Cohen Talks on MSNBC

In the 24 states where Republicans control both the governor’s seat and the legislature, the New Year is bringing new plans to attack workers’ rights and working families.

CWA President Larry Cohen talked about this all-out attack with MSNBC host Ed Schultz. Watch his remarks in the video below.

Cohen stressed that unions must be on offense, and talk about economic issues that all working Americans care about. “If the right to work fight is only about union dues, it’s a losing issue for working people. But if it means raising wages and having rights on the job and we link it to broader issues, it’s a winning issue.

“We need more offense, more initiatives on our part, like state minimum wage referenda and the right of workers in retail and banking, for example, to swap schedules. We need more efforts at the municipal level to talk about justice on the job,” he said.

That’s how we’ll counter efforts in Kentucky, for example, where rightwing front groups are pushing anti-union ordinances and county-level right-to-work laws.