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Blog

John Sayles Discusses the Importance of Unions

… Wexler, who served as cinematographer on four feature films with me, would often call out that phrase when it was time to end one sequence or location and start on the next, and it occasionally got a laugh from the more seasoned grips and … been a good deal of production flight from areas where these unions and guilds are strong to either foreign countries or "right to work" states, where some of the jobs can be low-balled. I’m one of the writers on a TV miniseries currently shooting in …
Blog

Infrastructure Matters. It’s Time to Get Serious About Funding It

… at how yours is 63 times taller. … Or, if you are the federal government, you can pitch in your annual share of the cost to build and maintain our highway, water, mass transit, aviation and rail infrastructure. (It’s worth noting the actual … air and sea ports. You would expect that someone in Congress has been tasked with figuring out how to pay for all of this, right? Well, not so fast. In the House, raising funds for infrastructure falls under the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means … is political suicide—though we respectfully disagree—and there are any number of competing answers on how to get this right. A gas tax increase or mileage-based user fee may be a great place to start, and there are plenty of other financing …
Speech

Shuler: America Succeeds When Women Succeed

… Thank you, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, Keith Ellison, Raul Grijalva, Garbriela Lemus for your leadership and the work of the Progressive Congress…and thank you to all our good friends in Congress and our progressive partners. It’s great to be here in Philly – on a stage with some of … And what about the wage gap between men and women? We all talk about women making about 77 cents to every man’s dollar, right? Even more of a gap for women of color – well, with union women are 91 cents on average – the gap being about 9 cents – …
Speech

Trumka: Workers First Agenda Will Build Sustainable Economy and Stronger Democracy

… AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka held a press call to introduce the Workers First Agenda to fight back against COVID-19 and build an economy that puts more power and prosperity … what America needs to meet this moment of pain and uncertainty. At the center of this agenda is the PRO Act—Protecting the Right to Organize. This worker empowerment legislation would allow millions to freely and fairly form a union. So we can … has never been more united than we are today. In one week and one day, Joe Biden will be inaugurated. We are ready to work with him every day that follows. To heal our country. To empower working people. And to build a sustainable economy and …
Executive Council Statement

American Workers Left Behind

… and the resulting crisis in the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market have triggered a full–blown credit crisis, which now seems to be dragging the American economy into recession and slowing economic growth globally. Economic growth slowed sharply toward the end of 2007 and the economy began to shed jobs early this year. The unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent in January but would be 6.7 percent if labor force … struggling to maintain their living standards by working longer hours and more jobs, by sending more family members to work and by borrowing against the equity in their homes. In terms of jobs, wages, health care and pensions, the recovery from …
Executive Council Statement

Iraq

… Hollywood, Fla. America’s working families and their unions fully support the efforts to disarm the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein.  This is best achieved in concert with a broad international coalition of … by Saddam Hussein deserves multilateral resolve, not unilateral action. We are pleased that the administration has decided to seek additional United Nations sanction. Saddam Hussein is a demagogue and a despot, with an appalling human rights record … and launched missiles against the civilian populations of neighboring countries.  Repeatedly, he has proven his intent to manufacture and conceal stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons, while working relentlessly to build a nuclear …
Executive Council Statement

Honoring Ron Gettelfinger

… “It is not enough for us to have a UAW card in our purse or wallet. We need to have union in our heart,” newly elected United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger told delegates to the union’s 2002 convention, bringing them to their feet.  For 46 years—from the time he worked his way up at the Ford …
Executive Council Statement

In Support of CWA and IBEW Verizon Workers in Current Contract Negotiations

… unit are striking over family and health issues—preserving their emergency family illness benefit, resisting the demand to take back days of sick leave and seeking relief from oppressive levels of forced overtime. The unions’ bargaining goals include a fair wage settlement that recognizes their members’ productivity and contribution to Verizon’s success, strengthened employment security and access by members to new and unorganized job areas, pension … also received $80 million in bonuses for consummating the merger.  Now Verizon seeks to abrogate the limits on movement of work. In the face of rising health care costs, Verizon seeks to cap them and shift premium payments to the workers and …
Legislative Alert

Letter Opposing Michael Brennan's Nomination to U.S. Court of Appeals

… Office Building Washington, DC 20510-6050 Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Feinstein: The AFL-CIO urges you to oppose the nomination of Michael Brennan to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. There are … Judiciary Committee questionnaire, however, the Administration selected him prior to the Commission even beginning its work. Moreover, when the Commission considered his nomination, Mr. Brennan failed to receive the required support of five of … Seventh Circuit nominee, no less than Mr. Brennan himself staunchly defended in an opinion editorial Senator Johnson’s right to exercise the blue slip. In his words, “There are [] two senators from Wisconsin from different political parties, so …