AFL-CIO
Pride Month Profiles: Dennis Delozier
Pride Month Profiles: Dennis Delozier
For Pride Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ+ workers who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today’s profile is Dennis Delozier of the Laborers (LIUNA).
Dennis Delozier is a 35-year member of LIUNA Local 238. He spent his career working long hours doing industrial concrete, but he always made an effort to attend union meetings. Delozier retired in 2013 and has stayed active with Local 238, consistently volunteering for Laborers Rising events and political door knocking. He has done an excellent job as president of the retirees committee, bringing retirees’ concerns to the union’s attention.
Kenneth Quinnell
Wed, 06/10/2026 – 09:30
Tags:
Pride
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Working People Affirm Civil Rights are Workers’ Rights; AFL-CIO Launches Labor 2026 P.O.W.E.R.
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Working People Affirm Civil Rights are Workers’ Rights; AFL-CIO Launches Labor 2026 P.O.W.E.R.
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.
The 30th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention affirmed that civil rights are workers’ rights and discussed the longstanding connection and partnership between the labor and civil rights movements. Speakers, including Bishop Leah D. Daughtry (founder and co-convenor, Power Rising), Kristen Clarke (general counsel, NAACP), Juan Proaño (CEO, League of United Latin American Citizens), Sophia Lin Lakin (director, ACLU Voting Rights Project) and President Claude Cummings Jr. (Communications Workers of America (CWA)), strategized around how labor can mobilize in the wake of the implications of the Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act in an attack on the fundamental freedoms of voters of color.The AFL-CIO launched its 2026 midterm political campaign, Labor 2026 P.O.W.E.R (Protect. Organize. Win. Engage. Right Now.), a program to recruit 50,000 election protection “Union Peacekeeper” volunteers and turn out 2 million more union voters in the midterm election, ensure that working people can have their votes counted and voices heard at the ballot box, and put pro-worker candidates into office.Read Convention Resolution 3: We Stand Up For One AnotherRead Convention Resolution 5: We Want Democracy and Government That Works for All of Us
Kenneth Quinnell
Wed, 06/10/2026 – 09:23
Tags:
AFL-CIO Convention
Pride Month Profiles: Rah Cantatore
Pride Month Profiles: Rah Cantatore
For Pride Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ+ workers who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today’s profile is Rah Cantatore of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE).
Rah Cantatore has served as vice president for dispute resolution at IFPTE Local 1921 since 2021. Cantatore leads and trains a network of stewards representing employees who find themselves in conflict with management, and they do so with skill, integrity and warmth. At a challenging time for transgender professionals, Cantatore serves as an example of solidarity in action by advocating for others while living openly and fiercely as themselves.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 06/09/2026 – 09:57
Tags:
Pride
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Shuler, Redmond Unanimously Reelected as President, Secretary-Treasurer
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Shuler, Redmond Unanimously Reelected as President, Secretary-Treasurer
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.
Delegates at the AFL-CIO’s 30th Constitutional Convention unanimously reelected Liz Shuler as president and Fred Redmond as secretary-treasurer.“Serving as president of the AFL-CIO has been the honor of a lifetime, and I am deeply moved to be reelected for a second term,” Shuler said. “My union story is like so many others, growing up in a working-class family that scraped to get by from paycheck to paycheck until our lives were changed by an IBEW apprenticeship. Our family lived the union difference. Financial stability overnight, a career with skill and dignity for my dad, and a passion for organizing—that turned into a lifelong mission—for me. I am extraordinarily grateful for the trust that this movement has placed in me, and I will continue to lead our federation in delivering that union difference and changing lives for working families across this country just like mine.”“In just two generations, my family went from Mississippi sharecroppers to living in poverty on the South Side of Chicago to me becoming the highest-ranking African American in the history of the American labor movement—and it’s all because my dad got a union job at an aluminum mill and became a member of United Steelworkers Local 3911,” Redmond said. “When I joined my dad at the mill, I also joined a movement and a legacy of trade unionists who sacrificed and fought to make our jobs safer, our workplaces more equitable and our society more just.”Watch President Shuler’s acceptance speech here. Watch Secretary-Treasurer Redmond’s speech here.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 06/09/2026 – 09:41
Tags:
AFL-CIO Convention
Get to Know AFL-CIO’s Affiliates: Novelty and Production Workers
Get to Know AFL-CIO’s Affiliates: Novelty and Production 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 Novelty and Production Workers (IUANPW).
Name of Union: International Union of Allied, Novelty and Production WorkersMission: To unite, within the international union, all workers employed in the industry under its jurisdiction, regardless of race, sex, color, creed, or nationality. To increase wages and lessen hours of work. To increase job security and to better the working and living conditions of its members. To establish and maintain collective bargaining throughout the trades and industry within its jurisdiction. To defend and extend democratic institutions and procedures and the civil rights and liberties of its members and all others. To promote the health and security, and to provide facilities for advancing the cultural, educational, social and recreational interest of workers and their families. To give assistance and encouragement to organizations in organizing workers, and to engage in such other activities as may be necessary and proper to strengthen the labor movement. To affiliate with or lend assistance to associations of labor organizations. To further legislative protection for all working people in their rights to organize for mutual protection and improvement. To work for the advancement of union-made products and of all union labels as a source of strength in the attainment of fair conditions of employment.Current Leadership of Union: Mark Spano serves as president. Joseph Giovinco Jr. serves as secretary/treasurer. The officers and general executive board consist of Anthony Iori (1st vice president), Nicole Jean-Charles (2nd vice president), Phil Sitkowski (3rd vice president), Carl Whaling (4th vice president), Angel Febus, Cristina Ramirez, Anthony Miranti, James Vogt and Joseph Manzella.Current Number of Members: More than 18,000Members Work As: Allied, novelty and production workers.Industries Represented: General manufacturing and related industries.History: The International Union of Allied, Novelty and Production Workers was established in the 1940s. The union was originally named the International Union of Dolls, Toys, Playthings, Novelties and Allied Products of the United States and Canada, but was changed to the International Union of Allied, Novelty and Production Workers in the late 1970s as toy manufacturing was mostly shipped overseas. Today, the union represents a wide array of jobs in industries such as the general manufacturing, construction, food production, transportation and automotive fields.Learn More: Website
Kenneth Quinnell
Mon, 06/08/2026 – 15:24
Pride Month Profiles: Ashley Deschenes
Pride Month Profiles: Ashley Deschenes
For Pride Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ+ workers who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today’s profile is Ashley Deschenes of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART).
Ashley Deschenes has been a strong advocate for LGBTQIA+ members through community outreach, volunteer efforts and her involvement with SMART Local 2. She has helped create greater awareness, build meaningful connections and support a more welcoming environment for all members. Her commitment to visibility, education and solidarity has positively affected both the membership and the broader community.
Kenneth Quinnell
Mon, 06/08/2026 – 09:25
Tags:
Pride
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Smart City Networks Workers at the San Diego Convention Center Vote to Join IATSE
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Smart City Networks Workers at the San Diego Convention Center Vote to Join IATSE
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.
Information technology technicians and event coordinators who work at the San Diego Convention Center have voted to join the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 122, creating a fully union strong convention center floor.These staff are employed by Smart City Networks, which provides internet and event technology to trade shows and exhibitions. In the lead-up to the vote, Smart City Networks retained the union-busting law firm Littler Mendelson, spending an estimated $58,000 to pressure workers to stop organizing. But staff held strong and secured a decisive union election victory.“At the end of the day, everyone deserves to have a union,” said Greg Sowizdrzal, president of IATSE Local 122. “We’re proud that the workers at Smart City took their first step in having a voice on the job and having representation.”“To us, having a union means having a voice,” crew members said in a statement. “It means being united and being able to stand on equal footing with the company. It has shown us the importance of solidarity, and we look forward to taking an active role in the decisions that will impact our future.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Mon, 06/08/2026 – 09:14
Tags:
Organizing
WATCH: Union Solidarity in Action in Minneapolis
WATCH: Union Solidarity in Action in Minneapolis
On Sunday, union leaders and activists from around the country will gather in Minneapolis for our 30th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention. We’ll do the work to define a labor movement agenda that empowers working people, changes lives and builds an America that works for all of us.
In the three days following the start of the convention, we will hear speeches from workers, leaders and allies. We will feature panels and trainings on crucial issues like AI, immigration, organizing, worker safety and much more. We’ll talk about what’s happening in Minnesota, and how labor and allies have come together to fight injustice and oppression, and to stand up for working people. Will you tune in?WATCH SUNDAY AT 2 P.M. ETWe’ll be streaming the convention live on aflcio.tv and our social media platforms:Sunday, June 7: 2–6 p.m.Monday, June 8: 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.Tuesday, June 9: 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m.Wednesday, June 10: 8:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.We can’t do this work alone. That’s why the theme of our convention is “With You.” Our solidarity is critical. We know the power unions have to change lives. Our labor built America, and our unions have kept it strong and will continue pushing it forward.With you, we can. Will you join us?
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 06/05/2026 – 13:39
Tags:
AFL-CIO Convention
Pride Month Profiles: Alyssa Goodstein
Pride Month Profiles: Alyssa Goodstein
For Pride Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ+ workers who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today’s profile is Alyssa Goodstein of the Illinois AFL-CIO.
Alyssa Goodstein joined the Illinois AFL-CIO in 2022 after serving as LGBTQIA+ caucus director for Young Democrats of Illinois. A former UAW member while earning her degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, she views organized labor as a powerful force for workplace equality and LGBTQIA+ rights. At the state labor federation, Goodstein co-founded Pride At Work Illinois and helped organize the state’s first LGBTQIA+ and workers’ rights symposium, bringing together labor and advocacy leaders to strengthen protections for LGBTQIA+ workers across Illinois.
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 06/05/2026 – 09:56
Tags:
Pride
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Mid-Continent Public Library Workers Vote to Form Union
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Mid-Continent Public Library Workers Vote to Form Union
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.
Mid-Continent Public Library (MCPL) workers have voted to form a union with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 6360.One of the largest public library systems in the United States, MCPL covers three counties across the Kansas City metropolitan area. The new bargaining unit includes nearly 700 part-time and full-time librarians, early literacy associates, information technology staff, delivery services staff and other critical workers.“From everyone that was there in the beginning four years ago to those that started supporting this week, we couldn’t have done it without each and every one of us,” said Kelli Mulligan Lindsey, an early literacy associate at MCPL Green Hills and MCPL Workers United-CWA Local 6360 member. “Together we can do anything, and together we can continue to make the library a place for everyone in our community.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 06/05/2026 – 08:01
Tags:
Organizing