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.
Service + Solidarity: Meet Michelle: “Michelle Simmons is a letter carrier who lives and works in Grand Island, Nebraska, and is a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). Grand Island is a COVID-19 hot spot with one of the highest density rates of contagion anywhere in the country.”
Service + Solidarity: Meet Brent Kirby: “Brent Kirby is a musician based in Cleveland and a member of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 4. In addition to his solo career, Kirby performs with Brent Kirby & His Luck and the Jack Fords, and leads a monthly Gram Parsons revival. Kirby recently performed in a virtual concert series produced by the Cleveland Federation of Musicians Local 4 and the Local 4 Music Fund.”
Tammy Johnson Leads Wyoming’s Labor Movement, Fighting for Struggling Workers and the Unemployed: “With the Wyoming Legislature scheduled to begin an emergency session later this week, Wyoming State AFL-CIO Executive Secretary Tammy Johnson (USW) is taking the lead fighting for workers in her home state. Policymakers are considering a bill that includes three major components: unemployment insurance (UI), workers’ compensation and rent relief. The UI provisions would hold employers harmless as the state provides additional money to cover the increase in UI claims, and the rent relief portion would provide additional eviction protections for tenants.”
Labor Is Pioneering a New Kind of Relief Effort in the Twin Cities: “Scores of workers across America have been laid off through no fault of their own, and still many of them are not eligible for federal benefits during these unprecedented times. In Minnesota’s Twin Cities, the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation (MRLF) is organizing to provide support to those workers who can’t get the support they need from our federal government.”
A Chuukese Registered Nurse’s Story During #NursesWeek: “Let’s uplift Marina Robinson, a Chuukese registered nurse in Honolulu working in the OB-GYN department. She is proud to bring the idea of aterenges, or family, into her care work. She keeps pregnant people and their families safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
AFSCME: Strong Public Services Needed to Beat Pandemic, Reopen Economy: “AFSCME launched two ads calling on Congress and President Trump to send aid to state and local governments to keep front-line public service workers on the job. AFSCME President Lee Saunders said: ‘Front-line health care workers, corrections officers, home and child care providers, sanitation workers and other public service workers put their lives on the line every day to save ours. America refuses to thank them with pink slips. Public service workers and the services they provide are essential to beating this pandemic and opening the economy.’”
Hoosiers Need Help from Mike Pence, Not a Visit and Photo-Op: “When [Vice President] Mike Pence returns to Indiana on Thursday, he’ll find Hoosiers in the grips of a crisis unlike anything we’ve witnessed in generations. Cases of the coronavirus are climbing, our health care system is being overwhelmed, and countless working people are being forced to choose between our health and a paycheck. We need more than a photo-op. We need help, and we need it now.”
Economy Loses 20.5 Million Jobs in April; Unemployment Jumps to 14.7%: “The U.S. economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April, taking payroll employment back to levels last seen in spring 2011 when the economy was recovering from the Great Recession, and the unemployment rate jumped by a historic amount to 14.7%, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate for white males is 12.4%, the largest for white men in the post-World War II era and the first time it has been in double digits since that era.”
Thanking Heroes for National Nurses Week: 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.”
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: An EVS Technician’s COVID-19 Story: “Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! Let’s uplift Asian American and Pacific Islander workers this month—those who are on the front lines of COVID-19 and those who are on the front lines of our families and communities.”
If Trump Wants Meat Plants Open, He Should Protect Their Workers: “The United States now has more than a million reported coronavirus cases, by far the most of any country in the world. The health of our nation, physically and economically, depends on the safety of our workers.”
Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly: Saluting Front-Line Workers, Remote Learning and More: “The latest episode of the Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly features a daily salute to front-line workers in the Electchester community of New York, Chicago Teachers tackling remote learning and Richard Trevellick’s fight for the eight-hour workday.”