Washington Two significant unions announced their reunion only days before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office, nearly two decades after they split.
The AFL-CIO, which is made up of 60 affiliated labor organizations, announced on Wednesday that the Service Employees International Union is rejoining it. Its membership will reach 15 million workers with the addition of SEIU.
Less than two weeks remain until the start of a second Trump administration, which is anticipated to have a far different stance toward labor unions than the Biden administration did. But according to the AFL-CIO and SEIU leaders, the decision to join forces was not political.
In an interview with NBC News, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler stated, “The idea that this is political couldn’t be further from the truth in terms of the election results.”
The union officials also declared that they are ready to stand up for workers when Trump takes office. In the 2024 election, both unions had supported Vice President Kamala Harris, claiming that Trump’s policies would be dehumanizing and anti-worker.
In an interview with NBC News, SEIU International President April Verrett stated, “We do not have rose-colored glasses on regarding the threats that could be coming our way.”
According to Shuler, in addition to going on the attack, the unions will use their organizational strength to mount a strong defense in response to threats.
“We are arguably the only organization in the nation with a mobilizing machine infrastructure in every city, state, and workplace,” she said. Outside power builds within power, as the saying goes.
Approximately 2 million SEIU members are employed in police enforcement, hospitals, and schools, among other places. The UAW, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Federation of Government Employees are among the unions that are connected with the AFL-CIO. Numerous major corporations, such as General Motors, Disney, and the US Postal Service, employ union members all over the nation.
Talks about collaborating had been going on for years, according to Shuler and Verrett.
Naturally, this is a significant moment and a strong signal, but it’s also something that has been developing and that we believe will be true in the long run. Shuler stated that since beginning her presidency in 2021, she has been collaborating more with the SEIU.
According to Verrett, the SEIU board authorized the union to speak with the AFL-CIO more formally about joining the affiliation in June 2023.
According to Ken Jacobs, a senior policy adviser at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, the announcement includes SEIU in the larger federation’s priority-setting process. He described the initial Trump administration as being quite anti-worker.
According to Jacobs, this is also a very obvious indication of the importance of labor unity in the upcoming four years, when the Trump administration is certain to be antagonistic to the interests of working people.
Trump supporters The co-heads of the new nonprofit Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have drawn criticism from unions for their plans to drastically alter government employee employment under the incoming Trump administration. The United Auto Workers union has been under fire from the president-elect, and many unions supported Harris in the 2024 election.
Nevertheless, Trump’s attempts to curry favor with union members were successful in persuading the Teamsters, a significant union that had always backed Democrats, to reject to endorse a presidential candidate.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!