PURPOSE

To understand why workers choose to join unions and how unions have made differences in certain industries.
Visit the AFL-CIO website ( www.aflcio.org) and find information about why workers join unions and what the benefits have been.

1. Explain how union membership has affected minorities, women, older workers, and part-time workers.

2. The AFL-CIO site presents the union's perspective on labor issues. Look at the key issues and check sources such as the National Association of Manufacturers ( www.nam.org) and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation ( www.righttowork.org) that support management's perspectives and compare their positions on these issues.