Change to Win Federation, coalition of seven labor unions representing primarily American workers. It was founded in 2005 as the Change to Win Coalition by five American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations unions that had united to make changes in the AFL-CIO that were aimed at rebuilding the American labor movement. The original members were the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Teamsters Union, Union of Needle and Industrial Textile Employees–Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (Unite Here), Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), and United Food and Commercial Workers International (UFCW). Failing in their reform efforts, these unions disaffiliated (2005) from the AFL-CIO, founded the new labor association, and were soon joined by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and the United Farm Workers. In 2009, however, the carpenters union and Unite Here (which suffered its own split, with many members joining SEIU) left Change to Win, and LIUNA rejoined the AFL-CIO in 2010. Change to Win's basic aim is to increase union membership by organizing workers. Headed by Anna Burger, the first woman to lead an American labor federation, it has more than 5.4 million members.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Labor
