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Gang of Five� Union Leaders Plot Radical Takeover of AFL-CIO LaborTalk (September 17, 2003)
By Harry Kelber
A group of five international union presidents, who call themselves the New Unity Partnership, are going ahead with their plan for drastic changes in the organizing methods, structure and functions of the AFL-CIO, without any discussion of their initiative within the labor movement, or even with their own members.

The five union leaders, who have banded together to promote their image of what the union movement should be, are: Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union; John Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE); Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE; Terence O�Sullivan, president of the Laborers, and Douglas McCarron, president of the Brotherhood of Carpenters, whose union withdrew from the AFL-CIO in March 2001.

The New Unity Partnership, A Manifest Destiny for Labor: By JOANN WYPIJEWSKI, CounterPunch
Since unions are supposed to be organizations of workers, we at CounterPunch thought the members might like the opportunity to review a document cobbled up by five union presidents outlining big plans to spend the workers' money, consolidate their unions and revamp institutional labor -- whether by breaking with the AFL-CIO or destroying it and remaking it in the image of this particular gang of five is not entirely clear. Members aren't likely to get this opportunity through any formal union channels. Published here with an assist from Carpenters for a Democratic Union, the draft program of the New Unity Partnership, or, less alluringly, NUP, is long on the language of management theory ('growth', 'density', 'market share') and short on such fuddy-duddy concepts as 'class', 'worker participation', 'social movements' or 'democracy'.

New Unity Partnership documents 200 dpi scans

New Unity Partnership: Five Union Presidents Launch Bid to 'Revolutionize' AFL-CIO by William Johnson and Chris Kutalik, Labornotes
The NUP presidents have shown an apparent willingness to work with antiunion politicians. Last summer, Stern, O�Sullivan, and Wilhelm urged fellow union officials to �follow their example by giving $1,000 or more to the re-election campaign of Dennis Hastert.�

Hastert, a Republican and currently Speaker of the House, is a longtime foe of unions. Most recently, he fought hard to make sure the House passed a bill slashing workers� overtime benefits.

In an article in this September�s The American Prospect, Harold Meyerson noted that Stern, Wilhelm, McCarron, and O�Sullivan all bought tables at a recent Republican Congressional Campaign Committee dinner.

Now, the NUP has listed meeting with Karl Rove-President Bush�s key strategist-as one of their first political objectives. At the same time, Stern told Business Week that defeating Bush in the 2004 elections is the AFL-CIO�s �main role right now, and it should be.�

The New Unity Partnership, Bureaucratizing to Organize?
By HERMAN BENSON, UDR, CounterPunch 01.12.03

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