Labor Leaders Seek to Swell Ranks, Clout

With nearly 900,000 jobs wiped out by recession, American labor leaders will gather today in Las Vegas to press for aid to idled workers as they search for ways to boost trade union membership and beef up their political clout.

During the four-day convention, the nearly 1,000 delegates from the 66 unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO also are expected to reelect John Sweeney president of the labor federation, six years after his insurgent campaign promised to renew a moribund movement.

AFL-CIO spokeswoman Denise Mitchell said there will be no major strategy shifts when Sweeney opens the convention.

Despite its higher public and political profile and the millions spent on politics, mostly to the benefit of Democrats, the labor movement under Sweeney has failed three times to oust Republicans from control of the House and to prevent the election of George W. Bush as president last year.

But labor has become a much more potent political force since 1995, despite being hugely outspent by business. A poll showed that union households accounted for a record 26% of voters in 2000, with about two-thirds of them voting Democratic.

One goal is to double the 2,500 union members across the country who have been elected to public office, Mitchell said.

Sweeney, 67, and other top federation officers are set to be nominated for new four-year terms Wednesday.