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10 Things Working People Should Know About the Caravan Arriving in California

… journey because the crime, violence and crushing poverty at home are so extreme that they see little choice but to flee in order to survive and try to build a better future. We must address the root causes of this displacement. … provisions that drove up the price of vital medicines, restricted financial service regulations and gave businesses the right to sue governments in unaccountable “corporate courts” over public interest laws that threaten profits. The CAFTA labor … governments still do not enforce their own labor laws and employers violate workers’ rights with impunity. Lack of decent work is one of the primary root causes of migration in the region, but the U.S. government has taken no independent action to …
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Union Members Defend Working People Targeted by Trump’s Aggressive Immigration Raids

… … Working people deserve to go to work every day without fear for their safety or being harassed. They deserve to go out the door and make a living without … with all local leaders who support workers’ rights and prevent exploitation. We know these communities are defending our right to organize to lift standards and cracking down on abusive employers who retaliate against working people. These are …
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Texas AFL-CIO: Immigrant Working People Will Suffer Under S.B. 4, but So Will State as a Whole

… and broadcast over Facebook Live, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed S.B. 4, the harshest bill in the nation that aims to punish so-called sanctuary cities. Texas AFL-CIO President John Patrick issued the following statement in response: … S.B. … bill will harm all working people. Immigrants do some of the hardest jobs in our state and are net contributors not just to our economy, but to our future. S.B. 4 will not only make it easier for unscrupulous employers to deny important workplace rights to …
Executive Council Statement

Responsible Reform of Immigration Laws Must Protect Working Conditions for all Workers in the U.S.

… the safety of our nation without compromising our fundamental civil rights and civil liberties. Any viable solution to this crisis must address the reasons why people are coming to the U.S.  Most immigrants come from countries where the … Immigrant workers are over-represented in the highest risk, lowest paid jobs, but the exploited immigrants do not work in isolation.  U.S.-born workers who work side by side with immigrants suffer the same exploitation.  The U.S. … to our traditions and our ideals and disastrous for the living standards of working families. We fully support the right of all workers to bargain collectively, and we fully support and endorse the existing arrangement within the H2A …
Executive Council Statement

Opportunity for All: Higher Education for Students from Working Families

… Chicago AFL-CIO Executive Council statement The AFL-CIO and its affiliates will lead a national effort to ensure that all Americans have full access to a diverse range of excellent, affordable higher education opportunities because we recognize that higher education will be … the best faculty and staff in the world because our institutions of higher education provided good jobs and the freedom to work without outside interference. These policies produced remarkable results.  The share of the workforce with at least a …
Legislative Alert

Letter Opposing Bill That Would Weaken Protections for U.S. Workers and Make Agricultural Work More Insecure

… Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Goodlatte and Ranking Member Conyers: On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I urge you to oppose the Agricultural Guestworker Act of 2017, which would create a new H-2C program that would expand not just the number of visas employers could access, but also the categories of work eligible for agricultural visas. By removing the seasonal requirement for the program and broadening the definition to include food processing and manufacturing jobs, this expansion promises to make previously full time and family-sustaining …
Legislative Alert

Fact Sheet on Why the H-2B Program is Bad for Working People

… lawsuits tell a different story – the H-2B program displaces U.S. workers, lowers wages, and exposes foreign workers to exploitation. Employers urging lawmakers to pass policy riders to expand the H-2B program exponentially and gut crucial wage and labor protections only have their … that workers will leave an abusive employer or complain about unpaid wages or poor working conditions. This captive work structure perpetuates cycles of exploitation for H-2B workers and puts downward pressure on the wages and standards for …
Legislative Alert

Letter to Representatives in Opposition to a Bill That Would Undermine Decades of Work Aimed at Leveling the Playing Field for All Students

… Dear Representative: I am writing on behalf of the AFL-CIO to urge you to oppose The Student Success Act (H.R 5). This proposal would undermine over five decades of work aimed at leveling the playing field for all students and would harm our nation’s most disadvantaged students. I also …
Blog

Más allá de las fronteras la gente trabajadora unida es más fuerte (On May Day, Working People Across Borders Are United to Build Power)

… Throughout North America and globally, May 1 is a day to remember and respect workers’ rights as human rights. As working people take to the streets in communities around the world, a quieter but equally important movement of workers on both sides of the … supporting labor rights and fighting corruption—and we’re doing it together. Our agenda is simple. We oppose efforts to divide and disempower working people, and we oppose border walls and xenophobia anywhere and everywhere. We want trade …