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The recent split between the AFL-CIO and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International Union and United Food and Commercial Workers could cause disruptions at public construction projects throughout the Northwest as unions compete for members and jockey for jurisdictional claims. The Teamsters and SEIU announced in July that they were separating from the AFL-CIO because of poor recruiting efforts on the part of with the 50-year-old organization.
The Teamsters and SEIU consist of about five million workers, nearly a third of AFL-CIO's membership. What the split means for contractors is still up in the air. Pete Savage, spokesman for Carpenters Local 247 in Portland, said the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council eliminated positions filled by representatives from the Carpenters and Teamsters locals.
He said the split should have little impact at jobsites.
Others disagree, saying the split could have major ramifications within the private and public construction sectors.
"This is a significant chapter in labor history," said Les Smith, a labor attorney and partner at Portland's Bullard Smith Jernstedt Wilson. "If you go back to the 1900s, I would say this is in the top five events. This split is very real and it isn't going to heal for some time."
Public construction projects stand an increased risk of disruption because most public works contracts are performed by union labor. Current contracts include noncompete clauses, but once those contracts expire, that stability could be threatened, said Akin Blitz, also with Bullard Smith Jernstedt Wilson. "That could impact a variety of industries, particularly the construction sector where many of the jurisdictional boundaries between unions can be gray," he said. "What that means for us is increased claims in grievances, and it might affect the chemistry of collective bargaining."
He also referred to budget reductions that were expected because of a loss of dues resulting from the split and added that Oregon AFL-CIO had begun addressing the cuts.
In addition to eliminating at least three positions, the chapter scaled back plans for its September organizing conference and turned off its phone bank, which could be reactivated during the election season.
Rick Bender, president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said his organization also was forced to restructure because of the financial crisis caused by the split. The council lost a third of its revenue and cut six staff positions, he said.
Despite the budget cuts, union membership is on the rise and has reached about 20 percent, Bender noted.
"We haven't lost members; we just lost our No. 2 and No. 3 affiliates, which complicates our efforts to do programs," he added. "It also complicates our whole political strategy as we go into the 2006 election cycle if we don't get back together."
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