We’ve said it for years. Because of the “Union Difference”—fair wages and better benefits for workers who belong to a union—unions are the ticket to the middle class. Even if you don’t belong to a union, there is a spillover effect to the whole economy. In other words, when unions are strong, everyone benefits. But don’t take our word for it, here’s what Time magazine contributor Eric Liu says:

The fact is that when unions are stronger the economy as a whole does better.

This is an excerpt of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka's "Opposing View: Union Jobs Build the Middle Class" from USA Today.

It's a tough time to work for a living.

Middle-class families have been losing ground for more than a decade. Today, working people have a smaller piece of the pie than at any time in the past 50 years. During that period, the number of people belonging to unions also declined steadily; in fact, if you look at the decline of the middle class beside the state of union membership, those numbers are parallel. This should concern everyone who cares about a strong America.

"The Betrayal of America's Middle Class Was a Choice, Not an Accident" is a cross-post from Truthout by Amy B. Dean, a fellow at The Century Foundation and co-author of A New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement.

The outsourcing of good jobs, the elimination of pensions, rampant home foreclosures; skyrocketing higher education costs and mounting debt: Given these stark realities, the American middle class seems to be sinking fast. The renowned reporting team of Donald Barlett and James Steele insists it is no accident.

I was excited to talk with the duo about the problems now facing our middle class—and about how we can pull ourselves from the abyss.

Many Americans long for a golden age that "never was," writes Salon columnist and MSNBC political analyst Joan Walsh in her new book, What’s the Matter with White People? The book explores the four-decades-old scapegoat politics of right-wing culture warriors who blame people of color, the LGBT community, feminists, immigrants and union members for the decline of the middle class, while distracting from the real culprits. 

Please join us Wednesday for a discussion with Walsh and a book signing. Books will be available for purchase.

Where: AFL-CIO

815 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 1 p.m.

Bring your lunch—drinks will be provided.

RSVP here. 

Middle-class incomes in Michigan fell between 1979 and 2007, even though the state's overall economy grew. A new study from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that over the past three decades, Michigan’s middle-class workers did worse than middle-class U.S. workers in general because collective bargaining had eroded more in Michigan than in the rest of the country. 

Both Democrats and Republicans stress that the ability for people to move up the economic ladder to build better lives is at the heart of the American Dream. But new data from the Pew Center on the States pits the Republican tenet on economic mobility against another deeply held Republican belief that unions are a heavy and evil anchor on the economy that must be cut away.  

Where there is a strong union movement, there is more economic mobility. If unions are strengthened, upward mobility will increase.

When you are at the very top, the middle must look higher than it really is, at least according to Mitt Romney’s latest financial optical illusion. In an interview today on ABC’s "Good Morning America," host George Stephanopoulos asked Romney how he would define middle-class income. “Is $100,000 middle income?’’ Stephanopoulos asked. Romney replied:

No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less.

The middle class is the great engine of the American economy, but that engine is sputtering. Today, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the AFL-CIO and more than a dozen other worker advocate and economic research organizations are proposing “10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans: Making Work Pay in the 21st Century.”

Britain has long had a reputation as rigidly divided by class, with little opportunity for people to move higher up the socio-economic ladder.

No more. There is now more upward mobility for students at British schools than in the United States, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Several new economic reports out in time for Labor Day point to long-term trends that are driving a declining standard of living for America’s middle- and low-income workers. Here’s a quick summary (click on chart to expand).