A New Alliance in New York State: A Progress Report on the Labor Movement’s Restructuring, Capacity Building, and Programmatic Work

Abstract

The labor movement in New York State has undergone a dramatic restructuring that is part of a national AFL-CIO program called the New Alliance. The purpose of the New Alliance is to build the capacity of local labor movements and empower unions to help shape a region’s political and economic agenda. The restructuring in NYS led to the consolidation of 25 central labor councils into 5 area labor federations, each of which is developing the resources, staff and leadership to help grow labor’s regional power across the state. This article describes the origins of the New Alliance, the nature of the restructuring process, the ways in which the capacity of local labor movements are expanding, the programmatic work the restructured central bodies have undertaken in the last five years, and the impact of the national split on local and regional central bodies across New York State.