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The President Must Stop Scapegoating Immigrants
This week, under the guise of protecting workers, President Trump issued a proclamation suspending immigration and a number of work visa programs through the end of the year. We know what this is really about. We’ve seen it many times before. The president is trying to distract from his failure to lead us through this pandemic by returning to one of his favorite themes—scapegoating immigrants.
America’s unions have a clear list of steps the administration could take if it really wants to protect workers amidst this crisis and promote a just recovery. Suspending immigration isn’t one of them.
Working people have had enough of the divide and distract tactics—we are rising up to demand real measures to enact our Five Economic Essentials and promote an inclusive pro-worker agenda for our country.
Unions have long called for reforms to our work visa programs to protect workers’ rights and prevent employers from pitting workers against each other to drive down standards. Those changes are needed now more than ever, but they require a thoughtful approach, not a blunt instrument...
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Needing Journalists Now More Than Ever
During the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread protests in response to the killing of George Floyd, working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities. In our new Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of those stories every day. Here's today's story.
Michael Hutton is a sports reporter for the Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana, and a member of The NewsGuild-CWA (TNG-CWA) Local 34071. For Hutton and his co-workers, everything is now a COVID-19 story. He writes about students not finishing the season, tournaments being canceled and coaches dying. As a result of the pandemic, Hutton, and everyone at the Post-Tribune, has been furloughed for three weeks and is worried about losing his job in the fall. Learn more about how journalists and the whole journalism industry are being affected during these dangerous times.
Kenneth Quinnell
Wed, 06/24/2020 - 11:01
Tags:
COVID-19, Community Service
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: During COVID-19 Pandemic, Oregon Workers Are Helping Workers
Oregon AFL-CIO
During the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread protests in response to the killing of George Floyd, working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities. In our new Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of those stories every day. Here's today's story.
Working people in Portland, Oregon, have stepped up to fill community needs by hosting the Workers Helping Workers food drive and distribution program. The program is led by President Jeff Anderson (UFCW) of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor (IBEW) and Labor’s Community Service Agency. In response to layoffs, furloughs and record unemployment, the unions came together to distribute 1,000 food boxes in the first of at least three planned distributions.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 06/23/2020 - 14:20
Tags:
COVID-19, Community Service
Respect at Work Has to Become the New Normal: ILO Convention 190 and Rebuilding for a Fairer Economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into stark relief the direct correlation between the exploitative labor model that fuels our global economy and the systemic racism and discrimination that leads to attacks on Black people’s bodies and lives. It is a system rooted in discrimination and oppression, one that strategically devalues and dehumanizes Black and Brown workers, particularly women. Returning to “normal” is not an option or even desirable—we must instead rebuild an economy designed to meet human needs and protect fundamental rights, including safety and respect on the job.
After years of campaigning by the global labor movement, workers, governments and employers came together June 21, 2019, at the International Labor Organization to negotiate a global standard to end violence and harassment in the world of work. The ILO Convention that resulted from those discussions, C190, was the first international treaty to recognize the right of every worker to be free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment,...
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Working People Across the Nation Join Workers First Caravan for Racial + Economic Justice
During the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread protests in response to the killing of George Floyd, working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities. In our new Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of those stories every day. Here's today's story.
Thousands of workers across the country joined together on June 17 in a national day of action. We called for the Senate to pass the HEROES Act and for Congress to take actions to address structural racism. The HEROES Act is grounded in America’s Five Economic Essentials that are desperately needed to keep working people safe and financially secure. This day of action was just the beginning. Today and every day that follows, working people will mobilize like never before to make the HEROES Act the law of the land and rid our institutions of systemic racism. Check out this video recapping the various actions around the country.
Kenneth Quinnell
Mon, 06/22/2020 - 12:50
Has the Supreme Court Shielded Us from Trump Administration Health Care Rules?
The Supreme Court last week handed down a landmark decision barring employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity—a significant step forward in the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the workplace and in broader society. While this case is an important advance in civil rights, it may also undermine the Trump administration’s new health regulations designed to eliminate existing civil rights protections.
The AFL-CIO applauds the Supreme Court for its decision in Bostock v. Clay County. Our affiliates represent people in a broad array of work settings and organizational cultures. We believe a person should be judged by their actual performance on the job, not stereotypes of a particular occupation or a particular gender. Union members are protected from invidious discrimination by their employers because of union contracts that protect them from being fired or discriminated against without just cause. But the court’s ruling provides essential workplace protections for millions of workers in the 27...
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Union Member Uses Seat on City Council to Lead Fight to Ban Tear Gas
Braxton Winston
During the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread protests in response to the killing of George Floyd, working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities. In our new Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of those stories every day. Here's today's story.
Braxton Winston knows what it’s like to be tear-gassed by the police while exercising his First Amendment rights to nonviolently protest police brutality. A member of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and a City Council member in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2017, he has led the fight to ban the use of tear gas in his city. Last week, the Charlotte City Council voted to stop funding chemical agents for the police department. Winston wrote an editorial column for The Washington Post, in which he described his experience and what led him to fight for this change:
“No chemical agents should be used on a human being anywhere in this world. And that certainly includes American...
Working People Join Caravan for Racial and Economic Justice
On Wednesday, working people across the United States joined the Workers First Caravan for Racial + Economic Justice. In observation of social distancing guidelines for public safety, working people took to their cars and joined caravans across the country. America faces crises on three critical fronts: a public health pandemic, an economic free fall and long-standing structural racism. To address these crises, we must focus on America’s Five Economic Essentials, which cannot be addressed without also taking on racial injustice directly.
America's Five Economic Essentials are:
1. Keep front-line workers safe and secure.
2. Keep workers employed and protect earned pension checks.
3. Keep state and local governments, our public schools and the U.S. Postal Service solvent and working.
4. Keep America healthy by protecting and expanding health insurance for all workers.
5. Keep America competitive by hiring people to build infrastructure.
Here are some highlights of yesterday's caravans from around the country:
Just finished up...
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: New York State's Labor Movement Stands United for Racial Justice
New York State AFL-CIO
During the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread protests in response to the killing of George Floyd, working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities. In our new Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of those stories every day. Here's today's story.
The horrific and senseless death of George Floyd has left Americans reeling during an already uncertain time. Leaders of the labor movement are speaking out and fighting for equality, justice and civil rights. On the New York State AFL-CIO’s “Union Strong” podcast last week, state federation President Mario Cilento (TNG-CWA) and Secretary-Treasurer Terry Melvin (CSEA-AFSCME) addressed racial injustice in America and what the labor movement can do to change it.
“There is no contract that allows murder on the job. There is no contract that allows a worker to supersede any local, state or federal law,” said Melvin, who is also the president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists...
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Members of UNITE HERE Local 17 Say ‘No’ to Facism, White Supremacy in Their Union
UNITE HERE Local 17
During the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread protests in response to the killing of George Floyd, working people across the United States have stepped up to help out their friends, neighbors and communities. In our new Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of those stories every day. Here's today's story.
Members of UNITE HERE Local 17 in Minnesota adopted a resolution last week that excludes members of facist or white supremacist organizations from their union. The resolution states: “The majority of our members are immigrants, people of color or LGBTQ. We are proud to be a diverse union, [and] we know diversity is our strength.” Local 17, led by President Christa Mello (front row, center), represents thousands of hospitality workers in and around Minneapolis, where George Floyd was tragically killed. The Sioux Falls AFL-CIO in South Dakota has passed a similar resolution.
Kenneth Quinnell
Wed, 06/17/2020 - 10:43
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