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The Lessons of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Are Still Relevant 107 Years Later

… top floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. Firefighters arrived at the scene, but their ladders weren’t tall enough to reach the impacted area. Trapped inside because the owners had locked the fire escape exit doors, workers jumped to their … States and abroad, the AFL-CIO took a strong stand at our 2017 Convention, passing a resolution on worker safety : The right to a safe job is a fundamental worker right and a core union value. Every worker should be able to go to work and return home safely at the end of the day. Throughout our entire history, through organizing, bargaining, education, …
Speech

Trumka: Hilda Solis Put The 'Labor' Back in Labor Department

… for former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis:  Thank you, Jane (Oates), for that kind introduction and for the outstanding work you did at the Employment and Training Administration. I also want to thank Secretary Acosta and all the hard-working employees of the Department of Labor for hosting us today. It is an honor … time, and I had a kind of duty to other women to walk in and sit down on the chair that was offered, and so establish the right of others...to sit in the high seats." More than 75 years after Perkins made history, Hilda Solis didn’t just sit in …
Blog

A Year with Donald Trump: The Miseducation of Betsy DeVos

… Working people warned that President Donald Trump's appointment of Betsy DeVos to lead the Education Department would be a disaster for our families and our communities. Over the past year, DeVos has waged an all-out assault on our public education system and made it harder for students to learn and grow. Here are the most egregious actions from the Trump-DeVos education team:  … Trump's budget would cut 13% … programs, which provide before- and after-school care for 1.6 million children, making it possible for parents to go to work. Proposed an 18% cut to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which could lead to 160,000 being eliminated …
Speech

Trumka Calls for New Supreme Court Direction at Yale Law School

… Trumka delivered the following remarks at Yale Law School on the future of the Supreme Court:  Good afternoon. It’s great to be back here at Yale. I want to thank the American Constitution Society for your hospitality. I look forward to taking … fairness, dignity and justice for all, one the Supreme Court could use a reminder of today. When it was time to go to work, I followed my father and grandfather into the mines. That’s what Trumka men did.  But I also went to law school at … between the costs of collective bargaining...and those of political activities.” No party in Knox , not even the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which has been a relentless critic of public sector unions for half a century, …
Speech

Trumka: Workplace Deaths a 'National Crisis'

… a press call discussing the federation's annual  Death on the Job report:  Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss something urgent and heartbreaking that’s happening in our country. Each year on Workers Memorial Day—which we’ll … more. But one thing that shouldn’t raise a fight: the health and safety of working people. The idea that we have a right to return safe and sound after a full day’s work. There’s no gray area there, no nuance. Quite frankly, greed kills. And every day, decisions are being made in …
Blog

Donald Trump: A Year of Making Workplaces More Dangerous

… It has been a year since Donald Trump took office. Despite promising to be a friend of workers, Trump has spent much of his first year making our workplaces less safe.  … AFL-CIO Director of … it until March 2, 2018. He also proposed weakening changes to the rule, including delaying mine inspections until after work has begun, instead of before work commences, and eliminating recording of hazardous conditions that are immediately … Republican Hill staffer, and William Emanuel, a management side labor attorney who has a long record of opposing workers' right to organize, to the National Labor Relations Board. Both have been confirmed, giving Republicans a majority on the …
Statement

Statement on "Tax Reform and Small Businesses: Growing Our Economy and Creating Jobs"

… WRITTEN STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY THE AFL-CIO TO THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS HEARING ON “TAX REFORM AND SMALL BUSINESSES: GROWING OUR ECONOMY AND CREATING JOBS” … benefit working people and reducing public investment that supports good jobs and a strong economy over the long term. Right on cue, some Republicans have already started calling for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to make up … and wage growth is extraordinarily weak. As Senator Marco Rubio said recently, “There is still a lot of thinking on the right that if big corporations are happy, they’re going to take the money they’re saving and reinvest it in American workers. …