These officers, along with 50 vice presidents , make up the AFL-CIO Executive Council. Nearly 590 central labor councils, also chartered by the AFL-CIO, give working people a strong voice in their communities. For more details, see the AFL-CIO Organization Chart . To connect to your union's website, visit our links page. No matter what you do for a living, there's a union that has members who do the same thing.
People join unions so they can work together and bargain together with their employer.
The nature of work in America is changing. Working people need a voice at work to keep employers from making our jobs look like they did 100 years ago, with sweatshop conditions, unlivable wages and 70-hour workweeks. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 gave most U.S. workers the right to join or form unions. It did not include agricultural workers, railroad and airline workers or public employees, whose freedom to choose union membership is covered by other laws. Under current labor law, joining a union is more difficult than it should be.