The AFL-CIO: The Workers Must Fix It!

Review by Bill Onasch, billonasch@kclabor.org

Larry Duncan and the folks at Labor Beat have produced another top-notch video, The AFL-CIO: The Workers Must Fix It! It takes a look at the factional brawling in the upper echelons of the “house of labor” from a perspective of rank-and-file file workers battling on the ground.

Interspersed with clips of such luminaries as John Sweeney, Andy Stern, and Lane Kirkland are remarks from commentators such as Bill Fletcher, a prominent figure in the labor, antiwar, and international solidarity movements who once served briefly as a special assistant to Sweeney; Harry Kelber, an old-time labor activist and educator who has written hundreds of articles over the years dissecting the workings of the union bureaucracy; Chris Silvera, leader of a Long Island Teamsters local and chair of the Teamsters Black Caucus; Kim Scipes, a labor educator who is an expert on labor foreign policy; Alan Benjamin, a delegate to the San Francisco labor council who has played a leading role in USLAW’s solidarity work with Iraqi unions; and Mike Griffin, a former rank-and-file worker at AE Staley in Decatur, Illinois who came forward as a Road Warrior for solidarity during their long strike struggle a decade ago – and has been stirring up trouble for the bosses and bureaucrats ever since.

In only 28 minutes, the video can’t give all the answers on how the workers can fix our unions, but it sure poses the right questions. It’s well worth a look and can be useful to show at union gatherings and house meetings.

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