AFL-CIO Blog

  • Our Future Is Not for Sale: The Working People Weekly List
    Our Future Is Not for Sale: The Working People Weekly List Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List. ‘Our Future Is Not for Sale’: America Is Witnessing the Biggest Strike Wave in a Generation: “Something extraordinary is happening in factories, universities, hospitals, and movie studios across America. Workers are authorizing strikes and shutting down production in numbers that many young people have never seen before in their lifetimes.” Kaiser Healthcare Workers Vote in Favor of Strike After Failed Contract Negotiations: “Following stalled contract negotiations, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 5 voted in favor of striking. The union said 93% of healthcare workers, which included nearly 2,000 employees, voted to authorize a strike. Unite Here Local 5 said the decision comes as Kaiser has offered only a 1% pay raise and a two-tier wage system that would cut up to a third of wages for future hires.” A Hollywood Strike May Have Been Averted. But Radio Performers Are Still Waiting for Justice: “In particular, it’s time for radio broadcasters to face the music. For them, the question is whether the performers of the songs that get played on AM/FM radio should be paid when their work is sent out over the airwaves. While those who write the songs get paid each time the song is played, the artists who perform the songs—the lead singers, the backup vocalists, the bassists, guitarists, drummers, etc.—do not. For years, many major broadcasters have fought efforts to pay the artists, many of them in unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO, whose music makes their businesses possible.” U.S. Labor Unions Are Having a Moment: “‘Essential workers are tired of being thanked one day and then treated as expendable the next day,’ Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said in a speech Wednesday in Washington. ‘The headline isn’t that there’s a shortage of people willing to return to work. Instead, it’s a scarcity story. We have a shortage of safe, good-paying, sustainable jobs.’ That’s the feeling at Deere, where assembly employees were categorized as front-line workers to continue operations, creating a sense that the company owes them. Kellogg workers, too, feel like they put themselves at risk in order to keep America’s pantries full during lockdowns.” Tight U.S. Job Market Triggers Strikes for More Pay: “‘Workers are on strike for a better deal and a better life,’ Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the nation's biggest labor federation, said last week at a SABEW journalism conference. ‘The pandemic really did lay bare the inequities of our system and working people are refusing to return to crappy jobs that put their health at risk,’ she added, noting that the term #Striketober was trending on Twitter.” Black and Latino Families Are Bearing the Weight of the Pandemic's Economic Toll: “Thirty-eight percent of households across the country report facing serious financial problems over the last few months. That's according to a poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. But among Black and Latino households, more than 55% reported serious financial problems. That's compared with 29% of white households. William Spriggs is professor of economics at Howard University and chief economist to the AFL-CIO. The additional federal aid that expired last month gave people a sense of security, Spriggs says, so they could continue to consume. Spriggs:  ‘That's all gone away. And so that is, I think, the No. 1 reason you saw special stress in Latino and Black households because without the boost to the unemployment check, without the stimulus checks still being there, these households simply don't have the savings to endure and be resilient during downturns.’” Tennessee Republicans Push to Enshrine Right-to-Work Laws as Unions Gain Strength Amid Worker Shortage: “With more jobs than workers today, Tennessee labor unions say they are positioned to make needed gains for workers in wages, benefits and union representation. But the No. 2 labor leader in the country told AFL-CIO leaders in Nashville on Monday that Tennessee's right-to-work laws continue the South's history of trying to take advantage of workers and hurt their ability to make a fair wage. ‘Right to work is a direct descendant of Jim Crow and it should have no place in our society, much less in the state Constitution,’ AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said during the opening of the Tennessee AFL-CIO annual convention on Monday. ‘Workers are fed up and America is taking notice of our collective action. Working people are waking up and understanding the value of labor unions.’” AFL-CIO President Shuler on Good Morning America: Workers Exercising Collective Power: “AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler joined ‘Good Morning America’ to talk about how workers are standing up for a better deal and a better life through strikes across the country.” Strikes Are Sweeping the Labor Market as Workers Wield New Leverage: “‘The strikes are sending a signal, no doubt about it, that employers ignore workers at their peril,’ AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in an interview with The Washington Post. ‘I think this wave of strikes is actually going to inspire more workers to stand up and speak out and put that line in the sand and say, ‘We deserve better.’” Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 10/25/2021 - 09:38 — Oct 25
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW’s Tree Trimming Academy Brings Career Opportunities to Detroit Area
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW’s Tree Trimming Academy Brings Career Opportunities to Detroit Area Mark Houston, DTE Energy Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. Detroit’s Tree Trimming Academy recently graduated its first class of tree trimmers, providing new talent in a high-demand field and a lucrative career opportunity for area residents. The academy is a collaboration among Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 17, utility company DTE Energy, the city of Detroit and Focus: HOPE, a local nonprofit organization that provides employment training and assistance. “We strive to build an empowered and diverse workforce and are excited to help develop more well-trained and well-paid workers who put safety first,” said Local 17 Business Manager James Shaw (not pictured). “Growing and developing local talent has to be a focus to best maintain safe, reliable energy.” Some 70% of power outages are caused by trees, and a lot of today’s trimmers are reaching retirement age, creating a need for a new generation to fill these much-needed jobs. The Tree Trimming Academy was created to establish a new pipeline of talent. While the program is open to anyone, there’s an emphasis on actively recruiting from Detroit and the surrounding area to make sure as many jobs as possible go to local residents. Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 10/25/2021 - 09:33 — Oct 25
  • Alaska Airlines Pilots to Airline CEO: Do the Right Thing and Value Your Pilots
    Alaska Airlines Pilots to Airline CEO: Do the Right Thing and Value Your Pilots Alaska Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), delivered a letter Monday to Ben Minicucci, the chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines, asking him to stop stalling contract negotiations and come to the table willing to bargain an industry-standard contract. After actively negotiating since spring 2019, no agreement has been reached on a new contract for the pilots. “Alaska pilots stepped up during the pandemic to do the right thing and help keep the airline operating,” said Capt. Will McQuillen, chairman of ALPA’s Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council. “Now we’re asking Alaska management to live the company’s core value and ‘do the right thing’ by valuing our contributions to the airline and making basic quality-of-life and job security improvements that our peers at major airlines have enjoyed for years.” McQuillen emphasized the work ALPA members have done to pass the federal payroll support program, which helped keep the company afloat during the pandemic. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 10/22/2021 - 13:20 — Oct 22
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: LCLAA Speaks Out on Latina Equal Pay Day
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: LCLAA Speaks Out on Latina Equal Pay Day Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. The pay gap is one of the most visible challenges Latinas face in the workplace, and it goes beyond low-wage workers, affecting Latinas at all levels. Today is Latina Equal Pay Day, and this year Latinas had to work nearly 10 more months on average in order for their pay to match White male workers. The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) is fighting for an economy in which Latinas’ potential and success are not limited by their gender. On Wednesday, LCLAA held an empowering online webinar: Beyond the Pay Gap: Building an Economy that Works for Trabajadoras. This event examined the various inequalities both in and out of the workplace that contribute to the pay gap. “Today, we observe this day by highlighting the challenges that Latinas face, both in and outside the workplace which contribute to the pay gap,” said LCLAA National President Yanira Merino (LIUNA). “As Latina and Latino trade unionists, we cannot allow a demographic that makes up nearly 8% of our national labor force to be systematically underpaid. We will therefore continue to fight for equal pay to raise awareness of the Latina pay gap among our union siblings and leadership.” Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 10/22/2021 - 09:25 — Oct 22
  • Uplifting Workers' Voices: In the States Roundup
    Uplifting Workers' Voices: In the States Roundup It's time once again to take a look at the ways working people are making progress in the states. Click on any of the links to follow the state federations on Twitter. Alaska AFL-CIO: Arizona AFL-CIO: Arkansas AFL-CIO: California Labor Federation: Colorado AFL-CIO: Connecticut AFL-CIO: Florida AFL-CIO: Georgia AFL-CIO: Indiana State AFL-CIO: Iowa Federation of Labor: Kentucky State AFL-CIO: Maine AFL-CIO: Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO: Massachusetts AFL-CIO: Michigan AFL-CIO: Minnesota AFL-CIO: Missouri AFL-CIO: Nebraska AFL-CIO: Nevada State AFL-CIO: New Hampshire AFL-CIO: New Jersey State AFL-CIO: New Mexico Federation of Labor: New York State AFL-CIO: North Carolina State AFL-CIO: North Dakota AFL-CIO: Ohio AFL-CIO: Oregon AFL-CIO: Pennsylvania AFL-CIO: Rhode Island AFL-CIO: Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council: Texas AFL-CIO: Virginia AFL-CIO: Washington State Labor Council: West Virginia AFL-CIO: Wisconsin State AFL-CIO: Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 10/21/2021 - 15:30 — Oct 21