AFL-CIO Blog

  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: UWUA Helps America’s Veterans Transition to Good Jobs
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: UWUA Helps America’s Veterans Transition to Good Jobs 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 Utility Workers’ (UWUA’s) Power for America Training Trust Fund (P4A) announced last week it is the recipient of a $200,000 Lumina Foundation grant to help service members successfully transition into post-military careers. The union said this grant will help P4A replicate the success of its gas sector training-to-placement program that’s benefited more than 700 veterans since 2012. “The utility sector has a lot to offer veterans and service members, including a supportive team environment and a mission-driven ethos to serve communities,” said UWUA President James Slevin. “This important grant funding will help more individuals take full advantage of the skills they learned in the military and smoothly launch them into high-wage, family-supporting careers.” The funding will help some 100 service members and veterans—particularly men and women of color—to apply the skills and credentials they gained in the military toward continued education and employment as civilians. Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 09/30/2020 - 09:53 Tags: COVID-19, Community Service — Sep 30
  • A Model for the Labor Movement: The Working People Weekly List
    A Model for the Labor Movement: The Working People Weekly List 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. Organizing Wins in Minneapolis Serve as a Model for the Labor Movement: "More than six months have passed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., and more workers across America are joining together in solidarity to create changes in our workplaces. Minneapolis is one city that has seen a wave of worker actions and organizing wins in the hospitality sector, and the labor movement’s successes there will undoubtedly inspire workers in other parts of the country who are looking to form a union." National Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Dora Cervantes: "Throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling labor leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have contributed to our movement. Today's profile covers Dora Cervantes." 50 Reasons the Trump Administration Is Bad for Workers: "As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to protect workers and fight for us. President Trump hasn't lived up to that noble rhetoric. The Economic Policy Institute reports on 50 ways that the Trump administration has been bad for workers."  SMART Members at Wolf Metals Integral to Creating Units That Sanitize PPE: "On a Thursday in March, when much of the country was being told to shelter in place due to the effects of COVID-19, members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 24 in Ohio were beginning to modify and transform Critical Care Decontamination System (CCDS) units to disinfect personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks for health care workers. By Monday, SMART members at Wolf Metals had created four units, with more created since then, to help combat the spread of COVID-19 among front-line health care workers." Trump Administration Moves to Suppress the Proxy Voting Rights of Working People’s Retirement Plans in Corporate Elections: "In a partisan 3-2 vote, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved rule changes that will make it harder for investors to hold corporate CEOs accountable by filing shareholder proposals on environmental, social and governance issues. The AFL-CIO strongly opposed these rule changes as a threat to shareholder democracy." California Labor Federation Wins New Protections for Workers: "Last Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a package of bills to expand worker protections. The new state laws will provide a workers’ compensation presumption for front-line workers who are afflicted with infectious diseases on the job and a requirement for employers to give timely notification of COVID-19 cases in the workplace. The California Labor Federation, under the leadership of Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski (IAM), took charge of the fight for these new policies." CDC Continues to Choose Politics Over Science: "On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finally acknowledged airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease. But this long awaited recognition was promptly retracted from its website Monday morning with the message, 'Posted in error.'” Solidarity and Cookies Lift Spirits at Operation Feed Atlantic City: "Nurses bring their healing touch with them wherever they go, and on Thursday members of Shore Nurses Union/NYSNA in New Jersey added a touch of sweetness to the Operation Feed Atlantic City food-distribution program with a donation of 500 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies that will help lift the spirits of laid-off union members and the Atlantic City community." National Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Ernesto Galarza: "Throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling labor leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have contributed to our movement. Today's profile features Ernesto Galarza." Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: United Steelworkers: "Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the United Steelworkers." IFPTE Backs Corporate Bankruptcy Reform: "Members of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) are putting their weight behind the Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act of 2020 (H.R. 7370), a bill to rebalance America’s corporate bankruptcy laws to protect workers." UFCW Prompts Largest Citation Over Coronavirus-Related Health and Safety Violations in California: "Following a comprehensive complaint filed by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has issued its largest coronavirus-related citation in the state, fining food processing company Overhill Farms and its staffing agency more than $200,000 for serious health and safety violations." New COVID-19 Protections In Las Vegas: Worker Wins: "Our latest roundup of worker wins begins with an important victory in the fight against COVID-19 for Las Vegas' workers and includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life." Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 09/29/2020 - 12:22 — Sep 29
  • #ExtendPSP: What Working People Are Doing This Week
    #ExtendPSP: What Working People Are Doing This Week 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: AFGE: AFSCME: Air Line Pilots Association: Alliance for Retired Americans: Amalgamated Transit Union: American Federation of Musicians: American Federation of Teachers: American Postal Workers Union: Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance: Association of Flight Attendants-CWA: Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers: Boilermakers: Bricklayers: Coalition of Black Trade Unionists: Coalition of Labor Union Women: Communications Workers of America: Department for Professional Employees: Electrical Workers: Fire Fighters: Heat and Frost Insulators: International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers: Ironworkers: Jobs With Justice: Labor Council for Latin American Advancement: Laborers: Longshoremen: Machinists: Metal Trades Department: Mine Workers: Musical Artists: National Air Traffic Controllers Association: National Association of Letter Carriers: National Day Laborer Organizing Network: National Domestic Workers Alliance: National Federation of Federal Employees-IAM: National Nurses United: National Taxi Workers Alliance: NFL Players Association: North America's Building Trades Unions: Office and Professional Employees: Painters and Allied Trades: Plasterers and Cement Masons: Professional Aviation Safety Specialists: Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union-UFCW: Roofers and Waterproofers: SAG-AFTRA: Solidarity Center: The NewsGuild-CWA: Theatrical Stage Employees: Transport Workers Union: Transportation Trades Department: UAW: Union Label and Service Trades Department: Union Veterans Council: UNITE HERE: United Food and Commercial Workers: United Steelworkers: United Students Against Sweatshops: Utility Workers: Working America: Writers Guild of America, East: Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 09/28/2020 - 14:22 — Sep 28
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Western Kentucky Labor Movement and Faith Community Demand McConnell Support Workers and Racial Justice
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Western Kentucky Labor Movement and Faith Community Demand McConnell Support Workers and Racial Justice 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. J.W. Cleary remembered his friend and union brother, the late W.C. Young, a national labor and civil rights leader from Paducah, Kentucky. “W.C. always said, ‘I’ve got my union card in one hand and my NAACP card in my other hand,’” said Cleary, the Paducah-McCracken County NAACP branch president and a retired member of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 550. “The unions and the NAACP have always walked hand in hand.” Cleary was one of several dozen union members who joined a 30-vehicle caravan sponsored by the Kentucky Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival that converged on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office in Paducah on Sept. 21 to protest his “meanness, mayhem and misery.” Benny Heady (UA) said, “McConnell is not for the working people. I came out today because we need a change. We need somebody in there who will do things to help the people as a whole.” Read the full story of how union members, civil rights activists and faith leaders are coming together in Kentucky to fight for workers and racial justice. Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 09/28/2020 - 11:37 Tags: COVID-19, Community Service — Sep 28
  • National Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Dora Cervantes
    National Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Dora Cervantes IAM Throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling labor leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have contributed to our movement. Today's profile covers Dora Cervantes. In nearly 30 years in the labor movement, Cervantes has participated in nearly every aspect of the fight for the rights of working people, and she has a distinguished career that is still going stronger than ever. Cervantes joined the labor movement in 1989, when she became a reservations agent for Southwest Airlines in Houston. Before long, she was an active member of Machinists (IAM) Local 2198, serving as an organizer, shop steward, recording secretary and then vice president. After a decade of dedicated service, she was chosen to serve as an apprentice organizer for Air Transport District 142 and then became a general chairperson for the district the following year. Tom Buffenbarger, then-IAM international president, later appointed her to serve on IAM's 2002 Blue Ribbon Commission. In the following years, she served as a special representative in the Transportation Department of the IAM Grand Lodge and then Grand Lodge representative. In 2012, Cervantes was chosen to serve as assistant secretary to then-IAM General Secretary-Treasurer Robert Roach Jr. The next year, she became the first Hispanic woman to serve as a general vice president for IAM. In 2015, she became IAM's 12th general secretary-treasurer, the first woman to direct the union's finances. She continues in this capacity today. She also serves as a national board member for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, is an active member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, is a member of United Against Human Trafficking and is a trustee for the National IAM Benefit Trust Fund and the IAM National 401(k) Plan. Cervantes holds a bachelor of arts degree in labor studies from the National Labor College and helps teach the Spanish leadership series for the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center and the IAM-Aviation High School Partnership Program. Cervantes spoke to IAM's ViewPoints program in 2015: This post originally appeared on the AFL-CIO blog in 2018. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 09/25/2020 - 13:38 — Sep 25