Dive Brief:

• Major building trade union organizations are pushing back against a recent super PAC partnership between the AFL-CIO and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, according to The New York Times.
• Eight trade union presidents sent a letter to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Monday calling on the labor leader to terminate the partnership with Steyer.
• The presidents said Steyer's goals go against construction interests, as he could threaten major infrastructure projects — including the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which President Obama rejected last year. They also said they would boycott For Our Future PAC's voter turnout efforts and implored the AFL-CIO to reconsider the partnership with Steyer.

Dive Insight:

According to The Washington Post, the letters were signed by the presidents of the: North America's Building Trades Unions; United Association Union of Plumbers, Fitters, Welders, and Service Technicians; International Union of Elevator Constructors; Laborers’ International Union of North America; International Union of Operating Engineers; International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers; United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, & Allied Workers; and Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association.

"Unfortunately, a growing trend within the Federation seems to consistently minimize the importance of Building Trades jobs and our members’ livelihoods in the pursuit of a coalition strategy with outside organizations that has produced mixed results at best and disastrous results at worst for our members and their employment prospects in many instances throughout the country," the letter said, according to the Hill.

Unions have struggled to retain their political clout amid declining membership. Labor groups have traditionally endorsed Democratic candidates, but environmental issues and blue-collar workers' move toward the right have made that less of a sure bet. Recently, union stronghold cities like New York have started to see a slight shift away from the use of union labor in the private sector, according to The Times.

However, the NABTU endorsed Hillary Clinton in December, soon after she announced her five-year, $275 billion infrastructure plan. During a union conference in April, Clinton told labor groups, "If I’m fortunate enough to be your president, organized labor will always have a champion in the White House."