Struggling to regain power and prestige for the sagging labor movement, the AFL-CIO has hired more than three dozen aspiring ministers, imams, priests and rabbis to spread the gospel of union organizing across the nation this summer. In an effort to reshape their image, labor leaders want unions to be seen as a dynamic force for social justice, not as a stodgy special interest. Thus, the AFL-CIO is looking to recreate the historic partnership between faith and labor.
See "Labor and Religion Reunite", Stephanie Simon, Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2005