HARRY KELBER has officially notified AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka that he is a candidate for a seat on the 51-member Executive Council. Kelber, a well-known labor journalist and educator, is the first, and thus far the only, candidate for a position on the Council.

Kelber's announced candidacy guarantees that there will be an actual election with a printed ballot and secret voting. In the last four elections for officers, the hand-picked Unity slate won all of the Council's 51 seats by default, even though they were unknown to most of the convention delegates who voted for them.

In the nearly ten years they've held office, Council members have maintained a remarkable silence, so that we have no idea what they did in those 10 years or where they stand on the critical issues confronting the labor movement. Nevertheless, they intend to get re-elected in their usual manner--by keeping their mouths shut, instead of campaigning.

Kelber will expose the plot of a group of international union presidents in both the Sweeney and Stern-Hoffa camps to seize complete control of the AFL-CIO's decision making powers, while they freeze out women and minorities from any positions of influence. He is urging qualified union leaders and members to join him by becoming candidates for the Executive Council.

Harry will also focus on a prime problem that has aggravated the AFL-CIO's current crisis: the failure to organize the millions of workers who say they'd like to join s union. In the 10 years that Sweeney and the Executive Council have been in office, they have failed to reverse the continuing decline in labor's membership and influence, so that unions in the private sector today represent only 7.8% of the nation's work force.

Unlike almost all 51 members of the Council, Kelber is uniquely qualified to provide new strategies for union organizing. Several thousand copies of his "Training Manual for Union Organizers" have been bought and are being used in recruiting campaigns throughout the country. His "Why Unions Are Good for You and Your Family" is a best seller, with sales from more than 1,000 unions.

Harry designed a 10-session course on union organizing and has taught more than a dozen classes attended by hundreds of organizers from a cross-section of the labor movement. His latest pamphlet, "A New Game Plan for Union Organizing," could be profitably used by unions seeking new strategies for their campaigns.

Kelber offers to debate any of the Council's 51 members on the future of the labor movement. "After a 10-year freeze on its membership, isn't it time for the Council to accept one new member with fresh ideas?", Kelber asks.

www.laboreducator.org