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Erratic winds are feeding the wildfires, which have blanketed coastal Southern California in thick smoke and blown hot embers onto rooftops.
Union Members Winning Elections Coast to Coast
Union Members winning elections
This week, working family advocates won electoral victories from coast to coast, with Dahlia Vertreese winning election as mayor of Hillside, New Jersey, and Myrtle Cole being re-elected as president of the San Diego City Council.
These victories are part of a larger trend, where a strong independent union movement provides the support and expertise to help ensure that when working people run for office, working people win.
Strong independent union movements at the state and local level have been growing for years, and now the impact is being felt at a national level as we define a pro-worker agenda committed to the issues that matter most to working people everywhere.
Working people win when working people run. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO’s record says it all. A total of 965 union members have won office in that state’s program, with an annual win ratio of more than 70%.
Successful local candidate programs have gone national. America’s largest federation of labor unions passed a powerful national resolution on political...
Viral sensation, Oscar Gonzales, saves rabbit from blazing Thomas Fire after spotting the small animal on Highway 1 near La Conchita, CA.
Viral sensation, Oscar Gonzales, saves rabbit from blazing Thomas Fire after spotting the small animal on Highway 1 near La Conchita, CA.
Viral sensation, Oscar Gonzales, saves rabbit from blazing Thomas Fire after spotting the small animal on Highway 1 near La Conchita, CA.
Labor Department Proposes Legalizing Wage Theft
Too many restaurant owners already break the law by stealing tips from their servers. Now the Department of Labor wants to give its blessing to this kind of wage theft.
The Labor Department is moving quickly to establish a new rule that would make tips the property of restaurant owners instead of workers.
This week, President Donald Trump's administration proposed getting rid of an existing rule that makes tips the property of servers that restaurant owners cannot take away.
Under the new proposal, restaurant owners who pay their employees as little as $7.25 per hour could do whatever they want with tips left by customers for waitstaff. Restaurant owners could even keep the tips for themselves.
The federal minimum cash wage for tipped workers—at just $2.13 per hour—is already lower than for other workers. This low subminimum wage means that tipped workers depend on tips for virtually all their take-home pay after taxes, so they receive their take-home pay directly from customers. Not surprisingly, tipped workers have higher rates of poverty, discrimination and sexual...
President of IBEW Local 1253 Joins Sit-In to Fight ‘Dead-Wrong’ Tax Bill
IBEW
Outraged by the GOP’s tax bill, a local Electrical Workers (IBEW) president was among five protesters who staged a sit-in and ultimately were arrested Monday at Sen. Susan Collins’ (R) office in Bangor, Maine.
"This bill gives massive tax cuts to the rich on the backs of working people. It was written by the rich and powerful for the rich and powerful," said Nick Paquet, an electrician in his second term as president of IBEW Local 1253 in Augusta, Maine. "Sen. Collins knows right from wrong, and this bill is dead wrong for Maine."
Collins has bucked the GOP party line on occasion, and Paquet thought she might do it again. As a father of four children ages nine to 19, he certainly hoped so. "To be honest, I really thought she wouldn’t vote for it, especially because of who she represents. We’re not well-to-do," he said. "We’re a very scrappy part of Maine up here, and good-paying jobs are hard to come by."
Instead, Collins joined all but one Republican in voting for the bill, which passed 51-49 in the early hours of Dec. 2. The...
Congress has not verified the identity of the person who sent Donald Trump and his son an email offering access to hacked documents in September 2016.
A Roving Ambassador for Peace: 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 this week’s Working People Weekly List.
Labor Leader Tefere Gebre Awarded Peace Prize: "Tefere Gebre, a stalwart of the cause of organized labor, was given a 'Roving Ambassador for Peace' award in a ceremony, near Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Gebre, a native of Ethiopia, is an Executive Vice-President of the AFL-CIO. According to the program notes, he became in 2013, the 'first immigrant, political refugee, black man and local labor council leader elected as a national officer of the AFL-CIO.'"
JPMorgan and AFL-CIO CEOs: Finding a Job Is Still Too Hard. Here’s How We Can Fix That: "By the end of the year, it is estimated that almost 2 million new jobs will have been created in 2017. While that is certainly good news for the economy, we need strategies in place to ensure that this economic growth benefits all working families. Our country should be a land of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard to realize their dreams...
The Economy Gains 228,000 Jobs in November, and Unemployment Unchanged at 4.1%
The U.S. economy gained 228,000 jobs in November, and unemployment was unchanged at 4.1%, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This continues the recovery of the labor market at a tempered rate, which means the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee should continue to let the economy grow and not raise interest rates.
In response to the November jobs numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted:
So far this year, employment growth has averaged 174,000 a month compared to 187,000 last year. @AFLCIO #jobsreport
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) December 8, 2017
Continued attacks on health care access, like in the tax bill, have created uncertainty slowing growth in employment in health care. Growth has slowed to 24,000 a month this year from 32,000 a month last year. @AFLCIO #JobsReport
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) December 8, 2017
Wage growth continues to be moderate. Over the year, wages were up 2.5%. Combined with slowing average monthly job...
