Looking to November elections when control of Congress is up for grabs, the labor federation's general board in a meeting here Wednesday is poised to approve the increase of 4 cents per month per member through July 2005.

Not immune from a weakened economy, the AFL-CIO is far short of the $33 million it wants to spend in the current two-year election cycle. The mandatory dues increase would help make up the difference and build a strong financial foundation headed into the 2004 presidential election.

"What this money does essentially is allow working families to compete in a political process that they would otherwise be completely shut out of," said Steve Rosenthal, the AFL-CIO's political director. "There is no other voice for workers in the legislative and political process."

Rosenthal said the unions will absorb the increase and likely won't pass it along to members.

In the past, the labor federation has sought voluntary contributions from its member unions, such as $1 per member in 1998 and $2 per member in 2000 to pay for issue ads, get-out-the-vote efforts and member education. None of the money goes to candidates or parties. But some unions complained that they carried the financial weight while others refused to contribute.

The dues increase, which would raise more than $6 million a year, appears to have far more than the necessary two-thirds of the 66 union presidents on the general board. But it isn't supported across the board; at least two unions plan to vote against the increase.

The Teamsters, one of several unions that have made inroads with the Bush administration, say they oppose the increase because the money ultimately will go to help Democrats. The International Association of Machinists also will vote no Wednesday, spokesman Rick Sloan said.

The Laborers will back the dues hike because the federation's political program is working, President Terence O'Sullivan said.

"After 1994 there was a realization that we've got to do something different," he said. "Ever since, it's gotten more and more refined. But grass roots is expensive to do."

The AFL-CIO says it boosted union household voters as a percentage of total turnout from 19 percent in 1992 to 23 percent in 1996 to 26 percent in 2000.

"We know what to do," O'Sullivan said. "We've just got to do it better and more of it."

The $33 million the AFL-CIO plans to spend this election cycle is about the same that it spent in 1996 in the last midterm elections, Rosenthal said. In the 2000 presidential election cycle, the federation spent about $42 million.

The AFL-CIO is on track to spend about a third of its war chest this cycle on advertising and another third on member mobilization and education. The final third will be spent on such things as political research and political training.

Organized labor is still grappling with changes that will be imposed by a new campaign finance law after November's elections, Rosenthal said. The AFL-CIO met with other advocacy groups recently, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Rifle Association, to talk about the changing political landscape.

The new law will restrict late-campaign television advertising that does not directly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate. The AFL-CIO filed a lawsuit, challenging that provision as unconstitutional. Other groups also are suing to overturn the new law.