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Labor Day in the United States is a time to honor the contribution of workers. Recently, workers in the U.S. have fallen on tough times. Unemployment is high, while wages and benefits continue to decline -- along with the ranks of organized labor. With the presidential campaign in full swing, both candidates are claiming they can do what's best for the American worker. Tom Lee is a former president of the American Federation of Musicians, the largest musicians' union in the world. He began his career with the US Marine Corps Band and played many performances at the White House. Although unions have lost stature in the US in recent decades, Lee believes they still have an important role to play. “I do believe that unions have helped the American people. Even those who have not been in unions make great strides in terms of wages, in terms of benefits,” Lee said. But union membership has declined by about 50% over the past 40 years. And last year, the state of Wisconsin stripped most public workers of their collective bargaining rights. Many economists think the decline in membership is an important factor in the drop in wages, adjusted for inflation. Lawrence Mishel is president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute. “And this is because we have had excessive unemployment for many years recently, but over the last 30 years, we have had globalization where American workers have been pitted with workers with much lower wages. We have had erosion of unionization,” Mishel said. | 
