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2005-07-28 Home Front: Politix

AFL-CIO leader re-elected despite defections

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, the center of a storm in the labor movement, was re-elected to a fourth term Wednesday-- just days after the defection of two major unions that sought his ouster. One of those unions-- the Service Employees International Union-- was headed by Sweeney when he was first elected AFL-CIO president in 1995. It joined the Teamsters in leaving the AFL-CIO on Monday.

Sweeney, 71, faced no opposition. In remarks prepared in advance for his acceptance speech, the bus driver's son called the last week "contentious and stressful." "Despite the conflicts and even the divisions we've suffered, I think we all feel a new sense of clarity about our mission and new energy propelling us toward our goals," he said.

The goals seem to include crashing and burning. It's just as well. The unions are an idea whose time has gone. Graft, corruption, incompetence, and blatant self-interest turned them from organizations that fought for workers — rightly or wrongly, depending on the circumstance — into a mere drag on the economy.

Posted by Fred 2005-07-28 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 In remarks prepared in advance for his acceptance speech, the bus driver's son called the last week "contentious and stressful.

I was going to call him a mob-connected, knee-bashing Union thug, but now that I know that he's lived the hard and difficult life of being a bus driver's son, I suddenly find myself sympathetic to him.

Posted by Chris W.">Chris W. 2005-07-28 00:11|| 2005-07-28 00:11|| Front Page Top

#2 Four legs good, two legs better.

Posted by Glater Uninter1262 2005-07-28 09:17|| 2005-07-28 09:17|| Front Page Top

#3 El' Kapitan Ahab cares not that the ship has a gaping hole and is taking on water faster than the boys can pump.

Posted by MunkarKat 2005-07-28 09:21|| 2005-07-28 09:21|| Front Page Top

#4 The limos are always there, I fly first class, get a top floor suite, the checks don't bounce, no heavy lifting.
God bless the American worker!

Posted by John Sweeney 2005-07-28 09:32|| 2005-07-28 09:32|| Front Page Top

#5 As we used to say (loudly) on the bus to school, "What's your father do for a living? Nothing. He's a bus driver."

Posted by tu3031 2005-07-28 09:34|| 2005-07-28 09:34|| Front Page Top

#6 Is his dad's last name really Cramden?

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-07-28 09:35|| 2005-07-28 09:35|| Front Page Top

#7 Thank you Mrs. D.

Posted by Alice 2005-07-28 09:41|| 2005-07-28 09:41|| Front Page Top

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