WHEREAS, the U.S. labor movement continues to decline in membership and strength, and

WHEREAS, we need to devote as many resources as we possibly can to reversing this decline through increasing the resources devoted to organizing and building bargaining and political power, and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union each year contributes more than $9 million in per capita taxes to the national AFL-CIO and its affiliated industry and sector departments, and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union believes that the AFL-CIO is spread too thin in its mission and functions and therefore is not as effective as it could be in utilizing its resources, and

WHEREAS, a debate has begun in the labor movement about the direction of the AFL-CIO in advance of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in March 2005 and its convention in July 2005, and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union is one of the leading unions in the AFL-CIO and has a responsibility to present its proposals on how best to structure the AFL-CIO to gain maximum impact from the per capita taxes that are funded by our members’ dues, and

WHEREAS, the Teamsters Union has undergone its own restructuring so as to increase resources for organizing and get its financial house in order with positive results and will continue to do so,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE RESOLVED, that the Teamsters General Executive Board present a set of Teamsters proposals to restructure the AFL-CIO as a way to build labor unity and strength that include the following as contained in the discussion paper “Which Way for the AFL-CIO: The Teamster View”:

• Streamline the national AFL-CIO by eliminating those functions that are duplicated by the affiliates or which are more appropriately done by the affiliates.

• Reduce the effective per capita tax by half for those unions which allocate a minimum of 10% of their national union dues revenue to organizing, and devote rebated resources to organizing in core industries.

• Create incentives to accelerate the merger process in order to create economies of scale and free-up more resources for organizing.

• Reform AFL-CIO jurisdictional dispute mechanisms to establish area standards in key industries and sectors to inhibit unions from growing their unions by undercutting contract standards established by other unions.

• Streamline AFL-CIO state and local field operations and structures by eliminating bureaucratic duplication of effort and resources between central and state bodies and the national AFL-CIO.

• Cut the size of the AFL-CIO Executive Committee and give it real governing authority so that the largest AFL-CIO affiliates, not the AFL-CIO leadership alone, are able to have a real impact on policy.

• Develop a strategic political and organizing plan for “swing states” to increase union membership and political influence in order to produce a pro-labor White House and Congress in future elections.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that those proposals be presented by General President Hoffa to the AFL-CIO leadership and to all AFL-CIO affiliates and that the Teamsters Union work to win a majority of delegates to the upcoming AFL-CIO convention to adopt those proposals.

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