AFL-CIO Blog

  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Machinists Launch Training to End Workplace Violence and Harassment
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Machinists Launch Training to End Workplace Violence and Harassment 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. A group of Machinists (IAM) staff and officers recently attended a “Be More Than a Bystander” training at the IAM’s William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Maryland. These members are the first labor group in the country to receive training from the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia, which teaches participants how to recognize workplace harassment and violence, particularly against women and the LGBTQ+ community. The objective of the program is to help men understand the impact of gendered violence in the workplace and the role they can have in speaking up. “It was an honor for me to observe the first Be More Than a Bystander Program,” said IAM Women’s and Human Rights Director Julie Frietchen. “I found it informative and think that we will be able to use this material to make our union even more inclusive and stronger than ever.” Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 01/26/2023 - 09:35 — Jan 26
  • What to do after Roe v. Wade?
    What to do after Roe v. Wade? January 22 should have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Instead, we’re fighting to keep the government out of our personal health care decisions. If we can’t make choices about our own bodies and families, working people cannot do our jobs and contribute to our economy. Reproductive rights and worker rights are both fundamental freedoms that must be protected. With broken labor laws and Roe v. Wade overturned, our fundamental freedoms now depend on where we live.  We created a map comparing states that have abortion bans and anti-worker laws like “right to work.” States that don’t protect abortion? They don’t protect workers’ rights either. This is not a coincidence. Take a look at our map: Did your state politicians protect your freedoms? Or strip them from you? So how do we protect our freedoms? Fight like hell.  Our map shows that threats to reproductive freedom go hand in hand with threats to economic freedom for workers. We have a guide on talking about reproductive health care as an economics issue, which you can use when organizing and talking to union members and your entire community.  Find the map and resources here. For what should be the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we’re not mourning—we’re organizing. Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 01/25/2023 - 12:30 — Jan 25
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Culinary Union Launches ‘My Stations Watch’ to Hold Casino Owners Accountable
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Culinary Union Launches ‘My Stations Watch’ to Hold Casino Owners Accountable 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 Culinary Union-UNITE HERE Local 226 launched a website designed to track Station Casinos’ actions and how the company’s decisions affect the working people of Las Vegas and the surrounding area. The website, MyStationsWatch.org, illustrates the Las Vegas valley footprint that Station Casinos has developed and gives local residents the avenue to have their say about the company’s actions in Nevada. Station Casinos is owned by Red Rock Resorts, the only publicly traded Nevada gaming company whose board is all-white and all-male. “In the midst of a housing shortage, Station Casinos is holding hundreds of acres of undeveloped land, they have demolished three neighborhood casinos, and are putting up a luxury resort on the beltway,” said Bethany Khan, spokeswoman for the Culinary Union. “We want to make sure Station Casinos hears from our communities.” Check out the website. Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:40 — Jan 25
  • The Anniversary of Roe v. Wade Reminds Us that the Fight for Workers’ Rights Continues
    The Anniversary of Roe v. Wade Reminds Us that the Fight for Workers’ Rights Continues The 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade should have been a day of celebration.  A day where we felt energized and ready to build on this historic victory for women’s rights and   increase the number of working people who could access safe abortion and quality, affordable reproductive health care. But as we recognize the 50 years since the constitutional right was passed, this day also falls just seven months short of when the U.S. Supreme Court stripped millions of working women, people and families of this fundamental freedom. The court’s decision only deepens existing inequities in a country with zero guaranteed paid family or sick leave and no national standard for affordable and accessible child care and early childhood education. We must now use this time to coalesce around a plan to organize and mobilize, not only against attacks on abortion but also on the far-reaching and sustained attack on workers’ rights.  In the months since the high court’s decision, working people have experienced chaos and uncertainty, and it is part of a larger campaign to deny us security and control over our own destinies. Each day, we hear unsettling stories from across the country about patients being denied lifesaving care; people’s choices being decided on the whim of right-wing judges; and extremist politicians floating dangerous legislation to criminalize women and medical professionals, and ban contraceptives. At the same time, many of those same judges and politicians also have joined forces with corporate interests to weaken workers’ ability to have a voice on the job through a union. The court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization posed an imminent threat to collective bargaining agreements, and the justices heard arguments earlier this month in a case that could deal a devastating blow to workers’ right to strike.  These fights are deeply connected, and in many states where abortion has been restricted, workers’ rights are also severely limited. Working people have the ability to respond and that’s why we launched a new map to help workers make informed decisions to better advocate for ourselves and our families.      The map demonstrates how anti-worker policies such as failing to raise the minimum wage, the lack of paid family and medical leave, “right to work” laws and poor access to critical programs like Medicaid interact to shrink democracy and create environments where working families struggle to thrive. Many of these states have lower life-expectancy rates, higher rates of poverty and low voter turnout.  This map is a powerful resource that will give you the information you need to fight back and includes trainings on how to have productive conversations on the issue of abortion and the economy with your community; collective bargaining language to strengthen union contracts; and a voter guide to help you connect these issues to state, local and federal elections.  Your quality of life should not depend on where you live. The labor movement will continue to be a force for progress and economic equality for working women and gender-oppressed people everywhere.   Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 01/24/2023 - 14:20 — Jan 24
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Support Journalists and Local Journalism in Milwaukee
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Support Journalists and Local Journalism in Milwaukee 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. Over the past 15 years, more than 1,800 local newspapers have shut down. Many others have seen huge staff cuts. Entire communities have no coverage of local government, schools and business. In Wisconsin, Gannett, which runs the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and 10 other newspapers in the state, has cut the size of the newspaper’s bargaining unit by 25% in recent years. Meanwhile, Gannett chief executive officer Mike Reed was paid $7.7 million last year, while the median Gannett journalist’s salary is less than $50,000 per year. Journal Sentinel workers are fighting not only to save their own jobs, but to save local news. You can help. Please send a message to Gannett, telling it to support vibrant local news at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by ensuring adequate hiring, a career path for journalists who work for the newspaper, and diversity, equity and inclusion for staff. Support local news today. Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 01/24/2023 - 09:41 — Jan 24