New York Times (09/06/13) Steven Greenhouse
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is considering allowing millions of nonunion workers to join the organization. Richard Trumka, the president of AFL-CIO, contends that if unions are having difficulty boosting their membership, they can at least increase their influence by fostering a broad coalition to pursue a worker-friendly political and economic agenda. Trumka has suggested making progressive groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Sierra Club either formal partners or affiliates of AFL-CIO.
Meanwhile, AFL-CIO has established numerous committees comprising historians, young workers, pollsters, and others to suggest ways to reinvent labor. Our Walmart, an AFL-CIO-backed group of Walmart workers, has held several protests to try to convince the company to improve wages and benefits.