In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Obama proposed raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour and indexing the wage to increases in the cost of living.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the following statement in response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union address:

"Tonight President Obama sent a clear message to the world that he will stand and fight for working America’s values and priorities. And with the foundation he laid, working families will fight by his side to build an economy that works for all."

On Tuesday, President Obama will give the first State of the Union Address of his second term in office and working families are happy to hear the focus will be jobs and the economy. This year’s address comes after an election in which America’s families made a clear choice between very different visions for the country.

Across the country, working people will be watching and listening with great interest for the president to maintain the values and priorities on which they elected him, including a commitment to creating middle-class jobs, asking the wealthiest 2% to pay their fair share and protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from benefit cuts.

Indiana’s Gov. Mitch Daniels, who gave the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, represents all too well the sad decline of the national Republican Party. As suggested by the Twitter hashtag #MitchFail, Daniels was an improbably bad choice to represent a party already facing questions about its commitment to the 99 percent. (Feel free to post a message to Daniels at his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/mymanmitchfans .)

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address tonight made clear that he hears the people who aren’t being heard by the 1%, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Obama’s speech showed he “listened to the single mom working two jobs to get by, to the out-of-work construction worker, to the retired factory worker, to the student serving coffee to help pay for college.”

Here’s an opportunity for working Americans to ask President Obama a question. After the State of the Union address tomorrow, the president is conducting a special YouTube interview at the White House, in which he will answer questions.