AFL-CIO Building Trades Dept. President Edward Sullivan recently sent a letter to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, outlining the building trades' position on reforming the labor federation and any proposed union mergers. It follows:

Dear President Sweeney,

I applaud the process of self-examination you have outlined for the AFL-CIO in the coming months. The American labor movement truly needs to look long and hard at what we are doing and where we are going to organize and represent vastly increased numbers of working families.

I also support your insistence that the process be inclusive and open. To accomplish our goals we will need to tap the time and talent of trade unionists at every level of our movement.

As you know, the construction industry is a very complex and interdependent sector of our economy. In numerous media reports and in private conversations I have learned that some labor leaders outside the building trades are advocating consolidations and other wholesale changes in the unions of the construction industry.

Building trades unions and their members not only derive employment from our industry, we have a responsibility to it. Every day on the construction job site, craftspeople and contractors at several tiers must work and inter-relate in ways that seldom occur in other industries. The livelihoods of our members and the viability of thousands of unionized construction employers rely upon this level of cooperation.

It is reckless and irresponsible to persons outside the construction industry to superimpose a "one-size-fits-all" vision of the labor movement upon the building trades. If change is needed in our sector of the movement, then the unions of the building trades are best qualified and prepared to devise, deliberate and undertake those changes. We neither need nor want advice from self-appointed labor "gurus" who couldn't tell a spud wrench from a paint brush.

The AFL-CIO Constitution specifically recognized the uniqueness of the construction industry when the Building and Construction Trades Department was chartered in 1908. The Building Trades remain deeply committed to the House of Labor, but we are not willing to undermine the best interests of our industry because a small group of labor leaders want to inflict counterproductive and potentially detrimental restructuring models on an industry about which they have little understanding.

As president of the AFL-CIO you have worked tirelessly to reinvigorate our movement despite very adverse circumstances. I look forward to working closely with you and with other leaders of goodwill toward a better future for working families.
Sincerely and fraternally,

Edward Sullivan
President
AFL-CIO Building Trades Dept.