The union, the United Federation of Teachers, wields strong influence in Albany.

Yet the power the teachers' unions now wield will be fleeting if public schools do not become more responsive to parents.

Hospital workers' unions wield heavy influence in the Legislature, as do the communities that depend on hospital spending.

This quiet drama was another instance of the power that unions have wielded in the airline industry in recent years.

Under Chatichai such unions had wielded considerable power and had caused serious disruption to the government's privatization plans.

Her union, the United Federation of Teachers, wields considerable power in Albany, which would need to pass legislation authorizing charters.

The union never found a common position on the war in Iraq and, in the end, wielded little or no influence over the United States.

It cannot sever such connections, but should end the practice of the block vote by which unions wield enormous power in party affairs.

"It may remind people of the power that the union has always wielded, and the reasons their officers are so comparatively well off," he said.

The union will wield a great deal of influence through its status as a single trade bloc, but it has done so for decades - nothing new here.