Source: In These Times

Last May, AFL-CIO President Trumka declared labor’s political independence by pledging to use the power of Super PACS to reach out to nonunion voters and build labor's own political organization and message outside of the Democratic Party. Yesterday, the leaders of the labor federation unanimously endorsed President Obama for re-election, saying he “has moved aggressively to protect workers’ rights, pay and health and safety on the job.” (See David Moberg's story here.)

“There's not a lot of choice here, that’s the sad part of this,” says Matt McKinnon, political and legislative director of the Machinists union (IAM), which is affiliated with AFL-CIO and endorsed the president earlier this year. “He’s been a disappointment in several areas, but he came through with some decent appointees.”

In their relentless quest for profits, big business must continue to drive down workers' wages, benefits, and conditions—and unions are in their way! Recently, the Indiana state legislature and governor made it the first industrial state in the Northeast/Midwest to adopt so-called "right to work" legislation. This law is intended to weaken and destroy the unions. This is a warning to the labor movement!

Despite these attacks, millions of workers would like to join unions. This is because workers bargaining collectively against the boss have more strength than workers bargaining in isolation against the bosses' armies of lawyers, human resources departments, management, and security. On average, union workers make higher wages, work in safer conditions, and receive better benefits than their nonunion counterparts. No wonder so many people would like to join a union.