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.
Unions Prepare for Battle Over AI in 2028 Elections: “‘You're either with workers or you're with millionaires,’ AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler told Axios. ‘There's just been a dearth of leadership in terms of elected officials really prioritizing this and putting workers at the center.’”
Major Resolutions Passed by AFL-CIO Reflect Strong, Growing Labor Movement: “The 30th AFL‑CIO Constitutional Convention, which wrapped up here Wednesday, was a step towards strengthening labor’s fight back against the anti-worker Trump regime and building working-class unity. Delegates reelected President Liz Shuler and Secretary‑Treasurer Fred Redmond, welcomed the Service Employees International Union back into the fold after two decades, and set ambitious organizing goals for the mid-term elections and new union organizing. The spirit of solidarity was also proclaimed in several important resolutions passed at the convention.”
Catapult Workers Collective Wins Union Election: “An ‘overwhelming majority’ of workers at Catapult Book Group have voted to join UAW Local 2110 via a union election with the National Labor Relations Board, per an announcement. The Catapult Workers Collective, which encompasses around 20 staffers at the Brooklyn-based publisher, expressed excitement to begin the collective bargaining process. Upon the initial announcement of their intent to unionize in April, workers cited concerns surrounding ‘job security, wages, and a need for greater transparency from company leadership.’”
Sean Astin Sounds the Alarm to Rally Unions on Free Speech Protections: ‘Rights Paid with Blood’: “Sean Astin, amid a key moment for freedom of speech in the United States, didn’t mince words when talking about the importance of the First Amendment during a recent speech. ‘I love my country. I love my freedom of speech. I love my freedom to assemble,’ the SAG-AFTRA president said. ‘Rights that every one of our organizations counts on for our survival; rights paid with blood. If we don’t defend those rights together now, we will lose them.’ Astin delivered the speech at the Constitutional Convention of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), giving the keynote address (themed ‘Unions Change Lives’) to a crowd of 1,000 labor union leaders. This comes exactly one week after SAG-AFTRA voted to ratify a new bargaining agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers with 91.42% of votes in favor.”
Huerta Pumps Up AFL-CIO Crowd with Calls for Economic and Political Democracy: “Legendary labor leader Delores Huerta, aged 96, pumped up the crowd at the AFL-CIO convention in Minneapolis with a wide-ranging speech urging action on everything from migrants’ rights to the Equal Rights Amendment to the PRO Act to health insurance for the nation’s farmworkers. Huerta, the co-founder of the United Farm Workers, and author of the now widely used motto ‘Si se puede!’ addressed the crowd for more than half an hour and repeatedly urged them to take to the streets. She added that the labor movement is a credible source not just of information, but of inspiration for progressive causes.”
Randi Weingarten: America’s Teachers Can’t Afford to Teach: “Teachers’ paychecks have never fully reflected their passion or professionalism, but as America’s cost-of-living crisis persists, educators increasingly cannot afford even life’s basic necessities. Rebecca Mikkelson, a school counselor in New Mexico, currently works three jobs just to buy the basics—groceries, a place to live, and health insurance. ‘The message this sends is deeply troubling: even when educators follow the rules, invest in education, eliminate my debt, and work full time in public service, financial security is no longer guaranteed,’ she tells me. ‘This is not a personal failure, it’s a systemic one.’”
Union Organizing, Midterms Take Center Stage at AFL-CIO Convention in Minneapolis: “The AFL-CIO, which is the country's largest and most important labor organization, gathered in Minneapolis this week. The focus was on new union organizing during the Trump administration and the upcoming midterm elections. NPR's Don Gonyea reports. The delegates kicked off this week by reelecting AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. In her acceptance speech, she first highlighted a major success. Liz Shuler: ‘We said—if you remember, we said we would organize a million new workers over the next 10 years. Well guess what? We got it done in three.’”
AFL-CIO Convention Builds Strategy Around a United Movement: “Liz Shuler is the first woman to be the national leader of the AFL-CIO—the democratic federation of 65 national and international unions that represent 15 million working people. She opened by saying: ‘Conferences like this are [about more than] sitting in a room talking. It’s about forming relationships, challenging each other, building trust. What we’ve endured over the past 18 months is the single most egregious coordinated attack on working people and human rights than we have ever seen—purging federal workers from their jobs and attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that have made us stronger.’”
Unions to Mobilize Army of 22,500 Election Workers by July 3: “The mobilization is important because, as Shuler and other speakers at the conclave noted, the labor movement is a trusted source of information for both its members and for swing voters whom its organizers contact. Opinion polls back that up. Some 70% of U.S. workers say they would join a union if they could. Even more notable was a survey earlier this year, which showed unions as the only institution with a positive view from voters. All the others—Congress, the presidency, the Supreme Court, corporations and the mass media among them—were underwater. The political organizing target complements a separate target the federation set the day before: To add two million new voters from union households to the 14 million who cast ballots in the last off-year election, in 2022. Shuler called that ‘a very tangible goal.’”
Labor Jumps Full Force into 2026 Election Battles: “Entering her second full-term as AFL-CIO President, Liz Shuler laid out big plans for the nation’s labor federation over the next five years. For the current midterm elections, the federation plans to put 50,000 ‘election protectors’ in the field. Accepting her re-election, unopposed, at the AFL-CIO Convention’s opening session in Minneapolis, Shuler also set a target of organizing two million new members over the next five years—the term to which delegates unanimously elected her and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond. ‘And that’s a floor, not a ceiling,’ Shuler declared.”
AFL-CIO Calls for Strengthening of U.S. Cargo Preference Rules: “The AFL-CIO's maritime unions are calling for comprehensive cargo policies to generate the revenue base for an American maritime revival. Commercial and government cargo interests often pick foreign-flag carriers when the law allows, since foreign operators are the least-cost option. Since this has a deleterious long-term effect on the health of America's maritime industry, the AFL-CIO's maritime affiliate unions (MEBA, MM&P and SUP) are calling for expanded cargo preference laws to force more government agencies to ‘Ship American’ with taxpayer dollars, along with tax incentives for commercial shippers who choose to move their freight to market on American vessels.”
Liz Shuler: America’s Workers Are Fighting Back—and Winning: “This year, we are gathering for our convention in the Twin Cities under vastly different circumstances, with the current administration tearing down the economy, unions, longstanding programs and institutions, and democracy itself. Throughout history, the labor movement has risen to meet the moment—and with you we have again risen to the challenge. We stood together to defend the rights of working people and became the trusted voice this country needed to lead the fight against injustice and oppression. And we did not just fight back and survive—we grew and thrived. We saw more organizing and membership growth across sectors and industries.”