I’M the newest member of the AFL-CIO. You can join, too: Sign up on the website of Working America, an advocacy organization tied to the union. All it requires is the submission of your name, e-mail address, and zip code. Voila! Welcome to Big Labor.
The AFL-CIO claims to have 1 million “associate members” like me-people who have no voting rights in the union. Some of us associate members would probably like to organize our workplaces, bargain collectively with our employers, and pay the dues that bankroll the AFL-CIO. But the rest almost certainly have no such interest and have done nothing more than I have. The union bosses need us all, however, because if we were purged from the rolls, it would show that under John Sweeney’s leadership the union has lost members-and this trend is wholly independent of the four unions, including the Teamsters, that quit the AFL-CIO last year.
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