With our nation in crisis, the labor movement is taking the lead to elect hundreds of union members up and down the ballot this year. In Massachusetts, we have already scored an important victory as Carol Doherty (NEA), an educator and union member, won a special election for the state House of Representatives on June 2. A former elementary public school teacher and president of the statewide Massachusetts Teachers Association-NEA (MTA-NEA), she is currently a member of the Taunton School Committee in southeastern Massachusetts.

The U.S. economy gained 2.5 million jobs in May, and the unemployment rate declined 13.3%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The improvements reflect a limited resumption of economic activity that was previously curtailed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the killing of George Floyd and the protests across the country, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) said:

My heart is heavy at the events of the past few days. I watched the video of George Floyd pleading for his life under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. No person of conscience can hear Floyd’s cries for help and not understand that something is deeply wrong in America.

What happened to George Floyd, what happened to Ahmaud Arbery, what happened to far too many unarmed people of color has happened for centuries. The difference is now we have cell phones. It’s there for all of us to see. And we can’t turn our heads and look away because we feel uncomfortable.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, working people across the United States have stepped up to help out their friends, neighbors and communities. In our new Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of those stories every day. Here's today's story.

Driving two 26-foot trucks packed with food, members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 6 set out on the road to bring urgently needed food relief to union families in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They started their journey in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on May 26, loading up the trucks with thousands of pounds of union-made rolls, breads, cereals and snacks.