Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/756468
94 CINEMONTAGE / Q4 2016 compiled by Jeff Burman D onald Trump stunned the very establishment he had railed against by defeating Hillary Clinton and becoming president-elect in the general election November 8. His election raises fundamental issues about the future of unions. Will Trump press for a national right-to-work law? Will he appoint NLRB members who will be interested in labor's concerns? Will he sweep away Obama's new overtime rules and health-care provisions. Get ready. It's going to be a bumpy ride. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka offered a tentative olive branch to President-elect Donald Trump, saying that the nation's largest labor federation is willing to try to meet him part way on economic policy issues. "Ultimately, the fundamental duty of America's president, symbolized by swearing to uphold our Constitution, is to protect and preserve our democracy and the institutions that make it real," Trumka said. "We hope to work with President- elect Trump to help him carry out this solemn responsibility. Regardless, America's labor movement will protect our democracy and safeguard the most vulnerable among us." Added Matthew D. Loeb, President of IATSE, "It is my sincere hope that there can be some healing in our starkly divided nation. And while hope may seem an optimistic wish, it is clear that the country is unsatisfied with the status quo in our political system. Unfortunately, that widespread feeling has manifested itself in a result that will likely compound the problem. The middle class and working people are in jeopardy of experiencing severe consequences based on the positions and proposed policies espoused by President-elect Trump. Moreover, his anti-union statements virtually guarantee a rough road ahead for unions and the members they represent." PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES COMMIT TO INCOME EQUALITY The White House announced in August that 29 private sector companies, including Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Target, Visa and General Motors, have signed a pledge to close the gender pay gap for their employees, writes Laura Bassett in The Huffington Post. Currently, women working full time in the United States earn an average of 79 cents for every dollar that men earn, according to the most recent Census Bureau statistics. The gap is worse for African-American women, who are paid only 63 cents for every dollar paid to white men. While some of the gender wage gap can be attributed to other factors, such as women leaving the workforce at times to care for children, several recent studies have suggested that systemic pay discrimination is a significant problem. A 2014 survey of recent college graduates found that women and men with the same college major and the same job had an unexplained 7 percent wage gap just one year out of college. That gap grew to 12 LABOR MAT TERS In Wake of Election, Labor Reaches Out to Trump