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Future of Work Commission Urges Bargaining Rights for Digital Platform Workers

… A landmark report by the International Labor Organization’s (ILO’s) Global Commission on the Future of Work, released today, calls for giving full rights and protections, including collective bargaining rights, to digital platform workers. The ILO is the United Nations agency charged with promoting decent work and global labor … of whether they are treated as employees or independent contractors, enjoy fundamental worker rights such as the right to bargain collectively; an adequate living wage; maximum limits on working hours; freedom from forced labor, child …
Speech

Trumka: Working People Will Not Settle

… remarks at the Christian Science Monitor Breakfast:  Good morning and happy early Labor Day. As always, thank you to the Christian Science Monitor for hosting us, and thanks to each of you for being here today. I’ve been in the labor movement for more than 50 years. I’ve never witnessed a moment … to hear their concerns, hopes and experiences.  We need President López Obrador to show us how Mexico will guarantee the right to raise wages through free and democratic unions. If that doesn’t happen, working people across North America will …
Blog

What (Guest-Worker) Women Want

… nurses and teachers from all around the world. We are united by our motivation, yearn for knowledge and commitment to creating change in our communities. We stand with guest-worker women from around the world to ensure that the policies that affect us reflect our experiences. … In several different ways, we have all endured inequity … and lack of access to opportunity. Many of us have suffered sexual harassment, one that doesn't let us live or work. Basic medical aid is nonexistent, with something as little as an aspirin being inaccessible to us. At our …
Speech

Trumka: New NAFTA Not Good Enough

… for your leadership across Canada. Brother Leo (Gerard), you epitomize a strong leader. The labor movement is fortunate to count you as one of our greatest fighters, and personally, I’m honored to call you a brother and friend. I also want to … locked out at A-B-I for the past 14 months. The entire labor movement has your back, and we’re hoping you can return to work soon. Brothers and sisters, I’m honored to be with you in Canada today to talk about trade policy, and what it means for … 1994, we predicted it would be devastating for working families. I wish we were wrong, brothers and sisters. But we were right. Our continent and our world would be better off today if our leaders had simply listened to us. That’s because NAFTA …
Statement

Letter from the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council Opposing NAFTA 2.0 Without Pro-Worker Changes

… satisfactorily addressed and our core recommendations are incorporated into the final text of the agreement.  Acceding to demands from corporate interests to rush a vote will result in an agreement that once again fails U.S. workers, and will waste this rare opportunity to fix … rebalance trade with Mexico and remake supply chains. The situation of workers can only be improved when they have the right to join together freely for collective action.  The House should not bring NAFTA 2.0 to the floor before it is …
Speech

Trumka at ETUC Congress: Move Forward as One Global Labor Movement

… President De Leeuw and General Secretary Visentini, thank you for the opportunity to say a few words on behalf of the 12.5 million members of the AFL-CIO. We all know the profound danger of rising inequality, and the threat it poses to economies, societies and democracies around the world. Right now, international economic rules are balanced in favor of the world’s largest corporations. At the same time, global … head on from climate change to technology to social mobility. That’s why the AFL-CIO is deeply committed to continuing our work together to strengthen the global labor movement and the rights of working people around the world. The need is as great …
Blog

Women's History Month Profiles: Dolores Huerta

… working at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Today's profile is Dolores Huerta. … Huerta was born in 1930 to Alicia and Juan Fern á ndez in Dawson, New Mexico. Her father was a farmworker and miner who became a state legislator after her parents divorced and Huerta moved with her mother to California. There, her mother worked as a waitress and cannery worker before eventually buying a small hotel and … Farm Workers (UFW), which formed in 1965. With UFW, Huerta organized workers, negotiated contracts and advocated for safer work conditions for farmworkers. She was a key organizer in the 1965 Delano grape workers strike and lead negotiator for the …
Blog

Women's History Month Profiles: Frances Perkins

… farmers and craftsmen. At Mount Holyoke College, she studied the natural sciences and economic history and was exposed to a variety of works and lectures who exposed her to new ways of thinking about the social problems she witnessed. After … in New York's settlement houses. She heard stories directly from workers about the dangerous conditions of factory work and the desperation of being unable to collect promised wages or secure medical care for workplace injuries. She left … to the challenges faced by working people. She held to a strong belief that legislation was the most important avenue to "right industrial wrongs," and she simultaneously championed labor organizing and collective action. In 1918, she was invited …
Legislative Testimony

Mexico's Labor Reform: Opportunities and Challenges for an Improved NAFTA

… On behalf of our 55 affiliates representing more than 12.5 million working people, the AFL-CIO appreciates the opportunity to offer our comments on the opportunities presented by Mexico’s new labor law reform and the need to develop effective labor … abide by the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. 5 Mexico’s labor law reform and recent ratification of ILO Convention 98 on the right to organize and bargain collectively reflect an important first step in that direction, but its ability to effectively …
Speech

Trumka Rallies for Improvements to New NAFTA Proposal

… AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka delivered the following remarks at a press conference on Capitol Hill to deliver petitions signed by hundreds of thousands of Americans demanding that there is no vote on a new NAFTA until it is … later, we simply will not allow history to repeat itself.  Do we want to replace NAFTA? Of course we do.  But doing it right is more important than doing it fast.  So there should be NO VOTE until Mexico can prove that it has the infrastructure … blocked by one of the parties.  There should be NO VOTE until workers have a way to enforce this agreement, including the right to stop goods at the border that were produced in violation of the labor chapter.  Working people are watching. We are …