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Support Locked-Out Boilermakers in Montana
IBB
The labor movement supports members of the Boilermakers (IBB) working at Imerys Talc in Three Forks, Montana, who have been unfairly locked out while fighting against an anti-worker contract proposal. These hardworking Americans and their families have been without a paycheck or employer-provided health insurance for 62 days.
The Three Forks plant is French-owned Imerys’ most profitable site, generating more than $1 million in profit per month. But Imerys locked out its workers—who make up 13% of the town’s workforce—after proposing a contract that gutted health care for new retirees, seniority and the current defined contribution 401(k) plan; reduced overtime pay; and froze the pension plan.
“I grew up in Three Forks. Worked for the talc mill for 38 years....I’ve given this job the best years of my life,” Randy Tocci said. “This plant has always made a profit and yet that’s not good enough for Imerys, and I don’t understand why.”
Add your name to support the locked-out Montana Boilermakers.
Watch this video to learn more:
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NAFTA Renegotiation: We’re Not Done Yet
So, you may have heard that the North American Free Trade Agreement has been renegotiated. It’s definitely good that the three NAFTA countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico) are finally looking to change the NAFTA rules that have cost good jobs, made it harder to negotiate better wages, polluted our environment and generally left working people behind all across North America.
But we’re the ones who have worked for 25 years to take the trade policy rule book out of the hands of greedy CEOs. We’re the ones who forced the architects of these pro-corporate trade rules to admit they’ve been ignoring working people. We’re the ones who forced this renegotiation to happen. And we’re the ones who get to say when it is over.
Well, it ain’t over. We don’t know if there will be effective enforcement tools to penalize labor violations. We don’t know if the auto content rules will really create good new jobs and prevent more outsourcing. Just saying negotiations are over doesn’t make it so.
Just like this chicken isn’t fully cooked, NAFTA renegotiation isn’t over. Just like the Atlanta...
One Job Should Be Enough
UNITE HERE
Weeks after more than 8,300 UNITE HERE members at Marriott hotels across the country voted to authorize strikes, management has still failed to resolve key contract issues, including workplace safety, job protections and a living wage. Ready to fight for their fundamental economic rights, workers are prepared to walk out without notice in San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland and San Jose, California; Oahu and Maui, Hawaii; Boston; Seattle and Detroit.
"8,300 UNITE HERE members have the courage and the power to take on the biggest hotel company in the world and are willing to fight to transform jobs they can’t survive on into careers where they can support their families with dignity," said UNITE HERE International President D. Taylor last week as strike headquarters opened across the country.
Workers have been in negotiations with Marriott for months, yet management has refused to ensure that one job is enough to sustain a family.
Marriott is the largest and richest hotel employer in the world, earning $22.8 billion in revenue last year and touting a total worth of $45...
Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Ben Jealous
AFL-CIO
This November's elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we are taking a look at the best candidates for working people. Today, we feature Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous.
Here are some of the key reasons why Jealous is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
Jealous is committed to building a stronger union movement in Maryland. Unions have been a part of his work since he was 20 years old, when he worked at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., and he will be proud to continue that work as governor.
As a former member of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) who was raised by two AFSCME members, he believes working families deserve a pathway to the American Dream and the labor movement provides that pathway.
He will raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour and tie it to the median wage.
Jealous will expand prevailing wage laws to ensure that Maryland’s construction workers have more opportunities to earn good...
National Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Ernesto Galarza
Mitu
Throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling labor leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have contributed to our movement. Today's profile features Ernesto Galarza.
Ernesto Galarza was born in Jalcocotán, Nayarit, Mexico, in 1905 and immigrated to California with his family after the Mexican Revolution began. As a youth, he assisted his family during harvest season, gathering his first experience as a farm worker. Because he had learned English in school, other Mexican migrant workers asked him to speak to management about polluted drinking water, providing him with his first experience in organizing and activism.
Galarza attended Occidental College on a scholarship and worked summers as a farm laborer and cannery worker. After graduation, he attended Stanford University and earned a master's degree in history and political science. He continued his graduate studies while on a fellowship at Columbia University, where several of his research reports were published.
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After Prop A Win, UFCW Local 655 Looks to the Future
UFCW Local 655
When working Missourians overwhelmingly defeated "right to work" last month, they landed a gut punch to corporate interests that reverberated across the country.
The New York Times declared that unions have the wind at our back. The Wall Street Journal warned CEOs that unions are on the attack.
They were right. But our work didn't end on election bight. As United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) President Marc Perrone recently wrote, "At some point soon, America’s hardworking families will cast politics aside and say enough is enough with the economic struggles they have had to endure."
Just weeks later, unions in Missouri are capitalizing on momentum from the landslide victory, which captured more than two-thirds of the vote.
Members of UFCW Local 655 played an integral part in a field program that visited 1,000 worksites, knocked on 800,000 doors and dialed 1 million phones. Now, Local 655 President David Cook is mobilizing those members for the political and organizing battles ahead.
"The upside of the Prop A fight is that...
NAFTA Deal Should Create Jobs, Protect Our Environment and Safeguard Democracy
AFL-CIO Trade Policy Specialist Celeste Drake’s first take on the recently released North American Free Trade Agreement text:
While there are too many details that still need to be worked out before working people make a final judgment on a deal, here is a brief analysis on the trade deal text released late last night (we'll call it "NAFTA 2018" for clarity). Working families want the United States, Canada and Mexico to go back to the table and finish a deal that creates good, high-wage jobs, protects our environment and safeguards our democracy.
The original NAFTA favors outsourcers over workers, creating special privileges for global companies at the cost of good jobs, high wages and our democracy. Whether it is in need of renegotiation isn’t in doubt. It’s required for the good of working families across North America.
Unfortunately, we have been presented with an unfinished text to review. In some places, the text is still in draft form, in other places, important terms remain bracketed (unresolved) and in some cases, including with respect to the...
The Best Candidates for Working People: 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 this week’s Working People Weekly List.
Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: "This November's elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we are taking a look at the best candidates for working people. Here are the candidates we've covered so far!"
Regulating from Below: How Front-Line Bank Workers Can Help Fix the Financial Industry: "Ten years after risky practices at our largest banks wreaked havoc on the global economy, we face a financial sector that, despite some reforms, remains broken in fundamental ways."
Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Justin Nelson: "This November's elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we are taking a look at the best candidates for working people. Today, we feature Texas attorney general candidate Justin Nelson."
National Hispanic...
Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Michelle Lujan Grisham
AFL-CIO
This November's elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we are taking a look at the best candidates for working people. Today, we feature Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, who is running for governor.
Here are some of the key reasons why Grisham is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
She wants to bring together unions, businesses, universities and community leaders to help coordinate development in industries that have potential for real growth.
Grisham wants to create centers of excellence at universities that will help bring industries to the state and create jobs.
She wants to invest money to accelerate the state's development of a green energy workforce.
She will invest in the state's Permanent School Fund to expand early childhood classrooms, creating jobs for teachers and educational assistants.
Grisham wants to fast-track investments in the state's infrastructure, including modernization for water and...
#BelieveSurvivors
AFL-CIO
As Dr. Christine Blasey Ford shared her story with the Senate Judiciary Committee today, working women and men across the country are demanding that justice be served. Willfully disregarding Brett Kavanaugh’s egregious record and alleged behavior, Senate Republicans are sprinting to place him on the highest court in the land. We’re fighting back, demanding a nominee that meets the standard we should expect from the Supreme Court.
Brett Kavanaugh poses a fundamental threat to the integrity of the Supreme Court, and the Senate has a responsibility to reject his nomination.
Kavanaugh was hand-picked to advance the demands of a few corporate interests. We are refusing to allow those elites to further infiltrate and undermine our public institutions.
What’s more, to place our rights and freedoms in the hands of an accused sexual predator would represent a stunning betrayal of working people.
Americans across the country are coming forward in solidarity with Dr. Ford and all survivors of sexual assault. Be a part of this fight, and make your voice heard. Call your senators at 1-844...
