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A Better Trade Deal: 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 the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.
Strive for a Better Trade Deal: "The North American Free Trade Agreement has been nothing short of a disaster for working people. For a quarter-century, Michiganians have watched as corporations shuttered plants, raided pensions and steadily eroded communities that had come to embody the promise of the American Dream. NAFTA is a disaster. But it was no accident. Politicians and corporate executives saw trade as a way to further tilt the economy in their favor. They sold out jobs and livelihoods here at home and sacrificed workers' rights abroad. Nothing was off limits so long as they could sniff out fatter profit margins."
Passaic County Central Labor Council Encourages Education with Awards for High Schoolers: "Last night I was a part of something so truly amazing I am still having a hard time putting it into words. And for those of you that know me, words are usually my thing...
Pride Month Profiles: Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen
For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our next profile is Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen.
In the early 1970s, Steve D'Inzillo was the business agent for New York City's Motion Picture Projectionists Local 306, an affiliate of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). He had built a reputation as a maverick and had a particular passion for expanding civil rights. He wanted women to gain equal footing in the local, but the prospect was daunting.
For women to win respect and acceptance in the union, they would need both the skills to do the job well and the toughness to deal with the small-minded men that opposed women's inclusion. D'Inzillo found the right women to challenge the system with Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen, a lesbian couple who were willing to fight for their rights. Laberge had a union background and loved the idea of taking on the status quo. Jacobsen had been a "hidden child" during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
In 1972, D'Inzillo...
Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Heat and Frost Insulators
Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the Heat and Frost Insulators (HFIU).
Name of Union: International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers
Mission: Assisting members in securing employment, defending their rights and advancing their interests and through education and cooperation, raising them to that position in society to which they are justly entitled.
Current Leadership of Union: James P. McCourt serves as general president, first having been elected in 2015. McCourt is a second-generation pipe coverer who began his career with Asbestos Workers Local 6 in Boston in 1976. He received his mechanic's card in 1980 and served on the executive board of the local from 1982-1984. McCourt was president of the local from 1985-1987. In 1997, he was elected international vice president of the New York-New England States Conference. In 2001, he was elected by the General Executive Board to serve as general secretary-treasurer and was elected by the general convention to serve in that position three subsequent...
Passaic County Central Labor Council Encourages Education with Awards for High Schoolers
Passaic County CLC
Last night I was a part of something so truly amazing I am still having a hard time putting it into words. And for those of you that know me, words are usually my thing. There is so much that I am grateful for and want to share. It was an incredible night and to me, it was more than 100 years in the making.
Last week, the Passaic County Central Labor Council paved the way financially for four high school seniors to enter into the trades through an apprenticeship program with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). These four students from Paterson and Passaic were honored and recognized for their choice to enter into the union workforce. They were given education awards to pay for the books for their apprenticeship program to become unionized auto mechanics. Where our world usually celebrates going to college and gives all sorts of college scholarships, our Labor Council wanted to help make a difference for the future of unions.
We have (unfortunately) seen college...
Save Our VA!: What Working People Are Doing This Week
AFL-CIO
Welcome to our regular feature, a look at what the various AFL-CIO unions and other working family organizations are doing across the country and beyond. The labor movement is big and active—here's a look at the broad range of activities we're engaged in this week.
Actors' Equity Association:
The National Equal Employment Opportunity Committee invites you to make a nomination for the 2019 LeNoire Award.Visit https://t.co/wY7Mw5oQ3X for complete details and access to the nomination form.All submissions are due by June 30, 2019. pic.twitter.com/4j5qwt8L5P— Actors' Equity (@ActorsEquity) June 13, 2019
AFGE:
“There is no way private doctors and hospitals understand the special needs of veterans." -- a Vietnam veteran and @VFPNational member #SaveOurVA https://t.co/0LlpMWcpKh— AFGE (@AFGENational) June 13, 2019
AFSCME:
Where can you find an AFSCME member? The answer is everywhere our communities need us. More than 1 million AFSCME members bring their passion for...
‘State of the Unions’ Podcast: Union Proud
AFL-CIO
On the latest episode of “State of the Unions,” Julie and Tim talked with Pride At Work Executive Director Jerame Davis as the AFL-CIO constituency group celebrates its 25th anniversary. They discussed the progress made by LGBTQ working people over the past quarter-century and the work still left to be done.
“State of the Unions” is a tool to help us bring you the issues and stories that matter to working people. It captures the stories of workers across the country and is co-hosted by two young and diverse members of the AFL-CIO team: Mobilization Director Julie Greene and Executive Speechwriter and Editorial Manager Tim Schlittner. A new episode drops every other Wednesday featuring interesting interviews with workers and our allies across the country, as well as compelling insights from the podcast’s hosts.
Listen to our previous episodes:
Union organizer Andy Levin goes to Washington to make a difference for working people.
Talking to National Nurses United (NNU) Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, about the growing movement of registered...
Governor Murphy Signs ‘Panic Button’ Bill to Protect Hotel Workers from Assaults, Harassment
New Jersey State AFL-CIO
Hundreds of hotel workers, union leaders and elected officials gathered at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City today to witness the signing of a bill requiring hotels to equip certain employees with “panic buttons” for their protection against inappropriate conduct by guests.
“We must protect the safety of workers in the hospitality industry,” Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said. “I am proud to sign panic button legislation that Bob [McDevitt] and the working men and women of UNITE HERE, Assemblymen Vince Mazzeo and John Armato, Charlie [Wowkanech] and Laurel [Brennan], Senator Loretta Weinberg and so many others have fought for to give hotel workers greater security and the ability to immediately call for help should they need it on the job.”
The portable safety device, known as a panic button, will allow hotel workers to alert security personnel if they feel they are in danger or a compromising position while performing housekeeping duties. Today’s signing makes New Jersey the first in the nation to have a...
Pride Month Profiles: Irene Soloway
Sisters in the Brotherhoods
For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our first profile this year is Irene Soloway.
As a young adult in 1978, Irene Soloway moved from St. Louis to New York. She was working in a bar that had a significant clientele who were roofers. Soloway referred to the behavior of her boss at the bar as "appalling," so she quit. The roofers in the bar that she knew jokingly offered her a roofing hammer. She took it as a challenge, and it made her want to show them that she could do the job.
Soloway did some roofing work, but hated it. She moved through various jobs in the construction industry, but settled on carpentry, both because she liked the work and the Carpenters union opened its doors to women. She became a member in 1979, when she began the Women in Apprenticeship Program. Soloway and other women were made to feel that they belong, that the program was more than tokenism.
At the time, not only were there few women in the building...
Stop the War on Working People: 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.
Alaska AFL-CIO:
The front page of the Daily News-Miner today: Dunleavy administration warns workers of possible #layoffs. Tell your legislators you oppose a #DunleavyShutdown. visit https://t.co/FYG467ufBT to write your legislator TODAY!#akgov #akleg
Full story: https://t.co/gwIW8GlWMy
— Alaska AFL-CIO (@AKAFLCIO) June 7, 2019
Arkansas AFL-CIO:
America's Workplaces Aren't Often Safe for LGBTQ Employees https://t.co/zfPNPaEwfs via Teen Vogue
— Arkansas AFL-CIO (@ArkansasAFLCIO) June 10, 2019
California Labor Federation:
Californians deserve protection from high-interest, predatory loans. Join the @Cali4EJ coalition and support #AB539 to...
Pride Month Profiles: Bill Olwell
UFCW
For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our next profile is Bill Olwell.
In 1953, Bill Olwell started working as a grocery clerk at Lucky's supermarket in Seattle, where he became a member of the Seattle Retail Clerks Local 1001. In 1959, he became a business representative for the local and in 1968, he was elected president. He held that position for a decade, and starting in 1972, he was an international vice president of the Retail Clerks International Association, as well.
Afraid that others would exploit his sexual orientation, he stayed in the closet during this time and often took a friend who was a lesbian to union social events as a cover story. "It wasn't that often, but I used her for years, and it took the heat off," he said. But as Olwell rose up the union's ranks, political opponents began attempting to derail him using gay smears, despite the fact that his activism was focused on labor, not LGBTQ rights.
Olwell also served as president of the...
