The AFL-CIO’s Five-Year Battle Plan

Fresh off its convention, the AFL-CIO unveiled its agenda through 2031. The headline number: 2 million new members.

The federation’s 65 affiliated unions unanimously adopted a package of resolutions, part mission statement, part marching orders. The goal is to organize at least 2 million new members in five years, twice the pace set in 2022, and to mobilize 16 million union voters for the 2026 election.

The policy wish list is expansive: pass the PRO Act, align contract expirations to coordinate strikes “at the broadest possible level,” demand data centers be built with union labor, push single-payer health care, and raise the top tax rate to 39.6%.

The resolution to “align bargaining demands and contract expirations” is the one employers should mark. Coordinated, multi-union expiration dates mean bigger, more disruptive strikes by design.

This is useful information. The AFL-CIO is telling you its strategy for the next five years: aggressive organizing, coordinated leverage, and an explicitly political program.