Michael Gillis is a field communication specialist for the AFL-CIO. This is his recap of the AFL-CIO 2017 Convention in St. Louis last week.

I saw an election that renewed a leadership team that inspired me in profound ways. I saw a man whose confidence and calm drive I can emulate in my endeavors. I saw a woman whose competence and resolve emboldens me to pursue justice for myself and the least of my brothers and sisters. I saw another man whose back story makes me embarrassed to have ever filed a complaint about my own privileged life. I have been reintroduced to leadership that I can follow into the battles ahead.

At the AFL-CIO 2017 Convention last week, federation officers—President Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre—and the Executive Council—made up of 55 vice presidents—were elected, with four new members joining the council.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka opened the fourth day of the AFL-CIO 2017 Convention talking about the Workers' Bill of Rights:

Sisters and brothers, working people need a bill of rights.

A collective bargaining agreement for America. 

This will serve as a platform for our members to rally around. It will give prospective members a clear statement of our values. And it will provide political candidates and elected officials with a litmus test for our support. 

We simply refuse to accept the reality of struggling to make ends meet in the richest country in the world at its richest point in history. And so we demand rights that ensure we are able, through our work, to lead better lives.

More than 60 international labor guests attending the AFL-CIO convention in St. Louis, Mo.,
crossed the river to Granite City, Ill., to visit the United Steelworkers Locals at the U.S.
Steel plant that has operated there for decades.