Search

Search

Speech

Shuler: Labor and Climate Issues Are Two Sides of the Same Coin

… Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, representing 12.5 million working people across the country in 57 unions who are going to help us build the clean energy future. Thank you to the Fight for Our Future coalition for bringing us all together today. … Labor issues and climate issues are two sides of the same coin. And I believe that the solution to the climate crisis runs right through the labor movement. Unions have boots on the ground in every community, in every corner of the country. And we … the next generation of technology good union jobs from day one. Together, our movements can make that happen. And we can work to make those opportunities available to people in every community—especially those most harmed by the climate crisis. …
Blog

Top Findings from the 2017 Death on the Job Report

… of the findings from the report: … What industries are most dangerous? Deaths on the job are increasing for people who work in construction, transportation, agriculture, forestry and fishing. People working in logging, fishing, roofing, … job at a higher rate than the overall workforce population. People ages 65 and older are nearly three times more likely to die from work-related causes. What about serious injuries or getting sick from work? Many working people have work-related … It’s estimated that 6-9 million people become seriously injured at work, or become sick from toxic chemicals. We need to make sure workers can report injuries at work without fear of retaliation, and need a better system for counting …
Blog

President of IBEW Local 1253 Joins Sit-In to Fight ‘Dead-Wrong’ Tax Bill

… ultimately were arrested Monday at Sen. Susan Collins’ (R) office in Bangor, Maine. … "This bill gives massive tax cuts to the rich on the backs of working people. It was written by the rich and powerful for the rich and powerful," said Nick Paquet, an electrician in his second term as president of IBEW Local 1253 in Augusta, Maine. "Sen. Collins knows right from wrong, and this bill is dead wrong for Maine." Collins has bucked the GOP party line on occasion, and Paquet thought she might do it again. As a father of four children ages nine to 19, he certainly hoped so. "To be honest, I really thought she wouldn’t vote for it, especially because of who she …
Blog

25 Things You Need to Know from the 2023 Death on the Job Report

… workers from job injuries, illnesses and deaths. The progress has become more challenging as employers’ opposition to workers’ rights and protections has grown, and attacks on unions have intensified. Big corporations and many Republicans … launched an aggressive assault on worker protections. … Here are 25 things from the 2023 Death on the Job report you need to know: There were 343 workers who died each day from hazardous working conditions. There were 5,190 workers who were killed … Latino workers continue to be at greater risk of dying on the job than all workers. Employers reported nearly 3.2 million work-related injuries and illnesses. The true impact of COVID-19 infections due to workplace exposures is unknown. Limited …
Blog

Bluegrass State Union Members Accept Teacher’s Invitation to Teach Labor History at Her High School

… Coomes’ “teacher’s certificate” at Henderson County High School in Henderson, Ky., his hometown. “It said, ‘China is a right-to-work state since 1949,’” explained the Henderson-based Tri-County Labor Council president, who just finished a second daylong …
Executive Council Statement

Action Needed On Worker Safety and Health Safeguards

… The Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Mine Safety and Health Act promise workers the right to a safe job. Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality, winning protections that have made jobs … saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries and illnesses. But there still is much work to be done. Many job hazards are unregulated and uncontrolled. Some employers, such as Massey Energy and BP, cut corners …
Executive Council Statement

Restore the Promise of ESEA

… need, especially in tough times. We have seen in Ferguson, Mo., how public schools gave children the space they needed to process what was happening in their community, while instilling hope for their future. And we are all constantly reminded … that gap by supporting, not sanctioning, children, teachers and schools. We narrow that gap by teaching children how to work with their hands, to work in teams, to solve problems – not just how to ace a test. We narrow that gap by providing … progress – not to sanction or scapegoat. In that vein, parents who want to opt out of annual testing should also have the right to do so. Provide struggling students and schools access to the 21st-century solutions they deserve – community schools …
Blog

AFL-CIO Analysis of President Donald Trump’s FY 2018 Budget

… states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin didn’t vote for a budget that slashes workforce training and fails to invest in our nation’s infrastructure. President Trump’s proposed budget attempts to balance the budget on the backs of working families. The $54 billion cut to programs that benefit working families is dangerous and destructive. Huge cuts to the departments of Labor, Education and …
Blog

Workers Memorial Day Reminds Us Why We Need Unions and Worker Safety Laws

… history, the subject I taught in a community college for two dozen years, could hardly be louder or clearer when it comes to unions and to worker safety and health laws. We need them both. … In an ideal world, everybody would live by the Golden … in the United States. Not until the 1930s did a Democratic-majority New Deal Congress pass legislation giving workers the right to bargain collectively and requiring their employers to recognize unions. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, … labor was widespread in American industry. Adults were so poorly paid that boys and girls as young as 10 had to go to work to help their parents make ends meet.   Industrialists praised child labor as a godsend. They claimed work taught …