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.
The President Must Stop Scapegoating Immigrants: "This week, under the guise of protecting workers, President Trump issued a proclamation suspending immigration and a number of work visa programs through the end of the year. We know what this is really about. We’ve seen it many times before. The president is trying to distract from his failure to lead us through this pandemic by returning to one of his favorite themes—scapegoating immigrants."
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Needing Journalists Now More Than Ever: "Michael Hutton is a sports reporter for the Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana, and a member of The NewsGuild-CWA (TNG-CWA) Local 34071. For Hutton and his co-workers, everything is now a COVID-19 story."
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: During COVID-19 Pandemic, Oregon Workers Are Helping Workers: "Working people in Portland, Oregon, have stepped up to fill community needs by hosting the Workers Helping Workers food drive and distribution program."
Respect at Work Has to Become the New Normal: ILO Convention 190 and Rebuilding for a Fairer Economy: "The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into stark relief the direct correlation between the exploitative labor model that fuels our global economy and the systemic racism and discrimination that leads to attacks on Black people’s bodies and lives. It is a system rooted in discrimination and oppression, one that strategically devalues and dehumanizes Black and Brown workers, particularly women."
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Working People Across the Nation Join Workers First Caravan for Racial + Economic Justice: "Thousands of workers across the country joined together on June 17 in a national day of action. We called for the Senate to pass the HEROES Act and for Congress to take actions to address structural racism."
Has the Supreme Court Shielded Us from Trump Administration Health Care Rules?: "The Supreme Court last week handed down a landmark decision barring employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity—a significant step forward in the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the workplace and in broader society. While this case is an important advance in civil rights, it may also undermine the Trump administration’s new health regulations designed to eliminate existing civil rights protections."
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Union Member Uses Seat on City Council to Lead Fight to Ban Tear Gas: "Braxton Winston knows what it’s like to be tear-gassed by the police while exercising his First Amendment rights to nonviolently protest police brutality. A member of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and a City Council member in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2017, he has led the fight to ban the use of tear gas in his city."
Working People Join Caravan for Racial and Economic Justice: "On Wednesday, working people across the United States joined the Workers First Caravan for Racial + Economic Justice. In observation of social distancing guidelines for public safety, working people took to their cars and joined caravans across the country. America faces crises on three critical fronts: a public health pandemic, an economic free fall and long-standing structural racism. To address these crises, we must focus on America’s Five Economic Essentials, which cannot be addressed without also taking on racial injustice directly."
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: New York State's Labor Movement Stands United for Racial Justice: "The horrific and senseless death of George Floyd has left Americans reeling during an already uncertain time. Leaders of the labor movement are speaking out and fighting for equality, justice and civil rights."
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Members of UNITE HERE Local 17 Say ‘No’ to Facism, White Supremacy in Their Union: "Members of UNITE HERE Local 17 in Minnesota adopted a resolution last week that excludes members of facist or white supremacist organizations from their union."
Labor Radio–Podcast Weekly: Fighting for Equality and Justice: "The latest episode of the 'Labor Radio–Podcast Weekly' features the fight for equality and justice, a new version of 'Solidarity Forever' and more."
Pride Month Profiles: Aimee Stephens, Gerald Lynn Bostock and Donald Zarda: "For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our first profile this year is the three plaintiffs in the 2020 Supreme Court cases that led to the landmark decision protecting the workplace rights of LGBTQ Americans: Aimee Stephens, Gerald Lynn Bostock and Donald Zarda."
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Ohio University Workers Rally to Save Jobs: "In Athens, Ohio, Southeast Ohio Area Labor Federation President John Johnson (AFSCME) coordinated a protest last week with dozens of members of AFSCME Local 1699 at Ohio University, demanding that pending layoffs of 140 workers be stopped and that all furloughed workers be brought back."