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

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

of North American

labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. 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

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...

(SEIU), the

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 National Farm Workers Associatio ...

(UFW), and the

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 loc ...

(CWA), the latter of which is affiliated with both the SOC and the

. Michael Zucker is currently listed as the Executive Director of the organization since 2020.LM2 2020
/ref> 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 The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, often simply the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), was formed in 1881 by Peter J. McGuire and Gustav Luebkert. It has become one of the largest trade unions in the United State ...

disaffiliated from Change to Win. After a bitter and divisive internal battle, a third of the members of

UNITE HERE UNITE HERE is a labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. The union's members work predominantly in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries. The union was formed in 2004 b ...

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 The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. 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 trade union, labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufa ...

announced that they would be leaving Change to Win and re-affiliating with the AFL–CIO. On January 8, 2025, the

(SEIU) announced that they are reuniting with the AFL-CIO, bringing the total membership of the AFL-CIO to nearly 15 million members.

Possible reunification with the AFL–CIO

On January 9, 2009, national news media reported that 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 Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

signalled to both labor federations that it preferred to deal with a united rather than fragmented labor movement.Greenhouse, Steven
"Labor Calls for Unity After Years of Division."
''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

US Congressman The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of the ...

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

AFT This list of ship directions provides succinct definitions for terms applying to spatial orientation in a marine environment or location on a vessel, such as ''fore'', ''aft'', ''astern'', ''aboard'', or ''topside''. Terms * Abaft (prepositi ...

, 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 st ...

, 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 Richard Louis Trumka (July 24, 1949 – August 5, 2021) was an American attorney and organized labor leader. He served as president of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to 1995, and then was secretary-general of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009. He ...

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 refers to the governance of trade unions, as well as the protection of the rights and interests of individual members. Modern usage of the term has focused on the extent to which election procedures ensure that the executives of a u ...

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

—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 McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

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

, and

CVS Health CVS Health 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 provider, among many other brands. The company is the worl ...

. 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.

References

External links