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Service + Solidarity Spotlight: IBB Begins New Work at Philly Shipyard

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.

Members of the Boilermakers (IBB) at Philly Shipyard began a new era in maritime education with the cutting of steel for the new National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV). This is the initial major construction milestone for the first purpose-built, state-of-the-art training vessel for America’s state maritime academies. In addition to providing world-class training for America’s future mariners, the NSMV will be available to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions. “The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers was proud to work alongside President James Hart and the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department, as well as others, to champion and ultimately secure this work at Philly Shipyard. Seeing our efforts come to fruition now is especially important, not only for the jobs it brings to the...

Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Gamble Joins Board of Energy Assistance Nonprofit

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.

UAW President Rory L. Gamble has been unanimously elected to serve on the board of directors of The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW), an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps to keep Michigan families warm through utility assistance. Since its inception in 1985, THAW has distributed over $190 million in assistance to more than 256,000 Michigan households. Recipients of THAW assistance include the elderly, unemployed, underemployed and disabled individuals who find themselves in an energy crisis. More than 70% of the households assisted have a child or senior in the home.

“Over time, the structure may change in how we do things, but the heart and soul of this union giving back to our communities is as strong as it ever was,” Gamble said. “UAW members understand that our community work is...

Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Baltimore Teachers Union: Educators Hold Car Caravan

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.

Teachers and staff from the Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU), an affiliate of AFT, as well as parents and students, gathered Tuesday at a car caravan in Baltimore, outside the city’s school headquarters, in protest against the city’s rushed school reopening plans. The caravan was organized by the union’s COVID-19 task force as a part of a larger national day of action for safe schools.

“The Baltimore Teachers Union believes in-person learning should be expanded only when it’s safe,” the union said in a public statement. “We define safety based on the health metrics put forward by the CDC and City Schools own community indicators. On every major indicator, we remain in the highest risk of introduction and transmission of COVID-19 in the schools category, and far beyond City Schools’ own decision-...

Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Iowa Federation of Labor Joins Legal Complaint on Unsafe Working Conditions at State Capitol

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 Iowa Federation of Labor, along with several other state labor groups, filed a complaint with the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration against state Senate and House leaders on Jan. 21, alleging they created an unsafe environment at the state Capitol building in Des Moines.

The leaders of five Iowa labor federations and two unions, including one that represents workers at the Capitol, said anti-worker legislators at the Capitol aren’t taking adequate safety precautions, such as requiring masks in the building or people to self-report positive tests. “Over the course of the last few weeks, you have refused to adopt safety precautions, when urged to do so by your colleagues and others, to keep our elected officials, legislative staff, building...