Feed items
Guaranteeing Our Fundamental Dignity
SSA
Signing Medicare and Medicaid into law 53 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson cited an innate human tradition calling on us to build a more just society: “It calls upon us never to be indifferent toward despair. It commands us never to turn away from helplessness. It directs us never to ignore or to spurn those who suffer untended in a land that is bursting with abundance.”
In the half century since Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law, countless Americans have been guaranteed the health care and fundamental dignity that we deserve.
Yet, corporate-backed members of Congress are pushing to gut these transformational programs, proposing to:
Cut Medicare by $537 billion to create a privatized system of health insurance plans.
Cut Medicaid by $1.5 trillion, imposing new benefit caps.
These proposals are only more outrageous in the wake of a $1.5 trillion corporate tax giveaway. Working people aren’t going to stand for such blatant mistreatment from politicians. That’s why we’re mobilizing across the country and preparing to make our voices...
Best Candidates for Working People 2018: Mahlon Mitchell
Mahlon Mitchell for Governor
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 going to take a look at the best candidates for working people. Today, we feature Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mahlon Mitchell.
Here are some of the key reasons Mitchell is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
When Gov. Scott Walker stripped Wisconsin public employees of their rights, Mitchell led firefighters in a march on the state Capitol, even though they were exempted from the bill that took away the rights of other working people.
Mitchell wants to restore the prevailing wage for state construction projects so that Wisconsinites have access to jobs that pay a fair wage.
He wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, so that Wisconsin's working people can make ends meet and not have to work two or three jobs to support their family.
Mitchell wants to invest in Wisconsin's infrastructure. Not only is he going to fix Wisconsin's roads, which...
#RedForFeds: 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.
#RedForFeds: “Today, in communities across the country, working people joined together in solidarity with the federal workers who make our country run. In the face of ruthless attacks on these public servants’ fundamental economic rights, AFGE is leading the fight to defend our unions.”
Best Candidates for Working People 2018: Gretchen Whitmer: “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 going to take a look at the best candidates for working people. Today we feature Michigan gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer.”
USW to House: Properly Used Tariffs Protect Working People: “My name is Roy Houseman, and I am here on behalf of the United Steelworkers union, which is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers not just in steel and aluminum but in many other industries too...
#RedForFeds
AFL-CIO
Today, in communities across the country, working people joined together in solidarity with the federal workers who make our country run. In the face of ruthless attacks on these public servants’ fundamental economic rights, AFGE is leading the fight to defend our unions.
It’s no secret that right-wing, corporate-backed forces have long plotted to undermine the work of key government agencies. Now, they are launching a direct attack on those agencies’ employees, attempting to dismantle our union rights and basic freedoms on the job.
Today, lawyers from AFGE are taking that fight to court, and working people are taking it into the street. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us—and we simply will not stand for it.
At the rally in Washington, D.C., AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said:
Because here’s the truth: Throughout the entire history of our movement, we’ve never had anything handed to us. I see all the red here today and I am reminded that our movement was built on the blood of those who came before us.
We’ve fought for every victory. We stopped child labor....
Best Candidates for Working People 2018: Gretchen Whitmer
Gretchen Whitmer for Governor
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 going to take a look at the best candidates for working people. Today we feature Michigan gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer.
Here are some of the key reasons why Whitmer is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
She has a record of standing up for Michigan's working people. She helped pass the Healthy Michigan law to expand Medicaid to cover 680,000 more Michiganders, including children, seniors and working-class families. She also fought back against Gov. Rick Snyder when he attacked workers and proposed education cuts.
When Snyder locked the people out of the state capitol so Republicans could pass "right to work" legislation, Whitmer not only joined working people in protest, she led the protests from her office.
She is an independent political voice and is willing to work with Republicans when it benefits working people. She worked with Republicans...
USW to House: Properly-Used Tariffs Protect Working People
AFL-CIO
The following testimony was provided to the House Ways and Means Committee:
My name is Roy Houseman and I am here on behalf of the United Steelworkers union, which is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers not just in steel and aluminum but in many other industries too.
United Steelworkers sees first hand that the steel and aluminum 232’s are providing essential relief from global overcapacity, ensuring the domestic industry will be able to supply the necessary materials for our national security and critical infrastructure needs. The domestic, privately-owned industry in the world’s largest free market can remain competitive if we guide a course against an onslaught of what is all-too-often government-planned and financed, non-market driven expansion of steel and aluminum production.
The steel and aluminum tariffs are working as intended. According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, 1.4 (1,401,000) million more tons of domestic steel have been produced so far this year than the year prior. In aluminum,...
A War on the Working Class: In the States Roundup
AFL-CIO
It's time once again to take a look at the ways working people are making progress in the states. Click on any of the links to follow the state federations on Twitter.
Arizona AFL-CIO:
Who are the "union busting" firms hired by employers to fight against us? Thanks to the Trump administration it's going to be even harder to find out. https://t.co/T86AnClEBC— Arizona AFL-CIO (@ArizonaAFLCIO) July 19, 2018
California Labor Federation:
"There's a war on the working class. It's called exploitation. The only way that there's all this wealth, is that there's people not getting paid what they're worth." - @BootsRiley @fightfor15. ALL workers deserve fair wages and better working conditions. #1U #Unionstrong https://t.co/2a9kjf47N1— California Labor Federation (@CaliforniaLabor) July 21, 2018
Colorado AFL-CIO:
Urge PPRM to to respect the choice of its care providers, to immediately withdraw the appeal to the NLRB, and to recognize and negotiate with the union its employees have chosen and voted for! https://t.co/Z06KWBhkGV— Colorado AFL-CIO...
Holding Wall Street Accountable
Getty Images
Tomorrow marks the eighth anniversary of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a key piece of legislation passed to combat the dangerous corporate behavior that sparked the global financial crisis. A decade after the Great Recession, working people are fighting corporate assaults on these commonsense reforms. As AFL‑CIO President Richard Trumka said today, “The labor movement fought hard to win these protections for working people....We need more people whose financial decisions are protected and fewer hedge fund managers who gamble with our lives.”
At the AFL‑CIO Convention last year, working people recognized that Wall Street’s excessive wealth and power is corrupting our economy and our democracy. We resolved to fight back together, working to secure sound regulations that will reign in Wall Street excess, including:
Protecting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects consumers from tricks and traps in consumer financial products like mortgages and credit cards.
Closing the tax loophole for private equity and hedge...
True Patriotism: 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.
Trumka: True Patriotism in Missouri: "AFL‑CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) spoke at the Missouri AFL‑CIO’s 29th Biennial Convention yesterday, rallying a packed audience of local union leaders and working Missourians in the fight against Prop. A. He recalled the charge that President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered to Americans in the midst of the Great Depression: 'True patriotism urges us to build an even more substantial America where the good things of life may be shared by more of us.'"
18 Regional Hot Dog Toppings for Your Union-Made Cookout: "When you fire up the grill, there’s a good chance your hot dog was made by a United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) member. Oscar Mayer, Boar's Head, Ball Park, Hebrew National and Nathan’s Famous hot dogs are all made by hardworking men and women in union-represented processing facilities across America. While the hot dog might be...
18 Regional Hot Dog Toppings for Your Union-Made Cookout
stu_spivack
When you fire up the grill, there’s a good chance your hot dog was made by a United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) member. Oscar Mayer, Boar's Head, Ball Park, Hebrew National and Nathan’s Famous hot dogs are all made by hardworking men and women in union-represented processing facilities across America. While the hot dog might be quintessentially American, what you choose to put on your dog can say a lot about where you live.
Here are some of the most popular regional hot dogs, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council:
1. New York City: New Yorkers eat more hot dogs than any other group in the country. From downtown Manhattan to Coney Island, when you buy your hot dog in the Big Apple, it will come served with steamed onions and a pale, deli-style yellow mustard.
2. Chicago: The possible antithesis to New York dogs, Chicago dogs are layered with yellow mustard, dark green relish, chopped raw onion, a pickle spear, sport peppers, tomato slices and topped with a dash of celery salt and served in a poppy seed bun.
3....
