The AFL-CIO is making historic changes this week to build power for working people - - the biggest changes we’ve made since our founding 50 years ago.

The union movement has had an important and necessary debate over the last several months about how to best lead a workers’ movement for change.

Today, working people can’t afford for us spend too much time looking back - - not when working families are under the biggest assault in this country in 80 years. 

And today, we’re moving forward.  On our convention floor, more than 800 delegates - - teachers and steelworkers, nurses and painters, public servants and flight attendants - - will discuss a comprehensive set of reforms which will help workers win in this country.

We’re discussing the cornerstone of the plan for change today - - Resolution One.  This resolution focuses on how we change, refocus and recommit to strategies that can build a stronger labor movement  - - and how this change must involve all the unions of the AFL-CIO.

This resolution recognizes that workers need both organizing and political strength to win - - you can’t do one without the other. 

This resolution deals with three things: organizing, politics and grassroots labor movements.

On organizing - - we will unite our power for growth, and encourage affiliate unions to do more - - because the real power in organizing lies with our affiliate unions.  If every national union in the AFL-CIO spent 30 % of their resources on organizing, that would mean another $500 million for organizing.

We’ve proposed an accelerated initiative to help more unions increase their capacity to organize, especially outside the deeply-flawed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) process - - including creating a $22.5 million Strategic Organizing Fund – that’s in addition to our staff efforts to help unions change to organize and train organizers.

We will also ramp up efforts to change public policies to help restore workers’ freedom to form unions, including training 100,000 worksite stewards to defend workers’ freedom to form unions. 

Resolution one also calls for establishing Industry Coordinating Committees - - these are an extremely important and historic innovation.  For the first time, all unions who represent workers in an industry will build strategic organizing plans in that industry, and set basic contract standards.  And tomorrow we’ll discuss Constitutional Amendments which will hold unions accountable to honoring the standards and plans set out by these Committees.  That’s never been done before.

On Politics and legislation - - we will increase mobilization for legislation and politics by moving from a focus on biannual Get-Out-the-Vote work to building year-round capacity to engage members.  We’ll fund this work by increasing the Member Mobilization Fund for legislative and political action by $7.5 million.  And, remember, none of the fund will go to contributions to political candidates. 

The Resolution also calls for building on the initial success of Working America, the AFL-CIO’s new community affiliate for non-union workers, by increasing membership to two million by the end of 2006. 

And, because change at the top isn’t enough, we are strengthening our local labor movements.  State and local labor movements are the backbone of our grassroots political and legislative efforts, and have important relationships in the community.

Now I’d like to ask AFT President, Ed McElroy, who is one of the architects of this state and local plan to explain its importance to working people.