Catherwood LibraryILR School

In the hopes of establishing a more unified voice for the historically fragmented AFL-CIO, the nation's predominant labor federation will soon establish an executive committee composed of the presidents of the federation's ten largest unions and seven smaller unions. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney agreed to create the new body at the urging of such activist unions as the American Federation of Teachers, in order to increase support for his emphasis on massive organizing efforts to reverse decades of labor movement decline. It is hoped that the executive committee will increase communication and support for organizing among the leaderships of the vast majority of the AFL-CIO's member unions who have not signed on to the organizing emphasis, and "get everyone working together" as Professor Richard Hurd of Cornell University's ILR School put it.