AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney, in a letter dated April 14, announced the appointment of Local 802 President Bill Moriarity to the labor federation’s New Alliance Drafting Committee.

The New Alliance, a plan for strengthening local and state labor organizations, was outlined by President Sweeney at the October 1999 AFL-CIO Convention, after having been endorsed by the Federation’s Executive Council in August. Convention delegates subsequently endorsed the plan. Creation of the Drafting Committee is the first step in a process intended to examine and possibly restructure state federations of labor and local central labor councils to make them more responsive to the needs of members and local unions. The focus will be on mobilization, organizing, and political and legislative action.

Pilot New Alliance projects are scheduled to begin this year in Maryland, Connecticut, North Carolina, Kentucky, Colorado, Ohio and Oregon, in addition to New York.

The first statewide conference was to take place on May 19 in New York City. Reports on this and subsequent meetings will appear in future issues of Allegro.