But you can juggle the numbers any way you like, but the bottom line is that the UAW like most of the industrial unions are spending a tiny fraction of what they should on organizing. The service sector unions - SEIU and HERE most prominently - spend a good bit better on organizing, but all need to get a hell of a lot more serious about it.
I've never seen an integrated set of numbers on all AFL-CIO unions, but my best guessimate is that they raise something on the order of $5 billion per year in dues. Imagine what a difference it would make if they were spending even 20% of that - $1 billion per year - on organizing. Assuming $100,000 for salary, benefits and support, that would mean 10,000 organizers out in the field. That is the scale of commitment needed if the union movement is going to make a serious surge.
-- Nathan Newman
----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com> To: "lbo-talk" <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2000 7:46 PM Subject: UAW finances
One of the many delights of belonging to the National Writers Union, aka UAW Local 1981, is that you get the UAW's thrilling magazine, Solidarity. This month's issue has a report on the union's finances as of 12/31/99 (nothing like timely disclosure!). The UAW's net worth as of a year ago was $1.023 billion, up $40.1 million from 1998; the union took in $272.3 million in receipts, and spent $232.1 million - the surplus being the $40.1 million that was added to net worth). The union's "Organization, Education, and Communication Fund" took in $27.0 million and spent just half that, $13.6 million. It spent a net of $37.5 million buying securities. To me, that looks like the union spent almost three times as much buying stocks and bonds as it did agitating, educating, and organizing. Am I missing something? Does anyone understand the UAW's finances?
Doug