A ‘No-Show’ AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer
Is Paid $238,976 a Year + a 60 % Pension

By Harry Kelber

For the past 10 months, Elizabeth Shuler has been AFL-CIO’s secretary-treasurer in name only, after winning the Federation’s No. 2 position in a sham, uncontested election as the hand-picked candidate of the AFL-CIO Executive Council.

There is not a shred of evidence to show that she has performed any of the functions or fulfilled any of the responsibilities of the job, or whether she is competent to do so, for a salary of $238,976 a year plus a 60 percent retirement pension. According to the AFL-CIO Constitution, duties of the secretary-treasurer include the following:

• To  “be in charge of and preserve all moneys, properties, securities ,and other evidence of investments, books, documents, files and effects of the Federation.”

• The Secretary-Treasurer will be furnished “a copy of  all official reports issued by such affiliated organizations, together with a statement of their membership in good standing and to furnish  such additional statistical data in their possession  as may be called for by the Secretary-Treasurer of this Federation.”

• “The Secretary-Treasurer shall be required to provide for an annual  audit of all books, accounts,  records and financial transactions  to an independent public accountant.”

Liz Shuler abandoned the job for which she had been elected to make a personal commitment to organize young workers. She helped to arrange the Young Workers Summit and played a leading role  during its three-day conference June 10-13. We strongly  favor organizing young people into unions, but who is doing the secretary-treasurer’s job? Not Shuler.


Trumka Forced a Rival Candidate to Shuler to Withdraw

A candidate to challenge Shuler for the AFL-CIO’s No. 2 position emerged prior to the AFL-CIO’s 2009 convention, when Greg Junemann, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, a man with extensive experience in financial matters, announced his candidacy, Trumka moved quickly to convince Junemann to withdraw at a private meeting between the two. As Junemann explains it, his decision to  drop out (if you want to believe it),  was based on the Trumka  slate’s assurance that it would “address the financial issues” that Junemann had discussed in announcing his candidacy. He added, “But most importantly, we need to come together,  to be. one unified House of Labor.”

That’s how a vulnerable Shuler was shielded from having to face a challenging candidate in a real election.

Liz Shuler was born in Portland, Oregon and got her first union position in  Portland Local 125 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, rising through the ranks to become  the executive assistant to IBEW’s  president, Edwin Hill, a powerful member of Trumka’s junta.  It was Hill, as Shuler’s mentor,  who persuaded the Executive Council to select her for the  No. 2 job in the AFL-CIO, even though her experience in financial operations was negligible.

*   *   *   *   *

It is widely known that the AFL-CIO’s net  assets  declined from $66 million in 2000 to  a negative of $2.3 million by June 2008.  The National Labor College and the George Meany Center have drained $41.8 million of the Fed’s resources since 2004. The AFL-CIO is probably  still  dripping red ink. What does the Federation have to do to recover financial stability?  That, apparently, is not Shuler’s problem.

So whose problem is it? We have elected a secretary-treasurer who simply won’t do--or can’t do--her job.  We need to replace her in an honest election, where every AFL-CIO members has  the right to compete for the job.—Harry Kelber.