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Major Unions Unite Behind Plan to Restore the American Dream

Restore the American Dream

Read more and join the debate about the plan that proposes dramatic changes in the union movement that would give working families new strength and new hope.

SEIU and other major unions representing a total of more than 5 million workers have united behind a plan to rebuild the strength of working people and restore the American dream.

The plan — developed by SEIU, the Teamsters, Laborers, and UNITE HERE with the involvement of the United Food and Commercial Workers — would give working people a better chance to win on issues like pay, health care, pensions, and staffing.

The joint "Restoring the American Dream" proposal is based on two key principles:

Working people, including current union members, cannot win consistently without uniting millions more workers in unions.
Every worker in America has the right to a union that has the focus, strategy, and resources to unite workers in that industry and win.

Although it used to be that 1 in 3 American workers had a union, now only 1 in 12 do, and global corporations are taking advantage to drive down our living standards.

SEIU members have made changes in our union in recent years to unite more workers with us so we'll all be stronger. We've also been working hard to get the rest of the union movement to change, including the AFL-CIO — the federation of 57 national unions.

At our international convention last year, SEIU members told our national leaders that it's time to either change the AFL-CIO or become partners with it — instead of part of it — so we can concentrate on building alliances with unions and community organizations that share our goals.

American workers can win again, but only if we decide to act now. Our future is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. Read more about our choices, and join the debate.