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Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Martin Heinrich Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Martin Heinrich AFL-CIO This November's elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we've been taking a look at the best candidates for working people. Today, we feature Sen. Martin Heinrich from New Mexico. Here are some of the key reasons why Heinrich is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
- His father Pete was an immigrant who served in the U.S. military before becoming a lineman with the Electrical Workers (IBEW), so Heinrich grew up in a union household.
- As Albuquerque City Council president, he fought to raise the minimum wage, institute community policing and create green building codes.
- In the Senate, he serves on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he is leading efforts to create good jobs and a cleaner energy future.
- Heinrich also serves on the Armed Services Committee where he has worked tirelessly to help service members and veterans get prepared for the careers of today and tomorrow.
- He has worked to close the gender pay gap.
- Heinrich has fought to raise the federal minimum wage to $15.
- He has worked with local businesses and national labs to develop new products and businesses that create local jobs.
- Heinrich wants to expand investment in education and infrastructure.
- He has championed renewable energy investments in New Mexico to export clean energy to other states, creating more jobs in the process.
- Heinrich created public land protections that have helped fuel the state's outdoor recreation industry, creating thousands of jobs.
- He secured job retraining benefits for laid-off miners.
- Heinrich is working to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug costs for seniors.
- He wants to expand Medicare, Medicaid and other programs to provide access to quality health care.
- Heinrich helped win a delay in the so-called Cadillac Tax on many union health plans and is working to eliminate the tax altogether.
- He helped close the Medicare Part D "donut hole."
- Heinrich supports comprehensive immigration reform that protects Dreamers and includes an earned and fair path to citizenship.
- He voted to strengthen education benefits for veterans and their children.
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Introducing the 'State of the Unions' Podcast Introducing the 'State of the Unions' Podcast AFL-CIO The AFL-CIO has launched another tool to bring you the issues and stories that matter to working people. Our new podcast, “State of the Unions,” officially debuted today with an interview with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who helped expose the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. One in four Americans listen to podcasts on a monthly basis. “State of the Unions” will capture the stories of workers across the country. It’s hosted by two young and diverse members of the AFL-CIO team: Political Mobilization Director Julie Greene and Executive Speechwriter Tim Schlittner. A new episode will drop every other Wednesday featuring interesting interviews with workers and our allies across the country, as well as compelling insights from the podcast’s hosts. Learn more about Julie and Tim in their inaugural episode and check out their interview with Dr. Hanna-Attisha. The upcoming schedule is as follows:
- Wednesday, Oct. 31: Mayor Dahlia Vertreese (IUOE) of Hillside, New Jersey.
- Wednesday, Nov. 14: Post-election recap and analysis.
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Best Candidates for Working People, 2018 Best Candidates for Working People, 2018 . This November's elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we are taking a look at the best candidates for working people. Here are the candidates we've covered so far!
- Stacey Abrams (Ga.), governor
- Tammy Baldwin (Wisc.), U.S. Senate
- Julie Blaha (Minn.), state auditor
- Randy Bryce (Wis.), U.S. House
- Rich Cordray (Ohio), governor
- David Garcia (Ariz.), governor
- Andrew Gillum (Fla.), governor
- Jared Golden (Maine), U.S. House
- Michelle Lujan Grisham (Nev.), governor
- Jahana Hayes (Conn.), U.S. House
- Martin Heinrich (N.M.), U.S. Senate
- Fred Hubbell (Iowa), governor
- Ben Jealous (Md.), governor
- Paulette Jordan (Idaho), governor
- Andy Levin (Mich.), U.S. House
- Mahlon Mitchell (Wis.), governor
- Bill Nelson (Fla.), U.S. Senate
- Justin Nelson (Tex.), attorney general
- Jacky Rosen (Nev.), U.S. Senate
- Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), U.S. Senate
- Steve Sisolak (Nev.), governor
- Tina Smith (Minn.), U.S. Senate
- Jon Tester (Mont.), U.S. Senate
- Tim Walz (Minn.), governor
- Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.), governor
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Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Paulette Jordan Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Paulette Jordan AFL-CIO This November's elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we've been taking a look at the best candidates for working people. Today, we feature Idaho gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan. Here are some of the key reasons why Jordan is one of the best candidates for working people in 2018:
- She will look at every opportunity to raise the minimum wage gradually.
- Jordan wants to expand and further develop the state's renewable energy resources, including wind, solar, water, geothermal and biomass.
- She will invest in STEM education at the high school level.
- Jordan plans to create public-private partnerships among universities, technology companies and the Idaho National Laboratory that will expand job opportunities in the information technology sector.
- She will pursue a strategic national marketing campaign to boost the state's tourism industry and create jobs.
- Jordan is proposing a plan for a statewide transportation system that will link rural areas to urban areas and increase tourism opportunities.
- She will expand broadband access, particularly in rural areas and on tribal lands.
- Jordan wants to implement an opt-in statewide universal preschool program to help prepare more students for participation in higher education and the workforce and create more education jobs.
- She wants to improve teacher pay to make Idaho competitive with neighboring states.
- As a legislator, she introduced a bill to forgive teachers' student loan debts if they worked in rural schools and she wants more programs like this to be instituted.
- Jordan wants to expand advanced placement and dual-credit classes in high schools to help students be more prepared for higher education.
- She favors expanding Medicaid.
- She will pursue a public medical school to increase the number of doctors, nurses, physician assistants and pharmacists working in the state.
- Jordan wants to expand Idaho's participation in the clean energy and sustainability sector.
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National Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Baldemar Velásquez National Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Baldemar Velásquez NC State AFL-CIO Throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling labor leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to our movement. Today's profile features Baldemar Velásquez. Baldemar Velásquez was born in 1947 in Pharr, Texas, the son of migrant farm workers who were the second generation to work in that field in the United States. By the time he was five years old, Velásquez joined his family picking sugar beets and tomatoes. He used that experience, along with the inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi, César Chávez and Martin Luther King Jr., to pursue a career improving the lives of migrant farm workers. At the age of 12, he led his first strike, helping migrant workers at his summer job win better wages. After high school, he attended several colleges, graduating from Bluffton College in 1969 with a degree in sociology. He continued working while in college, and in 1967, Velásquez founded the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) with his father. The initial idea behind the committee was to organize farm workers to seek improvements in pay, housing and education for pickers. Soon, Velásquez and FLOC were organizing strikes and other actions to convince growers to raise wages and improve working conditions. FLOC had significant success until the American Farm Bureau Federation convinced some growers to withdraw from the market and others to refuse to honor contracts. In the 1970s, FLOC shifted its attention toward national and international companies, with Velásquez saying that the previous focus on local growers was a mistake and that real change would come from confronting farm-related corporations instead. The new strategy led to victories, including the 1978 strike against the Campbell Soup Co., which was the largest agricultural labor action in the history of the Midwest and which led to the first three-way contract with industry, grower associations and workers. That success led to expanded actions in the South, most notably with successful campaigns for workers at the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. in the 1990s and at R.J. Reynolds tobacco in the 2000s. FLOC became a fully chartered international union and full affiliate of the AFL-CIO in 2006. His many years of activism on behalf of farm workers led to widespread recognition for Velásquez. In 1989, he was awarded a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship. In 1994, he received the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award from the National Council of La Raza and the Aguila Azteca Award, the highest honor Mexico gives to non-citizens. He also has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from several universities, including Bowling Green State University, Bluffton University and the University of Toledo. Velásquez continues as president of FLOC today and advocated on behalf of all workers as a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council. Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 10/15/2018 - 10:56 — Oct 15