On Election Day in three Midwestern states—Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio—the labor movement will be working to make its power felt. In these states a battle between two very different visions for the economy is playing out.
 
The GOP aims to create momentum for its ongoing push to diminish the role and strength of unions in the American economy. At the same time, unions are mobilizing to mount a strong defense of organized labor this fall and beyond. 
 
Tonight, PBS will premiere As Goes Janesville, a documentary about how Rep. Paul Ryan’s Wisconsin hometown has coped with the closing of the General Motors plant that had been the heart of the town’s economy for a century. Reflecting on the disappearance of good jobs, one worker in the film laments that she once considered herself middle class. But “now either you’re rich or you’re poor. There’s no in-between.”