How is Employee Empowerment Viewed by the AFL-CIO?
The AFL-CIO, an umbrella for most of America's labor unions, encourages collective activity among U.S. workers who want improved working conditions, higher wages and greater benefits. Employee empowerment is the reason labor unions formed and the reason they exist in today's work force.
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History
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For the AFL-CIO, labor unions and concerned workers, employee empowerment is a fundamental concept. The foundation upon which employee empowerment stands is the merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of International Organizations. The merger signified collectivity on the national level to promote employee empowerment on individual level. The AFL-CIO Constitution preamble contains a statement that reflects the AFL-CIO view on employee empowerment: "We dedicate ourselves to improving the lives of working families, bringing fairness and dignity to the workplace and securing social equity in the Nation."
AFL-CIO Support
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The premise of the AFL-CIO suggests empowered employees are better able to stand up for their rights, but that employees are better informed participants in the democratic framework that union membership encourages. Union membership, collective bargaining and the solidarity mantra represent the AFL-CIO's three-pronged approach to empowering workers.
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Significance
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Even though union membership is declining, labor unions are creating new strategies for organizing new members. AFL-CIO organizing strategy uses workers' ability to gather information about the employer for use in structuring successful corporate campaigns based on insider knowledge. This view of employee empowerment is on the grassroots level that union organizers often cannot reach.
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