AFL-CIO head: Obama 'finally gets it'

President Barack Obama "finally gets it" when it comes to jobs and the economy, a top labor leader said on Thursday .

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka praised the president's State of the Union address, after a year that saw labor maintain an — at times — tense relationship with the administration over top domestic priorities.

"I listened to the president and came away saying he finally gets it," Trumka said in a video to tens of thousands of AFL-CIO members and activists on Thursday.

"He understands. He knows that we need jobs, and he's willing to fight for them," Trumka said. "He knows we need healthcare, and he's willing to fight for it."

The labor group had worked hard to elect Obama in 2008, but had faced some disappointments over the structure of the healthcare bill and the Congress's failure to move forward on the Employee Free Choice Act and other issues.

Trumka said that his takeaway was having no regrets about having elected Obama.

"I listened to the president tonight and came away pretty proud," he said. "Pretty proud about the role working Americans played in electing him, but pretty proud in pushing him to understand that nothing is more important right now than jobs, and nothing is more important than giving working Americans a place to go to work."

Watch the AFL-CIO leader's remarks below: