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Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Jon Tester
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 Sen. Jon Tester of Montana.
Here are some of the key reasons why Tester is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
Tester stood with the union workers who are locked out at the Imerys plant in Three Forks, Montana, demanding that the company end the lockout and return to the bargaining table.
He has a comprehensive plan to create high-paying jobs, rebuild Montana's infrastructure, invest in the workforce and spur innovation in the state.
Tester has voted to end tax incentives that make it easier for companies to outsource jobs.
He believes that new oil pipelines should be built to the highest standards by trained craft workers and with American steel.
Tester introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
As a former teacher and school board member, he knows that access...
Reject Brett Kavanaugh Today
As Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination hearings get underway, working people are demanding a Supreme Court justice committed to upholding the rights of working families. Unfortunately, Kavanaugh has a long track record of ruling against working people and in favor of greedy corporations.
The Senate should oppose Kavanaugh and call on President Donald Trump to nominate someone who will protect workplace safety, access to health care, and the freedom to form a union and bargain collectively.
It’s up to each of us to make sure our senators hear from workers—loud and clear—right now. Call your senator now to stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation as Supreme Court justice.
Click here to take action today.
Kenneth Quinnell
Thu, 09/06/2018 - 10:58
Tags:
Supreme Court
Make ‘Labor Union’ Sense Common Again
North Carolina AFL-CIO
My daughter and my mother save things that might someday be useful or salvageable. So do I. I have used tea to stain white or pink things that I’ve accidentally spilled something on. My mother taught me to do this. Her mother taught her to do this. This way of saving something with tea is called, at least in my circles, tea-staining.
I spent most of last week with an interfaith gathering at Wildacres Retreat near Little Switzerland, North Carolina. We shared stories about practices officially related to our faith traditions and others that are more idiosyncratic to families and regions. Interspersed with officially scheduled lessons, we also taught one another informally, about rituals that may seem to one person to be common sense but that, as it turns out, is a very specific sense. It rained buckets during our four days there, and, at one point, a person on staff told us to "be aware of the lightning." Huh? What does it mean to "be aware of the lightning?" We discussed over kosher meatloaf how thunderstorms function in the North Carolina mountains, and whether...
Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Randy 'Iron Stache' Bryce
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 Wisconsin congressional candidate Randy "Iron Stache" Bryce.
Here are some of the key reasons why Bryce is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
As an active member of Ironworkers Local 8, he helped organize against Act 10, the legislation supported by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker that was designed to gut the unions of teachers and other public-sector workers.
He favors a responsible approach to protecting pensions so that hardworking men and women are not forced into poverty.
He wants to pass a domestic workers' bill of rights that gives those who care for our families the right to organize and join a union.
He will work to fully fund the Occupational Safety and Health Administration so that workers are safe and free on the job.
He wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour....
We're Gonna Fight for It
The AFL-CIO launched a new 60-second TV ad today, airing on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, highlighting the wave of collective action surging across the country and inviting all working people to join our movement. From the resounding defeat of “right to work” in Missouri to organizing victories nationwide, we are marching forward together.
The federation’s new ad offers up a simple rallying cry, calling on working people to join the fight ahead. As AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) puts it, “We want regular people to be able to work hard and get ahead. We want fairness. We want dignity. We want everybody to have access to the American Dream. We’re gonna fight for it. We’re gonna stand for it. We’re gonna march for it.”
Working people in communities across the country displayed that energy this weekend. From a surge in organizing and collective action on the job to fights against an anti-worker administration and major victories at the ballot box, we are making our voices heard. And it is working. A new poll from Gallup shows that approval for unions is the highest it has been in 15 years.
The ad...
A Win for Federal Employees: 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.
Federal Judge Rules Trump’s Anti-Worker Executive Orders Unconstitutional: "When Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders attacking the rights of federal government workers, he wasn’t prepared for the response from working people. Our response, led by AFGE, included filing lawsuits to stop the orders and rallying across the country in support of federal workers. Now a federal judge has agreed with working people that these executive orders are illegal."
A Million Voices: "The AFL-CIO hosted a million-member tele-town hall this week, bringing together working people from across the country to talk about the power and growing energy of the labor movement."
Join the Conversation: "The AFL-CIO is launching a new event series under its Ideas at Work banner to capture the activism that is happening in our workplaces and communities all over the country."
Transforming...
Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Jacky Rosen
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 Senate candidate Jacky Rosen from Nevada.
Here are some of the key reasons why Rosen is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
She is leading efforts to incentivize research and development hiring at technology companies, which has already created thousands of good-paying jobs across the state.
Rosen wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
She supports paid family and medical leave.
Rosen wants to invest in vocational training and apprenticeship programs.
She favors better pay for teachers and better funding for public schools.
A top priority for her is to encourage girls to go into STEM and computer science programs.
Rosen wants a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United so we can get special interest money out of electoral politics.
She opposes...
Tefere Gebre’s American Journey: From Refugee Camp to Labor Leader
Tefere Gebre
A new article from the International Rescue Committee profiles AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre. An excerpt:
Gebre was still a boy when he was forced to flee Ethiopia, a country that suffered political turmoil and famine during the 1980s. “People were getting murdered on the streets by the government,” Gebre says. “They were just grabbing kids and torturing them if they were suspected of being an anarchist or aiding the opposition. That's when I knew I had to find a way to get out.”
In 1982, Gebre and four friends managed to escape to a refugee camp in neighboring Sudan, walking through the desert for 93 days. There they applied to enter the U.S. through the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNCHR), taking several written and oral exams in the vetting process.
“When the UNCHR announces who has been accepted to resettle to the U.S., they post the names outside their office,” says Gebre, recalling the jostling crowd pressing against him as he searched the list. “That was like another birth for me, when I saw my name there.” His...
A Million Voices
AFL-CIO
The AFL-CIO hosted a million-member tele-town hall this week, bringing together working people from across the country to talk about the power and growing energy of the labor movement.
A new poll from Gallup shows the approval for labor unions is at 62%, the highest in 15 years. More and more Americans are reaching for the rights and dignities that come with a union card. Working people are coming to realize that we’re strongest when we stand and fight together.
With collective action driving victories for workers from coast to coast, yesterday’s million-member tele-town hall reflected on this incredible moment and looked ahead to the new opportunities on the horizon. Here are a few highlights from the conversation:
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA): “Workers are writing a comeback story unlike any I’ve seen in my 50 years in the labor movement....And here’s the truth: We’re not even close to done. 2018 is the year of the worker. We’re building a fairer economy and a more just society. We’re building a political system that listens to the voices of working people, instead of...
Join the Conversation
AFL-CIO
The AFL-CIO is launching a new event series under its Ideas at Work banner to capture the activism that is happening in our workplaces and communities all over the country.
We are facilitating an ongoing conversation about how collective action is the key to winning an economy and society that works for all of us.
As working people continue to rise, Ideas at Work will feature panels, film screenings, book discussions and other creative events, spanning topics from the future of work to child labor laws.
The AFL-CIO will host a conversation with photojournalist Earl Dotter about his new book, Life’s Work: A 50 Year Photographic Chronicle of Working in the U.S.A. This event will be complemented by a curated exhibition of his works.
In the lead-up to the November elections, join us for an event highlighting union members in public office. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO Political/Electoral & Issue Mobilization Director Julie Greene and Operating Engineers (IUOE) Political Director Jeffrey Soth will lead a discussion on the importance of having labor’s voice in...
