Why and How U.S. Labor Unions Seek to Influence Federal, State and Local Politics - Essay Example

It is recorded in the United States Department of Labor that more than 16 million American citizens are members of the labor unions (Agrawal, 2012). That depicts that more than 14% of the workers in America are members of the labor unions. This essay seeks to discuss why and how the United States labor unions seek to influence the federal, state, and the local politics. According to Merino (2012), there are various reasons that make the U.S labor union try to control the federal, state, and the local politics.

One of them is as an attempt to prevent over-exploitation of workers. Since the labor unions seek to safeguard the rights of their members who are workers and also advocate for an increase in their benefits, the union strive to influence the federal, state, and the local politics as an attempt to reduce the working hours of their members. That is because when the labor unions have maximum influence on the three levels of politics, it is easier for it to reduce the unpaid employees’ hours and increase the number of paid hours.

Besides, the labor unions also influence politics in an attempt to improve the working environment of its members and also maximizing their benefits such as the allowances allocated to them. Further, it also uses the influence it has on the federal, state, and local politics to enact new laws that protect the rights of its members. Moreover, the labor unions also seek to influence the federal, state and local politics in order to maintain the general welfare of their members. That is done by influencing the results of the elections so that people from regions with most number of people in the union can be elected as leaders.

Through that, the labor union attempts to have politicians who understand the needs of the workers so as to improve their conditions. Besides, the labor unions also finance some of their workers to vie in the elections even if they are aware that these people cannot win. It happens