What Can Obama Do for the Labor Movement?

Steven Greenhouse, the labor reporter for the Times, has a fascinating piece in Thursday’s paper about the fact that union membership, as a proportion of the work force, has fallen to the lowest level since 1916. While the article focusses on the challenges facing the labor movement, it also involves larger political and economic issues. In particular, it raises the question of what, if anything, President Obama can do to help unions reverse decades of decline. And if the Republicans’ control of the House means he can’t do anything much, what does that mean for his pledge to increase the living standards of middle-class Americans?

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