Look For More Union Targets In '99

Efforts in the last two years by AFL-CIO president John Sweeney to revitalize union organizing should begin paying off in 1999. The AFL-CIO has upped its organizing budget from $20 million to $30 million, and individual unions also are upping the ante in a coordinated effort to add more members. To increase its organizing budget, the United Steel Workers of America is adding a penny/hour worked surcharge to its union dues in January and increasing that surcharge by another penny in 2000. And the Communication Workers of America has simply set aside 10% of its budget for organizing. The areas most likely to be targeted by unions: Las Vegas, Phoenix, and the I-70 corridor between St. Louis and Kansas City.