How We Can Elect Sara Nelson as President of the AFL-CIO
Having Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson as the head of the AFL-CIO wouldn’t cure all that ails American labor, but it would be an enormous boon for the project of building a more democratic, militant, progressive US labor movement. It won’t be easy, but there’s a real path to getting her elected.
Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson calls on Congress to pass an extension of the Payroll Support Program outside the US Capitol on September 22, 2020 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla / Getty
Current American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) president Richard Trumka is rumored to be considering retirement at or before the end of his term of office in 2021. The race to succeed him has already begun. The Guardian reported in July 2019 that Trumka intends to back current AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Liz Shuler. Many labor activists, however, hope that the militant and charismatic president of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), Sara Nelson, throws her hat in — meaning that for only the second time in its history, the AFL-CIO might have a contested race for its presidency.
It’s early, but there are signs that the American labor movement is changing in long-needed ways. From West Virginia to Chicago to Los Angeles, educators are striking in larger numbers than ever before. The UAW recently staged its biggest strike in decades, and media outlets are organizing unions in droves. Who runs the AFL-CIO can have an impact on such developments.
The role of president is by no means all-powerful — the AFL-CIO is a federation with little authority to force its constituent unions to act. But the AFL-CIO president is understood, both inside and outside labor, to be the principal voice of America’s unions. Whoever is in that role will have a public platform uniquely suited to influence labor’s direction and relationship to the public, and command of a large nationwide organization to help implement their vision.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.