Summary | Team | Current Environment | Case Histories 

Unions and coalitions face a unique opportunity to help their constituents and advance their causes through direct, proactive engagement with the federal government, state and local governments, and public-private partnerships. Opportunities include:

• Grants for training, research and other activities that help advance the administration’s economic stimulus agenda
• Recognition through certification and accreditation programs that address the new accountability in the regulatory environment and can help establish quality standards
• Innovative partnerships with government agencies and private sector entities
• Defense and optimization in specific sectors in which designated stimulus funding can be more appropriately and advantageously applied.

President Obama came to office with labor’s support and has maintained a commitment to a resurgent middle class. The administration has engaged on overarching issues such as universal healthcare, the Employee Free Choice Act, immigration and trade. However, with national unemployment trending to double digits and already higher in the most impacted regions, the pressing issue for individual workers and their organizations is keeping good jobs.

The majority of ARRA stimulus funds have not been spent and further measures to create jobs are expected, indicating major opportunity for organizations that can effectively engage government programs and achieve results. Many government entities are not operationally or culturally equipped to efficiently utilize the unexpected and unusually large funding pools that they have received. The Recovery Act contains unprecedented emphasis on accountability, with the Internet as the rapid posting mechanism that can enable transparency. Federal, state and local officials need to responsibly deploy hundreds of billions of dollars and need innovative, proactive support. Further stimulus will only intensify this situation as funding flows to modes that have proven successful.