Day laborers, taxi drivers and freelance workers are among the groups that have formed nontraditional alliances. Although they can’t legally bargain on behalf of workers, they can advocate for the same benefits that unions would. “We consider ourselves part of the labor movement without being unionized,” said Omar Angel Perez, executive director of the Workplace Project, which is part of the day laborers’ network. The AFL-CIO is trying to align itself with these groups, as reflected by Trumka’s visit to the carwash workers. On Wednesday, he will head to Sacramento to support a bill giving rights to domestic workers, another group whose members don’t belong to a traditional union. “More and more, we have all come to see that work connects us all,” Trumka said in a speech to the National Day Laborer Organizing Network in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. – LA Times 02.22.2012
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