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Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Texas AFL-CIO Continues to Fight Against Voter Suppression
Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
The Texas House last week passed S.B. 7, the dominant voter suppression bill in a legislative session in which monkeying with elections became a top leadership priority despite near-universal agreement that the November election was clean from top to bottom.
The House’s version differs from the Senate’s, creating the possibility of a House-Senate conference committee adopting the worst of both bills because one political party is making the decisions.
Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy (CWA) issued this statement on the 78-64 vote:
S.B. 7 gives new momentum to an ugly legacy of Texas voter suppression, making voting harder, especially for Texans who are Black, Latino, Asian American, immigrants or persons with disabilities. The bill will cost working families jobs, now and in the...
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: BAC Joins Forces with Indian Union to Demand Justice for Construction Workers in New Jersey
Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
The Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) and Indian labor union Pathar Gadhai Mazdoor Suraksha Sangh (PGMSS) are joining forces to raise the alarm about forced labor allegedly taking place at a construction site in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The unions are fighting for the more than 200 Indian immigrant workers there who are being exploited in the construction of a new Hindu temple. In their legal filing on Tuesday, the workers allege shocking levels of wage theft, coercion and fraud by an employer who lied to them and to the U.S. government, claiming that they were religious volunteers who did not seek or expect pay in return for their skilled labor.
“The shocking levels of exploitation alleged in this case are a stark reminder that injustice anywhere is...
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profiles: Michael Carandang
For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today's profile is Michael Carandang.
Michael Carandang is one of 30 Federal Aviation Administration employees who work in Guam to support the U.S. aviation system. He is an active member of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) and a union representative for his fellow employees, most of whom are also PASS members. He is proud of his Pacific Islander heritage and is a dedicated federal employee, serving his country since 1982.
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 05/14/2021 - 08:06
15 Ways the American Families Plan Will Help Working People
President Biden recently announced the American Families Plan, legislation that is designed to invest in children, families and our economic future. Here are 15 provisions from the proposal that will help working people:
Invests in education from early childhood to postsecondary so that young people can learn, grow and gain skills they need to succeed.
Provides universal, high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-olds, which not only helps prepare those children to be lifelong learners, it lessens the stress on working parents.
Provides Americans two free years of community college, including to Dreamers.
Investments in making college more affordable for low- and middle-income students, including providing assistance to colleges that serve communities that have been historically marginalized, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), institutions such as Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and other minority-serving institutions (...
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profiles: Sheila Ivy Traister
For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today's profile is Sheila Ivy Traister.
Sheila Ivy Traister has given 44 years of cumulative service to the labor movement. She has held elected positions in the Colorado AFL-CIO and she has served SAG-AFTRA since before the merger. She has served on dozens of local committees across the broad spectrum of activities SAG-AFTRA participates in. Traister particularly focuses on committees that help expand the inclusiveness of her industry and the labor movement, including committees for performers who are Asian American and Pacific Islander, performers with disabilities and expanding equal opportunity in the industry. She created the acting department at the Colorado Film Schools and she conducts workshops and lectures for film students, educating them about SAG-AFTRA and the benefits of union membership. Traister is an...
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: AFM Members Rally for a New Contract in Fort Wayne
Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
With wages, benefits and working conditions on the line, members of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) were joined by the Hoosier Heartland Labor Council as they rallied in Fort Wayne, Indiana, over the weekend to draw attention to their fight for a new contract with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. AFM International President Ray Hair spoke at the rally in support of the orchestra musicians, who have been furloughed because of the pandemic since August 2020. “Why are these musicians out on the street? Why haven’t they had paychecks since last summer? It’s because the management doesn’t want them to,” Hair told WPTA. “They’re lining their own pockets. Nobody in management would have a job if it weren’t for us.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Thu, 05/13/2021 - 08:30
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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profiles: Sharon Soper
For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today's profile is Sharon Soper.
Hired by Hawaiian Airlines in 1965 as a flight attendant, Soper retired 55 years later in 2020. She served in the leadership of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) for more than 50 years, including time as president of her local. She helped negotiate nearly every AFA-CWA contract with Hawaiian Airlines to date. She has been a leader and voice for several generations of flight attendants and continues to be an inspiration for flight attendants today.
Kenneth Quinnell
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 09:06
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: IAM Raises About $100K for Southern Maryland Veterans Home
Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
The Machinists’ (IAM’s) commitment to military veterans was on full display at the IAM 2021 International President’s Capital Classic Golf Tournament. More than 130 golfers and 50 sponsors joined together on Monday, May 3, at Breton Bay Golf and Country Club in Leonardtown, Maryland. The tournament raised about $100,000 for capital improvement projects for U.S. military veterans at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in southern Maryland. “The Machinists union has a special bond with the military and the men and women who serve in our armed forces,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr., a U.S. Navy veteran. “Many of our members are veterans themselves and help support the mission of service men and women every day. This is just one more way we can give back to our community here in Maryland...
A Very Bad Joke: 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 the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.
Elon Musk Hosting SNL: A Very Bad Joke on Working People: "Before we even find out if Elon Musk can do comedy, we know this: Letting him host 'Saturday Night Live' is a joke. Musk has used his social-media megaphone to spread misinformation about COVID, endanger employees’ health and violate their organizing rights. He’s exactly the kind of union-busting CEO who proves why American workers need the PRO Act, a bill sitting in the Senate that will help us reclaim our power."
Nurses Are Striking Across the Country Over Patient Safety: "On May Day outside of St. Vincent Hospital here, there was a sing-along going on. It was the 55th day that the nurses, members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, had been on strike at the hospital, and the sunny weather and blooming flowers meant morale was high."
Sports Unions Come Together to Fight for the PRO Act: "The PRO Act is about as important a piece of...
Thank You, Mom: In the States Roundup
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.
Alabama AFL-CIO:
pic.twitter.com/aQH9NzVCPI— Alabama AFL-CIO (@AlabamaAFLCIO) May 10, 2021
Alaska AFL-CIO:
The House voted down an amendment that would have allowed the #akgov to waste more money on frivolous lawsuits seeking to undermine our rights to bargain collectively. #UnionStrong #akleg https://t.co/gjYYUjtPBz— Alaska AFL-CIO (@AKAFLCIO) May 10, 2021
Arizona AFL-CIO:
Pass the #PROAct https://t.co/xStwc58JHf— Arizona AFL-CIO // #PassThePROAct (@ArizonaAFLCIO) April 29, 2021
California Labor Federation:
To all the Moms out there, we're so grateful for everything you do. We appreciate you and thank you! From all of us @CaliforniaLabor, #HappyMothersDay! pic.twitter.com/ymzjbHbA4f— California Labor Federation (@CaliforniaLabor) May 9, 2021
Colorado AFL-CIO:
Pass #SB87 #coleg #copolitics #agworkersrights https://t.co/nfBgVJwSra— Colorado AFL-CIO (@AFLCIOCO) May 5, 2021
