There’s a new member of the Trump administration. His name is Eugene Scalia, and he’s now the US labor secretary. US labor leaders are worried that he will work hard to undo worker protections put in place under the Obama administration.
In 2008, just before Trumka assumed power, 12.4 percent of American workers were union members. A decade later—with organizing spending much reduced—union density in this country stands at 10.5 percent.
AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka says the midterm elections showed how unions are dismantling a broken system that expects workers to work harder and longer and produce more wealth than ever before—but take home the same or even less.
The OECD should be in the business of helping people build democratic institutions that give them economic and political voice—guardians of equality and democracy. The alternative to addressing wage stagnation and the status of working people in the global economy is not more of the same elite dominated globalization. The alternative is an escalating crisis where the false promises of authoritarianism and racism threaten to overwhelm the democratic ideal.
The fundamental duty of America’s President, is to protect and preserve our democracy. We hope to work with President-elect Trump to help him carry out this responsibility. Regardless, America’s labor movement will safeguard the most vulnerable among us. But make no mistake, we can never back down from our values. Racism, misogyny and anti-immigrant appeals caused damage in this campaign and we must all try to repair it with inclusion, decency and honesty.
How has Trump managed to attract substantial support among white men without college degrees? According to Raymond Hogler, "The answer is an interlocking set of changing economic and cultural conditions in the U.S. that has undermined middle-class incomes and values. And it starts with the steady erosion of the American labor movement."
Under Trumka, labor has sought to extend its power by alliances, cooperating with African-American groups, immigrant groups, environmental groups and others as well as car wash workers and day laborers seeking to organizers. He points to the wave of Fight for $15 protests scheduled for April 15 as an example of a new way workers are flexing their muscles.
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