A Union of Unions

There are bigger American unions, but none that are feistier organizers than HERE (hotel and restaurant workers) and UNITE (historically garment and textile workers). So when UNITE president Bruce Raynor and HERE president John Wilhelm announced plans in late February to merge their unions, it was not surprising that they said they intended to organize workers on a far grander scale together than they had separately. The merger could indeed spark much-needed growth of private-sector unions (down last year to representing 8.2 percent of the private work force), building on the growing tendency of unions to work in concert as they face tougher, more global employers. "Neither of these unions has to merge," Raynor said. "We're both unions with solid organizing programs, both well respected and secure. The question is: Are we bigger, better, stronger together? The answer is yes."

Over the past decade UNITE's core apparel and textile industries have lost 800,000 jobs, mainly to imports and relocation of work overseas. But the union has successfully organized industrial laundries and retail distribution centers and recently returned to its old base in retail stores (including an organizing drive at the cheap-chic Swedish firm, H&M). It's also a well-endowed union that even owns a $4 billion bank. On the other hand, HERE is a relatively poor union hurt by decline in the hospitality business--hotels, casinos, airports and food services--since 9/11. But most of its core jobs can't go overseas, even though the once decentralized industries are increasingly controlled by a few global, often foreign-owned, multinationals (for example, Aramark, Sodexho and Compass dominate the global food service industry and are expanding into other services). HERE organized vigorously until recently, but it has not had the resources to take full advantage of its opportunities, including many untapped agreements to keep hotel owners neutral during organizing drives.

Both unions disproportionately organize women, especially recent immigrants and people of color, to raise living standards in low-wage industries. Raynor and Wilhelm are both Ivy League graduates who came out of political movements of the 1960s and made their mark in organizing--Raynor in the South, Wilhelm in the West (mainly Las Vegas), so their unions enjoy complementary regional strengths. The merger will also permit grander projects by combining staff and drawing money from administrative savings and UNITE's regional bodies, which control half the union's financial resources. "The need for unions to have the size and scale necessary to challenge the globalized companies we face is great," Wilhelm said, "but I also think the need for unions that want to contribute to redefining the labor movement to work together grows bigger every day."

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