"We have an incredible opportunity now with Barack Obama and his leadership to create a better economy and recreate the American dream," said Anna Burger, the chairwoman of Change to Win, the federation of breakaway unions, which include the service employees, Teamsters and carpenters.
Anna Burger, the president of Change to Win, the federation of breakaway unions, wrote to Mr. Sweeney two weeks ago to propose forming a new federation, which she said should be called the Alliance for Worker Justice.
Gonz z agreed that it might be wise to avoid triggering "more instability" by forcing an abrupt management change at the federation.
The A.F.L.-C.I.O, the Change to Win federation and the National Education Association announced that they had created the National Labor Coordinating Committee to coordinate positions and act jointly on important national issues, like stimulating the economy.
Football in the country has been in turmoil in recent months, with captain Smuel Eto'o being suspended following a strike last year, and calls from legendary former player Roger Milla for wholesale change at the federation, Fecafoot.
His arrival, they suggest, represents a generational and philosophical change at the federation -- one that values new progressive partnerships and non-traditional organizing, and one that its leaders hope will rejuvenate a labor movement that's been contracting for years.
Led by the Service Employees International Union president, Andy Stern, the breakaway unions formed the rival Change to Win federation amid complaints that the A.F.L.-C.I.O. was not doing enough to organize new workers and halt the steady decline in union membership and influence.
Andy Stern, president of SEIU; Anna Burger, the secretary-treasurer of SEIU and the chair of the Change To Win federation; and Pauline Beck, an SEIU member, spoke.
