He came to power as an insurgent vowing to shake up the stodgy House of Labor that was the AFL-CIO.
Fourteen years later, John J. Sweeney, an immigrants' son who rose to the pinnacle of U.S. unionism, is stepping down this month as president of the AFL-CIO.
The labor movement remains deeply divided, its ranks greatly thinned, its top legislative goals unrealized and unemployment nearing 10%, the highest in more than a quarter of a century. Yet Sweeney, 75, departs as organized labor faces its best prospects in years.
"It's a good time for me to wind down," said Sweeney, his low-key, parish-priest demeanor belying a militant commitment to labor. "It's time for a change."
The election of a pro-labor president and the Democratic takeover of Congress -- both achieved with strong union backing -- have provided a propitious moment for Sweeney to exit center stage in the movement that has been his life for more than half a century. Rebuilding the middle class through union membership, labor's longtime mantra, now has the presidential imprimatur.
These days, Sweeney is a frequent guest at the Obama White House. By contrast, during the Bush administration, he was invited only once in eight years -- and that was at the Vatican's initiative, during a papal visit.
"At least Sweeney won't need divine intervention to get into the White House," quipped Vice President Joe Biden.
Sweeney's likely successor is a close ally, Richard L. Trumka, 60, the former United Mine Workers president and the current No. 2 at the AFL-CIO, whose 56 affiliated unions represent roughly 9 million workers.
Trumka is widely expected to carry on Sweeney's strategies, although the trained lawyer will probably assume a higher public profile than Sweeney, never a noted orator. Sweeney's departure comes at a crucial juncture. Labor is desperately seeking to reverse a decades-long decline that has seen the percentage of the nation's workforce that is unionized plummet almost 50% since the mid-1970s to about 12.5% today, experts said.
Despite the bleak scenario, last year's national elections and a recent uptick in union representation -- especially in California -- have provided cause for optimism.
"He's stepping down with labor on the rebound, in a way that hasn't been the case of predecessors in previous transitions," said Joseph McCartin, a labor historian at Georgetown University.
Indeed, Sweeney came to power in 1995, at a time of bruising turmoil.
