Big Labor's big gamble on Restaurant Opportunities Center

At last week’s AFL-CIO quadrennial convention, the labor federation formally accepted into its ranks a new unionization model pioneered by the Restaurant Opportunities Center.

It’s an interesting move since the ROC isn’t actually a labor union. Rather, it’s a union-backed front group that’s exempt from federal labor law. It’s called a “worker center” — and its decade-long history shows exactly why the AFL-CIO is so keen on incorporating the ROC model into its long-term strategy.