AFL-CIO to accept non-union members

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka confirmed earlier reports Wednesday, that the AFL-CIO would soon accept non-union people as members, saying organized labor movement doesn’t have a choice if it wants to survive at all.

“Will it dilute us? Look, here’s the way I look at it: What we’ve been doing the last 30 years hasn’t worked real well. We need to do things differently,” Trumka told USA Today. Only 11.3 percent of the US workforce is currently unionized, down from more than 20 percent in 1980. Only 6.6 percent of that is in the private sector, according to the Labor Department.