Women’s History Month Profiles: Amber Glennon
Women’s History Month Profiles: Amber Glennon
For Women’s History Month, we’re taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women’s history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today’s profile is Amber Glennon of the Laborers (LIUNA).
Amber Glennon has risen through the ranks at LIUNA, first working in the field as a construction laborer, becoming a journey worker in 2021 and most recently being brought on as a staff member at her regional office. She has served as a leader on Local 252’s women’s committee, where she helped to create an inclusive and supportive environment for other women in the construction industry.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 03/31/2026 – 10:12
Tags:
Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month Profiles: Martina Taite
Women’s History Month Profiles: Martina Taite
For Women’s History Month, we’re taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women’s history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today’s profile is Martina Taite of the Boilermakers (IBB).
Martina Taite is the first African American and first woman to be elected as president of the Pascagoula Metal Trades Council, and she is president of IBB Local 693, which represents 1,700 boilermakers at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She is a shrewd negotiator and keen advocate for shipyard workers, her local lodge and her union sisters across the labor movement. Taite commands a room when she stands up for working people.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 03/31/2026 – 10:12
Tags:
Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month Profiles: Teesha Foreman
Women’s History Month Profiles: Teesha Foreman
For Women’s History Month, we’re taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women’s history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today’s profile is Teesha Foreman of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
Teesha Foreman has been a civil servant with the New York City Housing Authority since 2000. From shop steward to staff representative, supervisor, executive board member and now second vice president, Foreman’s journey has been rooted in ensuring that women—especially women of color—have a strong voice at every decision-making table. She serves on the CWA National Human Rights/Civil Rights and Equity Committee and as a trustee for Local 1180’s benefit funds.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 03/31/2026 – 10:12
Tags:
Women’s History Month
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Tens of Thousands of Union Members Participate in Nationwide No Kings Rallies
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Tens of Thousands of Union Members Participate in Nationwide No Kings Rallies
Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of union members participated in No Kings rallies across the nation. Americans rallied in opposition to the radical pages of Project 2025 and the fever dreams of America’s corporate billionaires, which have come to life with a relentless assault on America’s workers.“No Kings is about standing up to the guy in the White House,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, who attended the event in Minnesota with labor leaders and thousands of union members. “But No Kings also means tearing down an economy by and for the billionaires—and instead, building it for working people. More money in our pockets—because no one in the richest country on Earth should struggle to get by. More time off—to spend with our friends and family and kids and loved ones. Equal pay for Black and Latina women—who make 58 cents on the dollar—because opportunity in this country should not depend on the color of your skin. And you know where it all starts? With a good union job for every worker in this country—because we all know, it’s better in a union!”Many labor leaders and members spoke at events across the country. AFT President Randi Weingarten and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President April Verrett joined President Shuler to speak at the Minnesota rally, which also featured Bruce Springsteen, Sen. Bernie Sanders and others. AFSCME President Lee Saunders spoke at the event in Washington, D.C., while IAM Union International President Brian Bryant addressed the rally in Savannah, Georgia.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 03/31/2026 – 09:59
‘The Goal Is to Spread the Joy of Reading’: The Working People Weekly List
‘The Goal Is to Spread the Joy of Reading’: 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.
Teachers Union Leader Blasts Melania Trump’s Robot Pitch: ‘Every Parent’s Nightmare’: “Randi Weingarten, president of one of America’s most powerful teachers unions, strongly pushed back Thursday against first lady Melania Trump’s comments that humanoid robot teachers could soon become central to children’s education. Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, delivered the sharp rebuke at Thursday’s inaugural Workers First AI Summit. Hosted by the AFL-CIO, the meeting of labor representatives and civil society organizations aimed to bring workers across industries together to build a unified front against AI’s unchecked growth and its growing impact on American workers. ‘What she did yesterday was every parent’s nightmare,’ Weingarten said at a session exploring the policies that should protect workers’ rights in the midst of fast-moving AI development.”United Airlines, Flight Attendants Reach Labor Deal for First Raises Since Pandemic: “United Airlines and its flight attendant union have reached a tentative labor deal that will include their first raises in roughly six years. If ratified by flight attendants, it would make United the last of the major carriers to secure a labor deal with cabin crew members since the COVID-19 pandemic ended. United said the agreement will include immediate raises and top pay of $100 an hour at the end of the contract, as well as pay for flight attendants during boarding and ‘a signing bonus for every flight attendant worth a total of $740 million.’ The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the flight attendants union, didn’t provide specific details about the deal but said that in addition to higher base pay, it includes additional compensation for flight disruptions and new restrictions on overnight flight assignments.”New York University Professors Reach a Deal on a Contract to End Strike After 2 Days: “Faculty members at New York University reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday to end a two-day strike at the private school, winning substantial salary increases after hundreds walked off the job over a contract dispute. The union, the Contract Faculty United-UAW, represents about 950 full-time faculty members who teach roughly a quarter of classes at New York University. and are not on track for tenure. Many complained that their salaries were falling far behind their tenure-track colleagues, and failing to keep up with the steep costs of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities.”New Group of Alexandria City Workers Vote to Unionize: “A group of Alexandria city workers voted to unionize this month in Virginia as a bill to lift the ban on public-sector collective bargaining awaits the signature of Gov. Abigail Spanberger. On March 3, Alexandria professional employees voted 155-1 in favor of unionizing with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 20. The Alexandria professional employees union includes urban planners, therapists in the city’s Department of Community & Human Services, and accountants like Tia Littlejohn-Adams.”Nearly 200 New Jersey Health Care Workers Vote to Unionize, Citing Unrealistic Workloads: “Nearly 200 employees who work at Inspira Health and Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice voted to unionize earlier this month, according to labor officials. The workers cited increasing workloads and critically low staffing among their reasons for choosing to organize and join the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, New Jersey’s largest health care union.”More Than 10,000 Free Books Are Distributed to Hundreds of Philadelphia Students: “More than 10,000 free books were distributed on Tuesday to hundreds of Philadelphia students. The giveaway was hosted by Murrell Dobbins CTE High School in North Philadelphia. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers delivered the books during the ‘It’s a Lit Day’ book fair. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade were invited to pick out a book, and take it home to enjoy. The giveaway was part of AFT’s ‘Reading Around the World.’ It is the union’s national literacy partnership with First Book. The goal is to spread the joy of reading by providing millions of free books to students and families.”Oregon Nurses Union Reaches ‘Historic’ Agreement with Kaiser Permanente After Year of Bargaining: “The Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) and Kaiser Permanente reached the final tentative agreement after a year-long bargaining process, the union announced on Monday. Now, all that remains in the negotiation process is for the six OFNHP employee groups to ratify the agreement in a vote. Union representatives said that vote is likely to succeed.”Braxton Winston: Stop Giving Free Lunches to North Carolina Tech Manufacturer Corning: “Corning, which has more than 3,000 employees in North Carolina, recently announced a $6 billion agreement to supply fiber optic cables to tech giant Meta to fuel the company’s rapid expansion of data centers. Corning’s fiber optic manufacturing is headquartered in North Carolina and they continue to build out fiber optic manufacturing plants across the state, including in Catawba County. This new agreement should be an economic boon for all of North Carolina, but that won’t happen automatically.”The Largest Federal Workers Union Says ‘Untrained, Armed’ ICE Agents Should Not Replace TSA: “‘ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security. TSA officers spend months learning to detect explosives, weapons, and threats specifically designed to evade detection at checkpoints—skills that require specialized instruction, hands-on practice, and ongoing recertification,’ Everett Kelley, president of AFGE, said on Sunday in a statement posted online.”New AFSCME 189 Contract at Portland Auditor’s Office: “Members of AFSCME Local 189 who work in the City of Portland Auditor’s Office ratified a new collective bargaining agreement March 16—after 11 months of bargaining. The contract covers 30 auditors and administrative support staff. They conduct performance audits of city services, manage the city’s Fraud Hotline, oversee city elections, and manage city records.”Breakthrough First Contract at Labcorp: “Several years after the Legacy and Providence hospital chains outsourced their jobs, about 500 medical testing lab workers have a first union contract. Ratified March 9-15 by 86% of members voting, the contract between Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) and Laboratory Corporation of America (Labcorp) provides wage increases and a $800 signing bonus. Minimum starting pay will now be $20 an hour, up from just over $18.”HarperCollins Union Wins New Contract: “Workers in the Association of HarperCollins Employees, members of Local 2110 of the UAW, voted to ratify their most recent union contract last week after several months of bargaining. It is the first contract negotiated between the company and the union since the historic strike at HarperCollins that ended with a contract agreement in February 2023. Under the new contract, HarperCollins employees now have one of the highest base pays in the publishing industry.”ASTTU and Georgia AFL-CIO Launch Workforce Stability Initiative to Protect Skilled Labor: “The Association of Skilled Trade and Transportation Unions (ASTTU) today announced a formal partnership with the Georgia AFL-CIO, whose affiliated unions represent more than 60,000 workers across the state, to implement a coordinated workforce stability initiative designed to protect and retain skilled labor at a critical time for Georgia’s economy.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 03/31/2026 – 09:58
GVP Holden Brings New Vision for IAM Union Training and Apprenticeships
At the recent MNPL Conference in Savannah, Georgia, it was announced that the IAM Executive Council had voted unanimously to appoint Jon Holden as General Vice President of Training and Apprenticeships, effective April 1, 2026. Holden was previously the president of IAM District 751 in Washington state, where he represented tens of thousands of high-skilled
The post GVP Holden Brings New Vision for IAM Union Training and Apprenticeships appeared first on IAM Union.
Teamsters Union Forces Amazon to Honor Right to Strike
(NEW YORK) – In a landmark settlement, Amazon has conceded it will no longer retaliate against workers who exercise their right to strike, following relentless pressure from the Teamsters Union in sessions mediated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
“When workers organize together as Teamsters, we have the power to go toe-to-toe with the biggest corporations in the world — and to win,” said Randy Korgan, Director of the Teamsters Amazon Division. “Amazon Teamsters dragged the world’s largest retailer to the table kicking and screaming to try to fix the problems the company created for union members. The National Labor Relations Board now needs to stop dragging its feet and ratify this agreement immediately. The Teamsters will keep building worker power at Amazon nationwide and win the contracts that these workers deserve.”
Historically, Amazon deducted Unpaid Time (UPT) from those who strike in direct retaliation against workers exercising their rights. In December 2024, Amazon Teamsters picketed more than 200 of the multitrillion-dollar company’s facilities in over 20 states. Last year, the NLRB ruled that Amazon had illegally taken striking workers’ UPT, which exists as a bank of hours that Amazon workers can use for unscheduled leave and emergencies. The company effectively uses UPT as an attendance policy, and Amazon may terminate workers when they run out of it.
Amazon’s settlement with the Teamsters will now restore the illegally deducted time to affected workers and ensure all Amazon workers can strike in the future without losing their UPT. The settlement will cover all of Amazon’s 1,300 facilities nationwide, and Amazon is required to post a notice to workers informing them of their rights.
“As Amazon Teamsters, we are the only ones who have ever successfully forced this company to respect the right to strike,” said Robert Moore, a warehouse worker at DCK6 in San Francisco. “Amazon workers everywhere should know that thanks to this settlement, they too can become Teamsters without losing their Unpaid Time. It’s time to get organizing and secure even stronger rights on the job.”
Amazon Teamsters have been fighting the company’s retaliation at all levels. Workers have been organizing warehouses, circulating petitions, and marching against management, all while pursuing the union’s legal case and rallying support from elected officials.
Nearly 10,000 Amazon workers have organized with the Teamsters over the last two years. In unionized facilities, Amazon Teamsters have forced the company to raise wages, invest in safety, and overturn unfair terminations. Now that the union has pushed Amazon to remove this retaliatory policy, workers are ready to escalate Teamsters organizing efforts.
“Every year, more Amazon workers join the Teamsters. Each organizing victory builds more power,” said Kyle Middleton, a warehouse worker at JFK8 in New York. “To any of my co-workers who may have been on the fence, now is the time to join this movement. We are winning — and we will continue to force Amazon to respect its workforce in every possible way.”
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents over 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on X @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
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Get to Know AFL-CIO’s Affiliates: Transport Workers
Get to Know AFL-CIO’s Affiliates: Transport Workers
This is the next post in our series that will take a deeper look at each of our affiliates. The series will run weekly until we’ve covered all 65 of our affiliates. Next up is the Transport Workers Union (TWU).
Name of Union: Transport Workers Union of AmericaMission: Moving the American economy forward, keeping the traveling public safe and offering working people a voice on the job.Current Leadership of Union: John Samuelsen serves as international president. He was sworn in as TWU’s 10th international president in 2017, and was reelected in 2021 and 2025. He is also the former president of TWU Local 100 in New York. A Brooklyn native, Samuelsen was hired by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) in 1993 and was assigned to a track gang in Brooklyn, where he and his fellow union members worked under difficult and unsafe conditions. Managers ignored safety regulations, disciplined workers who spoke up, and had no respect for the workers or their union. Samuelsen was still in his probationary period when his co-workers elected him shop steward, and he fought vigorously for a safer subway workplace. From 2001–2006, Samuelsen served as chair of the Track Safety Committee and chair of the Track Division. From 2002–2005, he was acting vice president of the Maintenance of Way Department. During that time, he also served as lead negotiator for all safety-related issues during contract bargaining between Local 100 and NYCTA, and authored the comprehensive track safety bill passed by the New York Legislature. He was elected president of Local 100 in 2009, and was reelected overwhelmingly in 2012 and 2015. He served as Local 100 president until 2017.Alex Garcia serves as international executive vice president, Jerome Lafragola serves as international secretary-treasurer, and Curtis Tate and Mike Mayes serve as international administrative vice presidents.Current Number of Members: 165,000Members Work As: Mechanics, car cleaners, baggage handlers, disease control inspectors, bus operators, ramp agents, flight attendants and more.Industries Represented: The airline, railroad, transit, university, utility and service industries.History: TWU’s founding president, Michael J. Quill, formed the union in New York in 1934. It was the height of the Great Depression, and through his active, militant approach to organizing, Quill brought together thousands of the city’s transit workers to fight back against the greedy companies taking advantage of them and of the nation’s dire economic situation. The workers—underpaid, overworked and mistreated—were being hired and fired at will; several previous attempts to organize a union had failed.With Quill at the helm, the union led strikes and sit-ins that brought the city to its knees, demonstrating once and for all that without transit workers, New York—and the entire American economy—wouldn’t move. The TWU won that battle, and they have been winning ever since.Expanding its reach outside of New York, TWU began to organize transit and railroad workers in cities across the country in the 1940s. Later, as the nation’s fledgling aviation industry took off, TWU was right there, organizing flight attendants, baggage handlers, grounds crews and dispatchers. Soon after, public utilities providing energy to transit companies came under TWU’s protection, as did maintenance workers at colleges and universities, and civilian employees on military bases.Looking beyond transit, health department employees and museum curators are just some of the many dynamic workers across the country who know the benefits of TWU representation. In a new century, new transportation models have begun to emerge, and TWU has brought workplace rights to bikeshare workers in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C.At every step of the way, TWU fought for equality in the workplace, and has spoken out against discrimination based on race, job title and ethnicity ever since its founding. The TWU’s record on civil rights is unparalleled. Two of the union’s proudest moments were when Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the TWU convention in 1961 and when members marched with King in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.From Quill’s fight to open up trades and job titles to minorities in the 1930s to the contractual guarantee of maternity leave in the 1980s, the TWU has always recognized that discrimination for any reason has no business in the workplace.Current Campaigns: TWU has a committee on political education (COPE), and has campaigns focused on toxic cabin air, fleet electrification, Amtrak reforms, assault protections for transit workers, transit operation funding, reshoring aircraft maintenance jobs and railcar safety. TWU reports on victories and provides opportunities to take action.Community Efforts: TWU fights for civil and human rights. The Future Leaders Organizing Committee gives the next generation of union workers the tools, resources and relationships that will prepare them to take action and further workers’ rights. TWU has a Veteran’s Committee, a Working Women’s Committee and resources for retirees. TWU sponsors state conferences and a national legislative and COPE conference. TWU’s print magazine, the TWU Express, publishes four times per year. TWU provides resources for health and safety.Learn More: Website, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X
Kenneth Quinnell
Mon, 03/30/2026 – 16:26
Aviation High School
The post Aviation High School appeared first on IAM Union.
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Women’s History Month Profiles: Lisa Cuales
Women’s History Month Profiles: Lisa Cuales
For Women’s History Month, we’re taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women’s history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today’s profile is Lisa Cuales of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS).
Lisa Cuales joined PASS when she arrived at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2023. She hit the ground running as a union activist and has never looked back, committing herself to service, advocacy and leadership. She is president of the PASS New Mexico chapter and the local PASS representative at the Albuquerque air traffic control tower. During the government shutdown, while on furlough, Cuales delivered meals to employees working without pay at local FAA facilities.
Kenneth Quinnell
Mon, 03/30/2026 – 09:53
Tags:
Women’s History Month