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Helping Those in Need Is a ‘Labor of Love’ for Union Members in North Georgia

Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council

Wearing face masks and gloves and sharing a determination to help their brothers and sisters in need, dozens of members of the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council sorted and bagged emergency food to hand out to union families on Saturday, April 18. The “Labor of Love” food drive was a member-to-member relief effort in collaboration with the United Way of Greater Atlanta and the Georgia State AFL-CIO, in partnership with Margie’s House mobile food pantry and the city of Fairburn, Georgia, to help 300 union families who are now struggling to put food on their tables. It was one of a series of volunteer events that the labor council has coordinated to support union members and the wider community during the pandemic.

In March, as classrooms were closing and fear of the coronavirus was increasing, members of the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council volunteered their time to help AFSCME school support workers in the Atlanta public schools prepare breakfast and lunch for students forced to learn from home. “Union...

Defend Global Supply Chain Workers Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 may not yet have sickened as many people in developing countries as in the United States or Europe, but more than 150 million workers in supply chains are already suffering the swift and massive impact of the pandemic. These workers have even less savings and weaker social protection systems than the very weak ones America's workers have. Just as we insist U.S. government assistance in this crisis must prioritize jobs and workers’ lives and livelihoods, global collective efforts must focus on millions of workers in global supply chains who have no safety net.

Global demand has plummeted and major corporations have stopped buying, many canceling orders already placed—even refusing to pay for goods already produced. Employers in these supply chains are cutting jobs and wages. Global garment workers, already facing some of the worst working and living conditions before the pandemic, are losing their precarious foothold on survival. At minimum, major garment brands and retailers must pay for work already done and goods already made or in production. Some companies have...

Finding Ways to Help: The Working People Weekly List

AFL-CIO

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.

Boston-Area Union Members Form Volunteer Brigades: "The Greater Boston Labor Council (GBLC) is coordinating union members’ volunteer efforts, working closely with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh to focus on areas where there is the greatest need for help. The mission of the labor council’s volunteer brigades is to care for the most vulnerable people in Boston. Hundreds of union members, both laid off and currently working, have already started volunteering to serve their neighbors during this crisis."

Rhode Island AFL-CIO Helps Coordinate Distance Learning: "With American students learning from home, teachers, school staffers and their unions are stepping up in a variety of ways to create innovative solutions to meet the educational needs of young people during the coronavirus pandemic."

Service and Solidarity: Kennita Jones: "Kennita Jones is a roll mixer and has been...

Boston-Area Union Members Form Volunteer Brigades

Greater Boston Labor Council

The Greater Boston Labor Council (GBLC) is coordinating union members’ volunteer efforts, working closely with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh to focus on areas where there is the greatest need for help. The mission of the labor council’s volunteer brigades is to care for the most vulnerable people in Boston. Hundreds of union members, both laid off and currently working, have already started volunteering to serve their neighbors during this crisis.

The labor council’s volunteer brigades are focusing on three emergency needs: providing child care, making phone calls to neighbors and delivering food. Darlene Lombos, the executive secretary-treasurer of GBLC, is in daily contact with Walsh and his office to ensure that union members are volunteering for the public good in ways that are most helpful.

“It’s about connecting the dots and making sure union members are protecting the most vulnerable. What we thought was not possible—it’s quite incredible, in a crisis like this, to see how possible some of these things are,” Lombos said. “...