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AFLCIO Southern Regional Director Ken Johnson addressed the Region 8 Delegates. “I would like to commend Region 8 for holding this meeting in Birmingham,” Director Johnson stated. “Dr. King used to say the south is a great place, but it could be a greater place. We have made progress in organizing over the past few years, but union density is declining because we are losing members at a greater rate than we are winning new ones. We are finding more friends in city governments, because they are beginning to see the correlation between a union card and better pay and benefits.

The UAW has had some success organizing lately, particularly in the south. However, we need to organize one million new union members just to maintain our current density levels. The more members we have, the greater our voice at the bargaining table, the better our influence, the more power we collectively have for working families.

The best voice for organizing is one who already holds a union card. Because of this, we encourage you to get your members involved. They need to tell their friends and family members about the benefits of being a union member.

Nothing is more important in maintaining our past gains than defeating George Bush in 2004. In the past two years, we have lost 2,000,000 jobs and experienced the slowest job growth in the past 58 years. Executive pay is soaring, workers wages are down, and virtually every state in the union is experiencing fiscal danger. The appointment of anti-labor judges and anti-labor laws are making an un-level playing field even more difficult. Union households vote at a higher rate than non-union, but we are still only at 60% voting rate. Our members should realize that a voter registration card goes hand and hand with a union membership card.

The labor movement is all that stands between working Americans and those whose agenda is to favor the rich at the expense of workers. We have to be as diverse as possible to reach out to all segments of our regions.”
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