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Transit Workers Win Organizing Victories: Worker Wins
Our latest roundup of worker wins begins with a series of wins for transit workers and includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life.
St. Louis Metro Transit Workers Agree to New Contract: After a months of difficult negotiations, working people at St. Louis Metro Transit won a new three-year deal that increases wages and benefits by more than $26 million. More than 1,500 Metro workers are members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 788 who work as vehicle operators and mechanics.
Southern Poverty Law Center Employees Vote for NewsGuild-CWA Representation: Employees of the Southern Poverty Law Center voted to join the Washington-Baltimore News Guild/TNG-CWA. The members will now move forward on setting a "foundation for a legacy of equal rights, respect and dignity for all workers, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical ability, and national origin."
UNITE HERE Members at The Modern in Hawaii Win New Contract: Members of UNITE HERE Local 5 at The Modern Honolulu...
Government Must Act to Stop Spread of Economic and Financial Consequences of Coronavirus
The stock market fell 7% at the open Monday morning. That may not sound like a lot, but it’s a catastrophic collapse—a financial crisis type number. Typically, the market might gain or lose in a whole year the value that was lost by the time the sound of the opening bell faded.
The collapse appears to be the result of a combination of the spread of coronavirus and falling oil prices—two events that are themselves connected. But it needs to be interpreted as an alarm bell, because we are dealing with the threat of two deadly kinds of contagions—one biological and the other economic and financial—both of which pose serious but manageable threats to the well-being of working people.
We have heard a lot about biological contagion and how to stop the spread of coronavirus in our workplaces and our communities. You can get up-to-date information on workplace safety and coronavirus at www.aflcio.org/covid-19 and at the websites of our affiliated unions. But what about financial and economic contagion? This is something elected leaders, economic...
Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: SAG-AFTRA
Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is SAG-AFTRA.
Name of Union: Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)
Mission: SAG-AFTRA combines two great American labor unions, founded in the 1930s to fight for and secure the strongest protections for media artists. SAG-AFTRA was formed to preserve those hard-won rights and to continue the fight to extend and expand those protections.
Current Leadership of Union: Gabrielle Carteris serves as president of SAG-AFTRA. She served two terms as executive vice president before being elected president in 2016. She was re-elected in 2017 and again in 2019. Carteris has an extensive resume in television, film and theater, and is best known for the role of Andrea Zuckerman on “Beverly Hills, 90210.” She chairs the SAG-AFTRA National TV/Theatrical Contracts Negotiating Committee and leads the President’s Task Force on Education, Outreach and Engagement.
Rebecca Damon serves as executive vice president, Camryn Manheim serves as secretary-treasurer, and SAG-AFTRA has...
Women's History Month Profiles: Alice Paul
AFL-CIO
For Women's History Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various women who were, and some who still are, leaders and activists working at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Today, we are looking at Alice Paul.
Alice Paul was born in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, in 1885, the daughter of Quaker parents. Her religious upbringing taught her a belief in gender equality and instilled in her a desire to work for the betterment of the whole society. Her mother, Tacie, was a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and often took Alice to meetings.
Paul attended Swarthmore College and was taught by some of the leading female academics of the day. Her experiences in college emboldened her not only in student activism, but beyond the college campus when she graduated in 1905. After graduation, she went to Birmingham, England, to study social work at the Woodbrooke Settlement. There she spent time with Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, the leaders of a militant suffragette faction that was focused on action, not just words. Paul participated in...
Economy Gains 273,000 Jobs in February; Unemployment Unchanged at 3.5%
The U.S. economy gained 273,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 3.5%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages showed some improvement, rising 3.0% over last year.
In response to the February job numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted:
Higher wage industries (moving up the chart) were part of job gains (moving right on the chart) but lower wage leisure & hospitality and education & health showed the biggest gains. Retail continued its weakness as the biggest job loser @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/QB3AzfQuRF
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) March 6, 2020
While the unemployment rate hovers near low rates, the share of Americans holding jobs shows a long road to return to 2008 level or record 2000 levels @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/H3W2KnDMri
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) March 6, 2020
Though showing a little improvement, the share of the unemployed still looking 26 weeks or more remains stubbornly above...
This International Women’s Day: End Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the World of Work!
Gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the workplace is a global epidemic, one that both reflects and reinforces patriarchal power hierarchies in the world of work. It is a pernicious barrier and threatens women, LGBTQ and gender non-conforming individuals from fully and freely participating in the economy and in society.
Ten years ago, women trade unionists and allies from around the world came together to organize and demand an international response to eradicate GBVH in the world of work. They called on the International Labor Organization—the U.N. agency where workers, employers and governments come together to determine labor standards and policies—to develop a binding standard to prevent gender-based violence and harassment. That standard, Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work (C190), was overwhelmingly adopted last June by a global delegation of workers, employers and government representatives.
C190 articulates the right of all workers to be free from violence and harassment. This is the first time...
‘State of the Unions’ Podcast: Coronavirus and the Labor Movement’s Response
AFL-CIO
On the latest episode of "State of the Unions," podcast co-hosts Julie Greene Collier and Tim Schlittner talk with M.K. Fletcher, AFL-CIO Safety & Health specialist, about all things COVID-19, what the labor movement is doing and how we are responding to ensure that front-line workers' needs are taken care of.
Listen to our previous episodes:
Talking with AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre (UFCW) about his journey from being an Ethiopian refugee to success in the labor movement in Orange County, California, and in Washington, D.C., and the people and institutions that helped him along the way.
A conversation with the Rev. Leah Daughtry, CEO of "On These Things," about Reconnecting McDowell, an AFT project that takes a holistic approach to revitalizing the education and community of McDowell, West Virginia, and how her faith informs her activism.
Talking to Fire Fighters (IAFF) General President Harold Schaitberger about the union’s behavioral health treatment center dedicated to treating IAFF members...
AFL-CIO Is Profiling Labor Leaders and Activists for Women's History Month
For Women's History Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various women who were, and some who still are, leaders and activists working at the intersection of civil and labor rights. First, let's take a look back at women we've profiled in the past:
Arlene Holt Baker
Ella Josephine Baker
Rachel Bryan
Hattie Canty
Charlene Carruthers
Dora Cervantes
Linda Chavez-Thompson
May Chen
Septima Poinsette Clark
Miriam Frank
Fannie Lou Hamer
Elle Hearns
Velma Hopkins
Dolores Huerta
Josette Jaramillo
Marsha P. Johnson
Mara Keisling
Maida Springer Kemp
Theresa King
Sue Ko Lee and the Dollar Store Strikers
Esther López
Bree Newsome
Lucy Gonzales Parsons
Frances Perkins
Ai-jen Poo
Kara Sheehan
Augusta Thomas
Rosina Tucker
Velma Veloria
Sue Cowan Williams
Diann Woodard
Check back throughout March as we add even more names to this prestigious list.
Kenneth Quinnell...
Black History Month Profiles: Stacey Abrams
Wikimedia Commons
For Black History Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various African American leaders and activists who have worked at the intersection of civil and labor rights, with a particular focus on voting rights. Without access to the ballot box and an assurance that everyone's vote counts, civil and labor rights are among the first to be taken away from working people. Today, we're looking at Stacey Abrams.
Stacey Abrams didn't let her loss in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election stop her from fighting for democracy. The 2018 election in Georgia was a contentious one, with Abrams losing by fewer than 55,000 votes to then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp. As secretary of state, Kemp oversaw the election race that he barely won. From the beginning, Kemp was under fire for allegations of voter suppression; and despite record turnout, Kemp became the state's governor.
At the time, Abrams refused to concede because she saw a Kemp-led election that was plagued with hourslong waits at polls (particularly those in African American neighborhoods), election server...
Protect Yourself from Wage Theft: Labor Podcast and Radio Roundup
In addition to the AFL-CIO's own "State of the Unions," there are a lot of other podcasts out there that have their own approach to discussing labor issues and the rights of working people. Here are the latest podcasts from across the labor movement in the United States.
Building Bridges: Everything About ‘Medicare for All’ and Can It Provide Universal Access to Health Care?: Donald E. Moore, MD, is a primary care physician and is on the board of directors of the New York Metro Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP); Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, is president of the New York State Nurses Association; and Steffie Woolhandler, MD, is a primary care physician, professor of public health and health policy at Hunter College, clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and secretary of PNHP.Heartland Labor Forum: Wage Theft: "It’s one of the most common crimes in the U.S. today. Its victims lose more to this kind of theft than robbery, burglary, auto theft and larceny combined, yet government spends less to protect us from it than all other crimes....
