The Service Employees International Union is returning to the AFL-CIO after 20 years, betting that a united labor movement will do more to help workers overcome legal challenges to organize and join unions.
The union groups’ executive boards each unanimously approved the combination on Wednesday, with plans to formally announce the affiliation at a Thursday roundtable discussion in Austin, Texas, with workers who are attempting to become union members. There are roughly 2 million SEIU workers in the health care, janitorial and food services sectors, among others. Their addition would bring the total number of AFL-CIO members to nearly 15 million, helping increase the political heft of a federation already composed of 60 unions.
Both AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and SEIU President April Verrett were careful to say in interviews Wednesday that the combination was not a consequence of Republican Donald Trump winning the November election and returning to the White House.
But their shared goal is to be a political presence in a Trump-dominated Washington that has at times courted organized labor without necessarily backing the policies on wages, overtime and unionization that the movement’s leadership has supported.
“We are amassing our forces, building our strength and our power before the inauguration,” Shuler said. “Working people will continue to demand that our voices be heard.”
Verrett said the election did not play a role in the choice, even if it affirmed the decision.
“We are determined to organize in unprecedented ways — and that requires real power,” she said.
“This is a big deal,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Wednesday night, adding, “Their affiliation will help workers across the country to organize, earn higher wages, receive better benefits and build retirement security.”
The SEIU, along with the Teamsters union, left the AFL-CIO in 2005. At the time, the SEIU leadership saw the AFL-CIO as insufficient at slowing the declining share of U.S. workers who belong to unions. The decline has largely continued over the past 20 years, but union leadership says that 60 million workers would like to be unionized if they could. Union leaders said that by having the SEIU rejoin the AFL-CIO, they will be better equipped to share research and best practices on organizing to overcome resistance to unionization by some employers and government officials.
After Biden dropped his reelection campaign, both the AFL-CIO and SEIU endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. The Teamsters declined an endorsement, which Trump interpreted as a victory for him. His labor secretary nominee is former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican who has shown support for union policies.
AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of voters in November’s elections, found that 18% of the electorate came from union households, with 54% backing Harris and 44% voting for Trump.