Nearly two centuries ago, a group of women and girls — some as young as 12 — decided they'd had enough. Laboring in the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, they faced exhausting 14-hour days, abusive supervisors and dangerous working conditions. When threatened with a pay cut, they finally put their foot down.

Celeste Drake, trade policy specialist at the AFL-CIO, participated in a discussion last week about trade and tariffs at The Dialogue. The following question was submitted to Drake and other experts:

The fifth AFL-CIO district meeting of the year kicked off in Las Vegas with a discussion about the potential for growing power for working people in the Southwest. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler (IBEW) gave the crowd of nearly 300 union leaders and activists one number to think about: 8.8 million.

That’s the number of immigrants eligible to get naturalized and on the path to citizenship.

"We are the only ones who can deliver the massive economic and social change working people are hungry for," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) to more than 300 union leaders gathered in Chicago this week. Local union leaders from state federations, labor councils and affiliate unions in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota joined together for the AFL-CIO Midwest District meeting to spend the day building a strategy to empower working people for victories in 2018 and beyond.

The word "tariff" is popping up in the news a lot lately. Check out this short video that helps you understand what tariffs are and what impact they have on working people.