Watch the White House Summit on Worker Voice Live Today

Those were the type of questions President Obama and other administration officials raised at a White House event Wednesday dubbed the “Summit on Worker Voice”.

President Obama on Wednesday called on USA business, labor and political leaders to “refashion the social compact” and strengthen union powers across the country, arguing that the troubling trend of declining middle-class wages can be turned around by redefining the basic principles of workers’ rights. Most alt-labor groups operate with the ultimate goal of getting workers into unions. In addition, research shows that unions can contribute to higher compensation and better workplace conditions, without decreasing productivity for businesses.

Claims that unions help to improve wages and benefits have been disputed by groups like the conservative Manhattan Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Many people who do the work I do worry that their job could be at risk if their employer finds out that they are in favor of forming a union.

Ultimately, traditional unions weren’t disappointed by how the White House summit turned out.

The summit will include at least a few workers who have been more critical of the recent labor reforms.

Rep. Ross said that the idea behind this possible rule change is to force GOP to unite around one leader.

But like a growing number of ordinary people around the US, I worry about whether my kids will get a fair shot at a decent life. Both President Obama and Vice President Biden spoke at the event.

Concerns the summit is skewed in favor of unions have received the attention of other groups as well. He also rebutted the argument that employees wrongly classified as independent contractors – like a few Uber drivers are said to be – aren’t getting the rights and benefits they deserve. Unfortunately, when the White House rolls out the red carpet for them like this it only reinforces the fantasy they are selling to their members. To balance this out, the summit held at Heritage picked workers who have been adversely impacted by unions. Rojas and thousand of his fellow Latino farm workers became involved in the longest labor hearing in California history.

The summit is “a desperate attempt to prop up a dying labor movement and make it seem relevant to a new generation of workers who don’t have first-hand experience with a unionized workplace”, wrote French, senior vice president for government relations with the retail federation.

Summit attendees presented a handful of proposals for doing just that.

Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, a union of 43,000 public and non-profit workers throughout Minnesota, will participate on a panel about how the voice of workers is making a difference in Minnesota.