Catherwood LibraryILR School

While the AFL-CIO gained some victories on picket lines and during the elections, the world's largest worker union faces a quandary over whether to focus on broad reformist issues or more essential work policy issues. The quandary is not new, but reached critical mass after the Democrats had regained the House during the recent elections. In one state, some of the ALF-CIO member unions had supported a Democrat that had opposed raising the minimal wage, while also helping a Republican over a liberal environmentalist in another race. Member unions were also split over the Dakota Access Pipeline issue, whether to support a former union member for Maryland's governor race, and other contentious issues. The ALF-CIO admits that it does not have a unified agenda for the future, which can be difficult with having over 12.5 million members. The internal conflict is whether to work towards making more alliances with environmental and health care groups in order to obtain better trade deals, or whether to fight on behalf of more traditional goals such as benefits and wages in the face of pro-business regulatory measures introduced by the Trump administration.