“With 13 million members, the AFL-CIO is the biggest, strongest and best organized force for economic justice in America. But we are a small part of the 150 million Americans who work for a living. We cannot win economic justice for ourselves, for union members alone,” declared AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, at the opening of the organization’s convention, acknowledging the fact that women, African Americans and immigrants are underrepresented in his union even though membership is crumbling down (see article No. 130059).
Unionism beyond unions. “Workers are organizing in all kinds of ways and they call their unity by all kinds of names—workers’ unions, associations, centers, networks….We need to organize ourselves in ways that fit with the jobs people do now and how the economy works now,” and “We must make our movement and our leadership as diverse as the workforce we speak for” Trumka said, adding, “That includes tapping into the energy and hope of young workers.”