Trumka: Obama 'Very Helpful' in Wisconsin Fight

In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Thursday evening, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka was confident that Democrats and their union supporters will benefit from Republican attempts to crack down on burgeoning public employee pensions and collective bargaining privileges.

Following the Wisconsin Assembly vote to pass Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining crackdown, Trumka told Maddow that union workers know the president is on their side, and praised Obama for being "very, very helpful."

“First, he called what was going on in Wisconsin the attack on working people,” Trumka said. “And then he met with the Republican governors and he said: ‘You're wrong for villainizing public workers. They're our neighbors, they’re our friends, they’re our nurses, they’re doctors, they’re teachers. They're all of our friends – you shouldn't do that.’ ”

“This is about those governors that are making war on their employees and trying to deny them a middle-class lifestyle,” he said. “Hopefully, there will be more and more support from politicians, including the president.”