US PRESIDENT Donald Trump was accused of siding with “corporations and their political allies to undermine the right of workers to bargain collectively” as he took to the podium for his first State of the Union address last night.

The president used his speech to brag about the “incredible progress and extraordinary success” of his first year in office, speaking at length about tax cuts, infrastructure investment, attacking environmental protections he derided as a “war on American energy” and reiterating promises to build a wall along the Mexican border and maintain the illegal concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay on Cuban soil.

But trade union federation AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said that Mr Trump’s first year in office had “actively hurt working people” with its assault on collective bargaining.