US union leader calls for push on wages

Politicians of all ideologies have failed American workers in an era of rising corporate profits and declining wages, the top US labor leader said on Monday, vowing to pressure candidates running for president in 2016 to address the issue.

The largest US labor union federation is meeting in Atlanta this week to work on its strategy for the upcoming campaign. The leader of the 12.5-million member organization said higher wages can be a "unifying progressive value", but acknowledged unions are struggling to connect with voters skeptical of the benefits of organized labor.

"The economy is nothing but a set of rules that make the winners and losers," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.