As the AFL-CIO prepares for a visit from President Barack Obama on Wednesday the labor group has announced plans for an aggressive push for political engagement from its member unions. The AP’s Sam Hananel reports that the group has “…lingering irritation that Democrats could not muster enough support to pass legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize workers.” The legislation in question is the Employee Free Choice Act, which would effectively do away with secret-ballot elections in favor of a card check system of union recognition.

Despite the unhappiness, AFL-CIO deputy political director Mike Podhorzer said that the AFL-CIO had “…high hopes that Congress would do more to create jobs.” Interesting comment from organized labor if, as leaders claim, their highest priority is the Employee Free Choice Act. As we have noted numerous times that the legislation has been estimated to destroy 600,000 jobs in the first year after enactment. In a way, Congress has protected the jobs of 600,000 Americans by not passing this legislation.

It leads me to wonder – are labor leaders truly committed to jobs creation or are they more interested in artificially growing their membership by forcing workers into unions? If they are focused on jobs creation, then they should cease their support for jobs-killing legislation.