In a recent interview with The Washington Post, President Obama discussed the key priorities of his administration, including making it easier for workers to form unions. However, by quoting only 28 out of 611 words Obama gave on the matter, the Post mischaracterized his dedication to the Employee Free Choice Act, leading readers to believe the bill is not a top priority for the new administration and Congress.

Following his co-sponsorship of the legislation, his campaign pledge to support the bill, and his appointment of Hilda Solis to be our next Secretary of Labor, Obama reaffirmed his belief that workers should be able to bargain for fair wages, health care, and retirement security:

…[W]ages and incomes have flatlined over the last decade…part of it has to do with workers have very little leverage and that larger and larger shares of our productivity go to the top and not to the middle or the bottom. I think unions serve an important role in that….I think the basic principle of making it easier and fairer for workers who want to join a union…is important. And the basic outline[s] of [the Employee Free Choice Act] are ones that I agree with.

You know, now if the business community's argument against the Employee Free Choice Act is simply that it will make it easier for people to join unions and we think that is damaging to the economy, then they probably won't get too far with me.

Furthermore, the Post made it seem as if Obama sought to delay the legislation when pressed for a timetable on the bill. The reality is our new President knows that real change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to bring a broad coalition of people together on important matters to the public interest. Thankfully, momentum is on our side. There has never been broader support among lawmakers, and polling from Peter D. Hart Research Associates released in January show nearly 75 percent of adults want to see the legislation enacted. President Obama understands what the people elected him to accomplish and won’t forget his commitment to working families.

Read the full transcript of President Obama’s comments on the Employee Free Choice Act in his Jan. 15, 2009, interview with The Washington Post.