"The U.S. spends about $30 billion a year in public money on economic development," says Rogers. "About 85 percent of that is spent at the state level. We spend about $10 billion in vocational worker training, and more than 95 percent of that is spent at the local level.

"If labor wants more good jobs and is interested in public development, it should be at the table," says Rogers. "For example, transportation spending, $500 billion over a three-year period, drives where economic development goes in the future."

Rogers urges support for "high-road" firms Ð often the older, more unionized companies that pay higher wages and provide better benefits. These firms face stiff competition from "low-road" firms found down state and across the border.

As manufacturing jobs migrated from the larger cities to the exurban counties, the density of unionization decreased. That first wave of de-industrialization saw a shift to smaller, non-union "low-road" firms who paid lower wages and few benefits.

Now even those "low road" firms are hitting the road again to places like Mexico and China.

For Rogers, growing "high-road" firms is a win-win for labor unions, where there is "competition based more on quality and distinctiveness, for which customers are willing to pay a premium, [the economic benefit] gets passed on to the typically better-trained, more involved workers who produce it."

Nurturing "high-road" firms means getting involved with local economic development authorities, and stopping state tax subsidies to "low-road" firms. Union members should lobby state governments to "discourage bidding wars between the states and regions and move money back to the urban centers," says Rogers.

Rogers also recommends capturing seats on the boards of community colleges. "They typically require two or three labor seats," he explains. "It drives the entire training system for your members. You could control the human capital equation.