFL-CIO members to nearly 15 million and lend a hand enhance the political clout of a federation that already consists of 60 unions.
Both AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and SEIU President April Verrett were careful to emphasize in interviews Wednesday that the combination was not a result of Republican Donald Trump’s victory in the November election and his return to the White House.
But their shared goal is to be a political presence in a Trump-dominated Washington that has at times courted organized labor without necessarily supporting the policies on wages, overtime and unionization supported by the movement’s leadership.
“We are gathering our strength, building our strength and our power before the inauguration,” Shuler said. “Working people will continue to demand that our voices be heard.”
Verrett said the vote played no role in the election, even though it upheld the decision.
“We are committed to organizing in unprecedented ways – and that requires real power,” she said.
The SEIU, along with the Teamsters union, left the AFL-CIO in 2005. At the time, SEIU leadership believed that the AFL-CIO was unable to address the dwindling share of U.S. workers who belonged to unions. to brake. The decline has continued for much of the past 20 years, but union leaders say 60 million workers would like to unionize if they could. Union leaders said that by rejoining the SEIU with the AFL-CIO, they would be better able to share research and best practices on union organizing to overcome resistance to unionization by some employers and government officials.
After President Joe Biden suspended his re-election campaign, both the AFL-CIO and SEIU endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. The Teamsters refused support, which Trump interpreted as a victory for him. His candidate for labor secretary is former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an (*20*) Republican who has shown support for union politics.
AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of voters in the November election, found that 18% of voters came from union households, with 54% supporting Harris and 44% voting for Trump.
