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Interest Groups
AARP & AFL-CIO

The U.S. Constitution is a set of basic laws and principles that define and provide guidance about

the rights of American citizens and sets boundaries on what government can and cannot do. The Framers

of the U.S. Constitution foresaw the influence of citizens over government so they had to provide

balance. They granted citizens the right to participate and to protest against the government to support or

change it.

Interest groups are one of the important aspects and reasons behind the freedom / right to express

our own views/speech with the right to petition the government for redress of grievances that all

American citizens enjoy. Interest groups are an important part of the law and policy making process in

many countries. An interest group is a group that seeks a collective good, the achievement of which will

selectively and materially benefit the membership or activists of the organization. An interest group

allows citizens to participate in politics and raise their voices for or against the policies of the

government that affect them the most. The difference between interest groups and political parties is that

political parties seek to constitute the government, whereas interest groups try only to influence it.

There are literally thousands of different groups in the United States, each putting forth much

time and efforts for their supporters. Difference of interest has led to the existence of different interest

groups in America, such as religious groups, labor union groups, agriculture groups, public interest

groups and many others. Most of these groups promote welfare and influence policies for their benefit

and interest. American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is one of the largest public interest
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groups They support and address the needs and interests of people 50 and older. They dedicatedly work

for aged citizen’s health and financial security related issues in the best way possible.

AARP was founded by Ethel Percy Andrus in1958 to provide assistance to older citizens and

social occasion as a legislative counsel for the elderly at the federal and province levels. Currently they

are working to influence the passage of legislation that affects senior citizens. AARP is a non-profit and

nonpartisan organization which works only for senior citizens of the country they are highly successful

in recruiting members and addressing their needs in the country.

It has attracted millions of people through its selective benefits, such as discounted mail-order

pharmacy, identity theft protection, hotel discounts, and free health check-ups. Today, AARP is a large

and powerful organization with 39 million members and an annual budget of over one billion dollars.

AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states. AARP doesn’t only help citizens to turn their goals into reality

but also helps them fight against issues such as healthcare, employment security and retirement

planning.

Yet another important interest group like AARP is the American Federation of Labor and

Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national labor trade union interest group and the

largest federation of unions in the United States. The AFL-CIO was created in 1955 by the merger of the

AFL (founded 1886), which originally organized workers in craft unions, and the CIO (founded 1935),

which organized workers by industries. It is an organization for working citizens of America, and it

provides cooperation between labor unions. It also operates as the largest training network, which helps

working citizens to upgrade and acquire valuable skills for their job. They dedicatedly work in
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improving the lives of working families, help developing dignity at the workplace, fairness and equality

at workplaces and securing social equity in the nation.

Today, the AFL-CIO is organization consists of 12.5 million working people, including teachers,

doctors, engineers, car-washers, nannies, plumbers, and many others. They work together for better

workplace rights and protections like the eight-hour workday and laws protecting the safety and health

on the job. They help to raise voices against social and economic injustice around the world.

AFL-CIO is the union where people/ working citizen comes together so they can collectively

bargain with their employers for better working environment, wages, improved conditions, equal

opportunities and fairness. The federation is composed of 56 national and international trade unions. The

main purpose of AFL-CIO is to advocate for working union members to ensure that the companies are

providing fair compensation packages and giving them the social justice they deserve in the workplace

and also they help union voice their needs in the corporate boardrooms, white house and at financial

system. Interest groups affect every individual and citizens of America.

Being an employee of big company like Disney World, it is really important to know about

interest groups like the AFL-CIO because interest groups ensure the overall quality standard (working

conditions, wages, equal opportunities etc.) are being maintained with all the employee in the company.

Through such interest groups employees benefits lot of things and they have rights to protest and raise

their voice against any action or injustice - by being part of interest groups or unions. So as being part of

such a big company it was really important for me to know about different kinds of groups that I can get
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help in the future if anything happens, and to see what they have to offer and to see how together we can

lead to a better future.

Work citied

“AARP's Mission, Vision, Advocacy, Community Service & Products.” AARP. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

“AFLCIO.” AFL-CIO. Web. 13 Mar. 2016. (online library source)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ed-afl-cio-proud-labor-day-florida-my-word-090416-

20160905-story.html