For organized labor in Cayuga County, a key to survival is sharing ideas and providing support among the different unions.

The Cayuga County Labor Council serves as a coordinator of that mission. The council represents 29 unions that are members of the AFL-CIO.

“We're always all the time working on the question of economic development,” said Baschki Leo, the labor council's president. “What is responsible economic development that benefits working people and brings a community up versus engaging in this race to the bottom?”

There are between 73 to 75 delegates eligible to attend the labor council's monthly meetings. Each union gets one representative for every 100 members. In small counties, keeping the labor council on a forward path can be challenging at times.

As some national unions split from AFL-CIO in a much-publicized fight last year, an agreement was worked out that those unions will still affiliate at the local labor council level.

“Most labor councils tend to represent 8-10,000 members,” Leo said. “They're not in big cities. To potentially lose six or seven or eight people from your labor council board: there's a lot of work to be done. You're very active. You form close friendships. It was really disturbing at a personal and a practical level.”