What's next?

More than a month after six unions in the Change to Win Coalition bolted the AFL-CIO, that question is on the minds of labor leaders, rank-and-file members, and interested onlookers who wonder what this all means for the future or organized labor.

So far, the new coalition seems to be a little slow getting out of the gate, and the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions are still in damage assessment mode.

Here are a few highlights:

For the building trades, the status of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, and to a lesser extent, the Teamsters, is Issue No. 1. Both unions are part of the breakaway coalition. And so far, there has been movement toward a resolution, with a little bit of wiggle room added.

The Carpenters were actually the first union to leave the AFL-CIO, and they disaffiliated four years ago. Under the federation's bylaws, the Carpenters were also supposed to be excluded from the AFL-CIO's Building Trades Department, but weren't.

Building trades leaders and the AFL-CIO have had on-and-off talks about the Carpenters' status over the years, and were supposed to finally address the issue this summer. And the issue was settled, although there appears to be some room for all the building trades unions to continue working together.

Building Trades Department President Edward Sullivan told delegates to the annual Building Trades Convention in Boston on Aug. 9 that "under the AFL-CIO constitution, no union is allowed to affiliate with the Building Trades Department while choosing to remain outside the AFL-CIO. That democratically established rule applies to every union. Therefore, we regret the leaders of the Teamsters and the Carpenters have chosen to disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO and, therefore, to leave" the department.

His remarks formally put an end to four years of talks between AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney and Carpenters President Douglas McCarron over the UBC's return to the AFL-CIO.

"We recognize there is a necessary interrelationship among the building trades," Edward Sullivan told delegates. "We will have to continue to work together to ensure our differences do not disrupt jobsites and that the important progress we have made with contractors and owners will continue." He said on a local level, the Building Trades Department "is focusing on ways to deal with these pressing issues and to provide councils with additional guidance."

In Michigan, the Carpenters left the building trades nine years ago, but have often maintained informal working ties with the rest of the trades.

One of the ways being examined by the AFL-CIO for local unions and councils to deal with unions that want to maintain their affiliation with the federation or union councils is through the proposed use of "solidarity charters."

Such charters could enable local affiliates of the Carpenters and Teamsters to continue formally participating in building trade councils, central labor councils and state federations. But not every AFL-CIO executive council member supports the charters as proposed. A funding mechanism still has to be worked out for paying dues and for determining how such unions could hold office in the councils, and there also needs to be a way to settle jurisdictional disputes.

James A. Williams, president of the Painters' union, told the Engineering News Record he is "vehemently opposed" to the charters. "There can't be a strong, unified labor movement unless everyone participates at all levels," he said. "You're either in or you're out. You can't be half pregnant."

Meanwhile, after all the hoopla surrounding the exodus of the Change to Win Coalition unions from the AFL-CIO, things quieted down quite a bit in the ensuing weeks.

The coalition, led by its largest union, the Service Employees, sent hundreds of people to a mass march in Atlanta on Aug. 6 commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

And, members of SEIU recently voted to concentrate on organizing workers in the South and Southwest, regions with significant African-American and Latinos.