The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), formerly known as the Change to Win Federation (CtW) is a coalition of North American

labor unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

. The coalition is associated with strong advocacy of the

organizing model The organizing model, as the term refers to trade unions (and sometimes other social-movement organizations), is a broad conception of how those organizations should recruit, operate, and advance the interests of their members, though the specific ...

. The coalition currently consists of The

International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...

(IBT);

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of member ...

(SEIU); and

United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...

(UFW).

Communications Workers of America The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 lo ...

(CWA) is affiliated with both the SOC and

. The SOC also includes SOC Investment Group, a shareholder engagement arm of the SOC that challenges management of large, publicly traded companies targeted by the SOC's campaigns.

Changes in federation membership

In the summer of 2009, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters disaffiliated from Change to Win. After a bitter and divisive internal battle, a third of the members of UNITE HERE left that union and joined SEIU. The remaining 265,000 members of UNITE HERE reaffiliated with the AFL–CIO on September 16, 2009.Greenhouse, Steven
"Union Rejoining A.F.L.-C.I.O."
''New York Times.'' September 17, 2009. The

Laborers' International Union of North America The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA, stylized as LiUNA!), often shortened to just the Laborers' Union, is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of 2017, they had about 500,000 members, about 80,000 of whom ...

said it would also leave Change to Win and rejoin the AFL–CIO on August 13, 2010."Construction Workers' Union to Rejoin A.F.L.-C.I.O."
Associated Press. August 14, 2010. LIUNA officials did not immediately explain their reasons, but AFL–CIO officials said the reaffiliation would be formalized in October 2010. On August 8, 2013, the

United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

announced that they would be leaving Change to Win and re-affiliating with the AFL–CIO.

Possible reunification with the AFL–CIO

On January 9, 2009, national news media reported that the five of the seven CtW unions had met with seven of the largest unions in the AFL–CIO in talks which explored the possibility of the five CtW unions rejoining the larger labor federation.Maher, Kris
"AFL-CIO, Breakaway Unions Discuss Reuniting."
''Wall Street Journal''. January 9, 2009. Impetus for the talks came as the Obama administration signalled to both labor federations that it preferred to deal with a united rather than fragmented labor movement.Greenhouse, Steven

''New York Times''. January 7, 2009. Also, several Change to Win unions also concluded that they were not getting any significant advantage from being in a separate labor federation, and that a fragmented labor union was doing more harm than good.

David Bonior David Edward Bonior (born June 6, 1945) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, Bonior served as Democratic whip in the House from 1991 to 2002, during which time De ...

, a former

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

who once led the AFL–CIO's

American Rights at Work American Rights at Work (ARAW) was a U.S. self-described nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for workers and their right to form unions without interference. ARAW received funding from unions affiliated with both the AFL-CIO and ...

division and who was a member of Barack Obama's presidential transition team, facilitated the meeting, and said talks were scheduled to last several weeks.Knowles, Francine
"AFL-CIO, Change to Win May Reunite."
''Chicago Sun-Times''. January 8, 2009. The five CtW unions present included the Laborers, SEIU, the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE HERE. AFL–CIO unions present included

AFSCME The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the largest trade union of public employees in the United States. It represents 1.3 million public sector employees and retirees, including health care workers, correcti ...

, the

AFT "Aft", in nautical terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning towards the stern (rear) of the ship, aircraft or spacecraft, when the frame of reference is within the ship, headed at the fore. For example, "Able Seaman Smith; lie aft!" or "Wh ...

, the Electrical Workers, the UAW, and the

United Steelworkers The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headqua ...

. Also in attendance was

Dennis Van Roekel Dennis Van Roekel is an American labor leader who served as president of the National Education Association, the largest labor union in the United States. Background Van Roekel was born in Le Mars, Iowa. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from t ...

, president of the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stud ...

, which is independent and belongs to neither group. A number of major issues were discussed in the opening round of talks. One major point of discussion revolved around who would lead any reunited federation. AFL–CIO President John Sweeney was widely expected to retire at the trade union center's August 2009 convention, and Laborer's president Terence O'Sullivan and AFL–CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka had been discussed as his successors.Ambinder, Marc
"Behind The Labor Merger Talks."
''Atlantic Monthly''. January 9, 2009. The nature of the AFL–CIO presidency was part of the leadership talks, with some unions suggesting that the presidency rotate among member unions while others hoped for a strong and vocal "executive director" position. The two sides agreed that any reunited labor federation should have a stronger voice in national politics as well as have a greater say in helping member unions engage in more new member organizing. The two sides also discussed whether to change the name of the AFL–CIO, or whether to adopt an entirely new organizational structure. Among other issues discussed were: How the AFL–CIO/new organization would encourage new member organizing and at what level (national or local), what a reunited labor movement's political priorities should be, what sort of relationship a reunited labor movement will have with the Democratic and Republican parties, the level of member union dues, and globalization issues. Although one news outlet reported that the 12 unions hoped to settle on a reunification agreement by April 15, 2009, no issues were resolved in the first round of talks. The talks drew some limited criticism from members of the labor movement for not addressing issues of

union democracy Union democracy is a term referring to the governance of trade unions, in terms of the quality of election procedures at ensuring the executives of a union most accurately represent the interests of the members. Theory In 1911, a German sociolog ...

Amazon campaign

The SOC has worked with a number of different labor unions, think tanks and other advocacy organizations in recent years to address labor and competition issues at

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology co ...

—the second-largest employer in the US. The SOC has worked to shine a light on health and safety issues at Amazon warehouses, antitrust concerns pertaining to Amazon acquisitions, such as the pending merger with MGM studios, and how the company uses its market power to impose unfair conditions on sellers using Amazon's e-commerce platform.

Partner organizations

SOC Investment Group (formerly CtW Investment Group) is an affiliate that is co-located within the Strategic Organizing Center. SOC Investment Group advances SOC organizing campaigns by filing shareholder resolutions and engaging shareholders of publicly traded companies to vote against management. Examples of companies targeted include

, McDonald's,

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

, and

CVS Health CVS Health Corporation (previously CVS Corporation and CVS Caremark Corporation) is an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance pro ...

. While SOC Investment Group is cited in media reports as an investment adviser that works with union-backed pensions, the group's website says it does not provide investment advice or act as a fiduciary for any pension funds.

Notes

External links