A Labor history course I once took gave me a deep respect for organized Labor and it's crucial importance. Reading through Bruce Catton's The Civil War I came across something that reinforced the importance of Labor:

[E]ven when the cotton shortage threw tousands of textile workers out of employment, the British working class remained consistently opposed to the Confederacy. (p. 104)

Howard Zinn also documents how racial differences were often overcome by the working class. There is something that workers share that brings them together--and often in support of the progressive cause.

I mention this to highlight a new effort by the SEIU called Purple Ocean. They have an online poll to shape the goals of the group. Labor needs progressives and progressives need Labor.