USA TODAY: Calling the labor movement in crisis, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says he will push far-reaching changes at the federation’s convention next month, including forging closer partnerships and even accepting as members such outside groups as the Sierra Club and the NAACP.
Last year, just 11.3% of American wage and salary workers were unionized, the lowest percentage in nearly a century. Thirty years ago, 20.1% were, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “We are in crisis,” Trumka said.
Trumka says combining forces would strengthen the clout of progressive politics. “None of us are big enough to be able to change the climate out there, whether it’s economic, political or legislative,” Trumka says. “And all of us realize it takes all of us working together to get it done.” AFL-CIO unions now represent 12 million workers… (more)
