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Union Politicians Helped Achieve Labor’s Progressive New Jersey Policy Goals

Today’s progressive, pro-worker victories in the halls of Trenton were born more than 20 years ago at the New Jersey State AFL-CIO headquarters on State Street, only a couple hundred or so yards from the capitol building. The passage of a $15 minimum wage, a landmark paid family leave program and other legislation to lift up New Jersey’s working families are the culmination of an idea we had in 1997. Tired of politicians who took our money and turned their backs, we asked this simple question: Instead of hoping for our leaders to do right by union members, what if we elected union members themselves?

An idea that began on State Street in Trenton soon grew to every corner of our state. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidates Program—a strategic, long-range campaign to make government more worker-friendly—was founded at the local level. Our inaugural class in 1997 featured 17 labor candidates. In the two decades since, we have helped union members achieve 1,025 election victories. This includes a member of Congress, the state Senate president, the chairs of...

Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: American Federation of Musicians

AFL-CIO

Next up in our series that will take a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). The series will run weekly until we've covered all 55 of our affiliates.

Name of Union: American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada

Mission: Professional musicians uniting so that they can live and work in dignity; with work that is fulfilling and compensated fairly; have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect them; have opportunities to develop their talents and skills; use their collective voice and power through a democratic and progressive union; and oppose the forces of exploitation through union solidarity.

Current Leadership of Union: Ray Hair is the 12th international president of AFM. Bruce Fife serves as international vice president while Alan Willaert serves as vice president from Canada. Jay Blumenthal is the secretary-treasurer and the executive officers consist of: John Acosta, Tino Gagliardi, Tina Morrison, Joe Parente and Dave Pomeroy.

Current Number of Members: 80...

Black History Month Labor Profiles: Diann Woodard

AFSA

For Black History Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various African American leaders and activists who have worked at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our next profile is Diann Woodard.

Woodard was born in 1951 and grew up in Michigan, a member of a UAW family. After graduating from Michigan State University, she began a career as a classroom teacher, guidance counselor and assistant principal in Detroit's public school system.

By the late 1990s, Woodard was an active member of the Organization of School Administrators and Supervisors, Local 28 of the School Administrators (AFSA). In 1998, she was appointed vice president of the local to complete the term of a retiring officer. She won election to the position in 1999, and in 2000, she was elected to the first of three consecutive terms as president.

In 2009, after 16 years serving on AFSA's General Executive Board, Woodard was elected national president of AFSA. She served in that role until her passing in 2018. As president of AFSA, she was instrumental in forging an alliance with the...

Now That Government Is Funded, Here Is What Workers Want to See

Linh Doh

Last year, in communities all across the country, millions of Americans mobilized and called for an economy that works for all of us. From state houses and governors mansions to Capitol Hill, we elected advocates who committed themselves to advancing that cause. That election was defined by a movement of hard working people who stood together to reject the meager crumbs we are being handed and reclaim what is rightfully ours.

In electing more than 900 union members to office, we secured a great opportunity to right the structural wrongs of our economy. Our mission was not simply to rack up victories on election night last November. We changed the rulemakers. Now it is time for them to change the rules. As legislators move past the manufactured crisis that defined the first weeks of the 116th Congress, working people are ready to fight for that change.

Above all, that means affirming our ability to have a real voice on the job. A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that half of all nonunion workers, or more than 60...