At Private Meeting, Top Union Leaders To Plan Huge Campaign To Press For Labor's Demands

[Omaha Steve]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/at_private_meeting_labor_leade.php

By Greg Sargent - November 12, 2008, 3:51PM

At a private meeting tomorrow in Washington, D.C., the most powerful and prominent leaders of the labor movement are planning to finalize the details of a major public campaign to push for what labor is hoping to get from the incoming Obama administration and the new Congress.

The meeting tomorrow morning at AFL-CIO headquarters will provide a glimpse into labor's hopes for the new order in D.C., at a time when a labor resurgence is looking like a real possibility. The big unions played a major role in delivering white union and non-union workers to Barack Obama in the battleground states, and will be expecting a seat at the table next year.

According to a senior AFL-CIO official, the labor leaders -- who could include AFL-CIO head John Sweeney, AFSCME chief Gerald McEntee, and others -- will be putting the finishing touches on plans for a national campaign, including possible TV ads, to press members of Congress for quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, one of labor's major agenda items.

The measure, which would give workers the right to join a union as soon as a majority of employees at a workplace say they want to, went down to defeat in 2007 and is likely to provoke huge opposition from business groups again this time around.

FULL story and 20+ replies at link.

[GrantDem]

1. It's our time...

[WindRiverMan]

2. Go LABOR GO!

Higher wages for the working class is the only way we get out of this financial mess.

[OutNow]

3. It's About Time!

I was hoping this would happen quickly. I'm old enough to remember when unions actually had some clout in this country. We need a massive unionization drive across all business sectors. The best way to help increase the average wage is not government bailouts, it's union membership.