Obama Reaffirms Support of Freedom to Form Unions

by Seth Michaels, Dec 11, 2008

This week, President-elect Barack Obama sat down with the Los Angeles Times for his first in-depth newspaper interview since his historic election. In the interview, Obama said that part of his economic agenda would be fighting for workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life—the goal of the Employee Free Choice Act, which Obama co-sponsored in the Senate and pledged to sign as president.

When it comes to unions, I have consistently said that I want to strengthen the union movement in this country and put an end to the kinds of barriers and roadblocks that are in the way of workers legitimately coming together in order to form a union and bargain collectively.

Since the election, Obama’s staff has confirmed that he supports the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, as he stated repeatedly throughout the campaign season.

Obama’s support of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life is one of the many reasons the AFL-CIO strongly endorsed Obama and carried out a strong national effort to get out the vote for Obama across the country.

In the interview, Obama also stressed that his top priorities would include strengthening the economy by creating jobs in infrastructure and green energy.

The Employee Free Choice Act is critical to restore worker power, rebuild the middle class and build long-lasting, sustainable and broadly shared prosperity in the economy.

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