It was just a decade ago that the Great Recession — the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression — upended life for hundreds of millions of Americans. More than 8 million people across the country lost their jobs. Millions more lost their homes and life savings.

One of the workshops at the Connecticut AFL-CIO’s two-day convention that opened here Thursday explored the lessons offered from “worker power resurgence,” a reference to labor’s extraordinary year of strikes and other work stoppages in 2018.

For decades, working families could depend on labor unions to represent their collective interests -- ensuring a living wage, better benefits and a voice in their workplace.

Letter Carriers member Paul Trotman was lucky his house survived Hurricane Florence. When the dust settled, he applied for a Union Plus Disaster Relief Grant, a benefit of being an eligible Union Plus Credit Cardholder. He and his family used the $500 grant to get back on their feet.