News

Black History Month Profiles: Allen D. Jones For Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently actively making Black 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 Allen D. Jones of the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT). Allen D. Jones is a dedicated and accomplished member of IUPAT Local 1010, representing Leon County Public Schools Support Staff. With 34 years of service, Jones has consistently demonstrated a commitment to advocating for his fellow members and strengthening the union's impact. For 24 years, Jones served as a steward. He then served as vice president for eight years. In recent years, Jones stepped into the role of local unit chair during a challenging time, when Florida passed anti-union legislation requiring public sector bargaining units to maintain 60% membership and creating barriers for members to pay union dues.  Kenneth Quinnell Sun, 02/09/2025 - 10:22Continue reading→

Black History Month Profiles: Lois Carson For Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently actively making Black 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 Lois Carson of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE/AFSCME Local 4). Lois Carson has been a secretary at Columbus City Schools for 37 years and works in the Department of Higher Education Partnerships. She is proud to serve as president of OAPSE, where she advocates for education professionals and students across the state. For years, Carson has fought to repeal Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision, outdated rules that unfairly denied public service workers their hard-earned Social Security benefits. In 2024, after years of nonstop advocacy, the Social Security Fairness Act finally became law, thanks to the hard work of union members like Carson who courageously shared their stories. Kenneth Quinnell Sat, 02/08/2025 - 10:22Continue reading→

Black History Month Profiles For Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently actively making Black 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.  Check out the union members we've featured so far:Raya FaggLatauna BigelowAndrea WinzerCharron CarterWade Dennis Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 02/07/2025 - 10:46Continue reading→

Black History Month Profiles: Wade Dennis For Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently actively making Black 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 Wade Dennis of the Utility Workers (UWUA). Wade Dennis grew up in the Bronx in New York City. After he graduated high school, he joined the Army and did one tour in Afghanistan as an infantryman. After his military service ended, he started a new career with Con Edison. He became a proud UWUA Local 1-2 member, eventually becoming a shop steward in his department. He was inspired to do more and ultimately received life insurance and securities licenses to help the middle class learn about investing and protecting their income. He was also elected as a financial observer. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 02/07/2025 - 09:56Continue reading→

Defend Our Democracy: 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. America’s Unions Sue DOGE, Launch the ‘Department of People Who Work for a Living’: “‘The government can work for billionaires or it can work for working people—but not both,’ said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, in the press release published Wednesday. ‘Elon is just getting started. And he has already tried to force workers doing essential services—including at the FAA and air traffic controllers even after the tragedy at Washington National Airport—to retire, gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system with everyone’s private data, and is declaring entire government agencies like USAID shut down and blocking workers from accessing the building and their email.’ The organization pledged to doggedly report on how DOGE’s policies are impacting American workers.”Federal Worker ‘Deferred Resignation' Program Temporarily Blocked: “‘We are pleased the court temporarily paused this deadline while arguments are heard about the legality of the deferred resignation program. We continue to believe this program violates the law, and we will continue to aggressively defend our members’ rights,’ American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.”AFL-CIO Pushes Back on Elon Musk’s Campaign Against Federal Workers: “The nation’s largest federation of unions is starting a campaign to push back on Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who has been empowered by President Trump to carry out a largely unchecked attempt to purge the federal work force. The campaign by the AFL-CIO. is called the Department of People Who Work for a Living, a play on Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. ‘Government can work for billionaires or it can work for working people—but not both,’ Liz Shuler, the AFL-CIO president, said in a statement.”Protests Against Trump and Project 2025 Are Planned in Cities Across the U.S.: “A movement to oppose the early actions of President Donald Trump’s administration is taking off online, with plans to protest across the U.S. on Wednesday. The movement has organized under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day. Many of the protests are planned at state capitols, with some in other cities. The movement has websites and accounts across social media. Flyers circulating online decry Project 2025, a hard-right playbook for American government and society, and include messages such as ‘reject fascism’ and ‘defend our democracy.’”U.S. Court Upholds Biden Minimum Wage Order for Federal Contractors: “A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld Democratic former President Joe Biden's mandate setting a minimum wage that federal contractors must pay to their employees, which recently rose to $17.75 an hour. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected claims, opens new tab by Texas and two other Republican-led states that Biden in the 2021 executive order overstepped his powers to regulate federal procurement.”Diversity Strengthens Our Workforce, Trump Attacks Weaken It: “It is disheartening to see that the Trump Administration has begun its effort to end DEI programs in federal agencies. Building diversity strengthens our institutions and we have made progress over the last several decades in advancing toward fairness and justice. Sadly, the attacks on diversity we are witnessing stand to not only halt that progress, but take us backward to a time when discrimination prevented so many of us from accessing opportunities afforded to others. In the Labor Movement, we have fought hard to make our membership look like the communities we serve, and we have come a long way in making our leadership look like our membership. Women and people of color have joined unions in increasing numbers and many of us have made our way to the very top to lead our unions at the local, state and national level.”Cambridge Health Alliance Clinician Union Wins Certification: “Cambridge Health Alliance clinicians won union certification Thursday, giving a bargaining unit of 230 physicians, physician associates, and psychologists the right to negotiate with the health system over working conditions. The union, called SHARE CHA/AFSCME, was certified by Massachusetts’ Department of Labor Relations about two months after 160 clinicians informed the state of their intention to organize.”For America to Maintain Competitive Edge, We Must Keep Clean Energy Tax Credits: “American clean energy is creating jobs and bringing cost savings for families across Southeast and Coastal Georgia. As a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), I know firsthand how important clean energy is to make our economy work for all of us. If we want to build back American manufacturing and keep our competitive edge over China, we need to invest in the energy of the future.”Inside the Fight for the First Whole Foods Union: “On Monday, workers at Philadelphia’s Center City Whole Foods Market voted 130–100 to be represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. It marks the first time an Amazon-owned Whole Foods store has voted to unionize—and it is one of the first major union elections of the second Trump presidency.” Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 02/07/2025 - 09:55Continue reading→

Black History Month Profiles: Charron Carter For Black History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently actively making Black 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 Charron Carter of AFGE . Charron Carter is the president of AFGE Local 727 and vice president of the Metropolitan D.C. Area Chapter of Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). She works for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency and was pivotal in starting a petition for her and her co-workers to join the bargaining unit and become AFGE members. She was appointed chief shop steward in 2017 and was elected to a second term in 2019. She has been the local president since December 2022. Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 02/06/2025 - 10:20Continue reading→

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: AFL-CIO Launches the Department of People Who Work for a Living 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. Today, the AFL-CIO has launched the Department of People Who Work for a Living (DPWL), a new campaign to hold Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, accountable and make sure the federal government is responsive to working people and not just to the whims of an unelected CEO like Musk.In today’s New York Times, reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan note that  “The AFL-CIO campaign is one of the first organized efforts by unions to focus on the people affected by the work force cuts that the Trump administration is proposing. The labor group aims to highlight what Mr. Musk’s department is doing, arguing that its actions—which are opaque and accountable only to Mr. Trump—are potentially dangerous to the public depending on the jobs in question. The group is also seeking to highlight the chasm between Mr. Musk’s wealth and that of the people he has urged to move on from federal jobs.”“The government can work for billionaires or it can work for working people—but not both,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Elon is just getting started. And he has already tried to force workers doing essential services—including at the FAA and air traffic controllers even after the tragedy at Washington National Airport—to retire, gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system with everyone’s private data, and is declaring entire government agencies like USAID shut down and blocking workers from accessing the building and their email. We will hold DOGE and Elon Musk accountable because we are certain that the people who keep our food and medicine safe know more about how to make government efficient than an outsider whose companies benefit from the very agencies he is infiltrating.”Read the full statement from the AFL-CIO here.  Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 02/06/2025 - 10:02Continue reading→