USA Unions: Service Employees Union Returns To AFL-CIO

Twenty years ago the US Service Employee’s International Union ended its affiliation to the US trade union umbrella organisation, the AFL-CIO following ongoing arguments that the AFL-CIO were concentrating too much on political matters rather than organising new members and building workplace power in new industries.

The SEIU, under the leadership of the charismatic Andy Stern argued US trade unions had to become more than just ‘servicing  unions’ sitting and watching membership and union power continue to decline.

This was a message Stern brought to London in the when he addressed a packed meeting of union officials and activists at the TUC’s Congress House which I chaired on the behalf of the TUC’s New Unionism Task Group created by the TUC General Council to build an an organising strategy in the UK.

The TUC developed an organising academy based on the US and Australian models, where young activists (not necessarily from their own unions and from campaigning organisations) were trained in innovative organising and recruitment techniques after a rigorous  selection process and placed with sponsoring unions. Among the current crop of trade union leaders who were in the first cohort  union trainee organisers were Paul Nowak General Secretary of the TUC, Sharon Graham General Secretary of Unite and Roz Foyer General Secretary of the Scottish TUC and many current day officials of UK unions started their careers in the TUC Organising Academy.

The SEIU had run a number of high profile organising campaigns in the USA notably ‘Justice For Janitors’ building union membership and power among property  maintenance workers.

The row between SEIU and the AFL-CIO was ugly to say the least. The SEIU were joined by  United Farm Workers Union,  the Teamsters  (who remain outside of the AFL-CIO) and the Communication Workers (who also remained in the AFL-CIO) forming ‘Change To Win’  – later to become the Strategic Organising Centre.

The split was deep and rancorous and gave employers and right wing politicians an opportunity to further weaken the US unions.

Eventually some  unions who left the AFL-CIO made their way back into membership. I well recall the bitterness at the split when one  senior US union official remarked : “What did they change and what did they win?'”

As with many union organisations relationships and splits are complex. The decision for the SEIU to rejoin the AFL-CIO didn’t happen overnight. It took many years of re-building relationships. SEIU President April Verrett said discussions to rejoin the AFL-CIO long preceded Trump’s re-election, but it helped reaffirm the rationale behind the move.

“It’s that much more important to come together, to organise workers, to build real power, because that’s our best offence in this moment,” Verrett said.

Liz Shuler, the AFL-CIO’s  president commented :  “This is an incredible time for us to be amassing our power, uniting and building our muscle together and really showing the power of solidarity. Because we want to make sure that workers continue to have their voices heard as we are about to enter into this new administration.”

US union membership is just below 6% in the private sector and the Trump administration is expected to undo some of the gains made by unions under Joe Biden’s presidency while a Republican-controlled Congress won’t make it any easier for workers to join unions.

The SEIU organises in health, adult and child care,  property services, custodial and law enforcement and other service sectors.  Besides the  ‘Justice For Janitors’ campaign the ‘Fight For $15’ campaign in fast food, helped raise low pay and the re-affiliation means the AFL-CIO will be able to publicly  join SEIU campaigns, including the current campaign to organise in Starbucks led by Workers United, an SEIU affiliate, which has led to more than 500 Starbucks facilities being organised.

Liz Shuler said she wanted to “form a new relationship” with the SEIU after she took over the leadership of the AFL – CIO  in 2021 while  Mary Kay Henr President of the SEIU got the go-head from here union  in 2023.

Shuler said. “We think this is going to be a big game-changer for our movement and for working people broadly.”