NAFTA Should Work for Everyone—Not Just Investors The Stand

In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump all recognized that workers and communities have lost trust in the North American Free Trade Agreement’s approach to globalization. They all said we should manage globalization differently.

Over the last few months, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. have had seven meetings to renegotiate NAFTA. To understand the renegotiations, we should know what was wrong with the original NAFTA and what we want in a new one.

I’m 100% in favor of trade. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone opposed to trade. We take pride when we export software, airplanes, apples and wheat. That’s never been the issue.

The central question is, “Who gets the gains from globalization?” The purpose of an economy is to raise living standards. Trade, more than most public policies, creates winners and losers.

The winners under NAFTA—global companies and investors who can move production to low-wage countries—have done very well. But when workers, communities and the environment are squeezed into decline, we are probably going in the wrong direction.

Consider four quick stories:

First story: During the original NAFTA negotiations, a labor advocate told an industry lobbyist that she agreed that manufacturing companies had a legitimate interest in protecting their investments from seizure or expropriation by foreign governments. That’s consistent with our legal tradition and should be part of NAFTA.

She asked the industry lobbyist if his business clients acknowledged that civil society also had a legitimate interest in protections in NAFTA for labor rights, human rights and other public interests.

“No. Not really,” he said. His role was to get the maximum possible leverage for his clients in the new global system. That meant global businesses could move work anywhere, take advantage of cheap labor, escape environmental and public health regulations, and otherwise get the best deal possible for their investors. This leverage would be even greater if NAFTA weakened bargaining power away from workers and communities.

Second story: An executive from UPS took a very different perspective at a trade conference in Seattle. She said labor rights and human rights were core values at UPS. She and UPS ran their global operations to respect workers and communities. Good for her and UPS!

Third story: The Trans-Pacific Partnership would have been our biggest trade agreement since NAFTA. It failed in Congress. At a conference in Boston, a lobbyist for a very large manufacturing association said TPP would have been great for the global companies in her organization. For them, TPP’s defeat was tragic.

After she spoke, I told her my first story—some time ago, an industry lobbyist said his goal was to maximize leverage, getting as much as possible for global investors, while keeping other stakeholders as weak as possible.

The industry lobbyist in Boston got very defensive, saying that was not at all the way her industry association saw things. I said, “Great!” Then her industry group should clearly state that they want our negotiators to get strong, enforceable protections for labor and environment, which reflect our values and legal traditions as a nation, in all future trade agreements.

Her business allies would get low tariffs and access to foreign markets, and TPP could protect their property from expropriation. We also would support high global standards to fight child labor, forced labor, human trafficking and slave labor—issues we thought we had settled 50 or 100 years ago. We could address climate change—arguably the defining problem of our time. TPP could sail through the Senate by a vote of 85-15.

The lobbyist in Boston had been defensive before. Now she was smokin’ mad at me. Maybe she thought I was patronizing her.

But my question really sits at the heart of the problems with our failed approach to globalization. Whose interests really matter to our negotiators? According to our own State Department rankings, five of the 12 TPP countries failed to meet global standards on human trafficking. A sixth TPP country was among the worst in the world on forced labor, child labor and slave labor. Just sayin’.

Fourth story: Members of the Coalition for a Prosperous America are manufacturers, family farm organizations and labor—all committed to producing in the U.S. CPA is very creative on specific policy options designed to rebuild our industrial base, help family farmers and share the gains from trade with all stakeholders. They are doing exactly what I suggested to the industry lobbyist in Boston. Everyone in CPA wants a prosperous America. To them, working together and sharing gains is eminently sensible.

It is unsustainable to turn our backs on workers, communities and the environment. A generation (or two) ago, business schools and CEOs talked about “stakeholder” interests. We all do better when all stakeholders do better. That outlook recognized legitimate common interests, helped build social cohesion and made stronger communities.

We can have legitimate national interests and raise living standards everywhere, without being xenophobic or nationalistic. Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Scandinavia, Singapore and South Korea recognize national interests. They also have more social cohesion than we do. We’ve had more social cohesion in our own history than we do now.

A good trade agreement should require any foreign company to meet minimum standards for labor, environment, human trafficking, food safety and other norms that reflect our values as a country as a condition for getting access to our markets.

Our current failed investor-centric NAFTA approach is exhausted socially, politically and economically. The UPS and CPA stories suggest it’s not that hard to set a more inclusive and sustainable path for globalization. We should accept no less.

 

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 04/06/2018 - 11:14

Tags: NAFTA

Honoring the Life and Preserving the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. TTD

By recognizing social and economic justice as one and the same, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. understood the immense power working people have when they come together. He saw union representation as the clearest path out of poverty and into the middle class, and fought for the rights of all people to have good jobs and a voice at work.

In the Spring of 1968, those beliefs led King to Memphis, Tennessee, where 1,300 sanitation workers were on strike fighting deplorable working conditions, poverty-level wages and overt racism. Determined to improve their quality of life and build a better future for themselves, their families and their community, these workers demanded recognition of their union—and their humanity. Seeking the freedom to negotiate together for fair wages and dignity and respect on the job, they marched with now-iconic signs that read, "I am a man."

It was here, expressing solidarity with the striking workers and drawing parallels between social, racial and economic justice, that King was assassinated as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

As our nation pauses to reflect upon the 50th anniversary of King’s tragic and untimely passing, we must do more than just commemorate past events. The anniversary of King’s death must be a call to carry his legacy forward, and continue working toward his dream of a fairer and more just society.

While progress has been made in the last half century, it is clear more work needs to be done. The same backward forces that sought to silence sanitation workers in Memphis five decades ago continue to attack the rights of working people across this country today. We see it in aggressive efforts to establish statewide right to work laws in places such as Missouri, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. We see it in efforts to gut safety protections for transportation workers and outsource good jobs to the lowest bidder. And we see it in the corporate-backed push to strip public employees of their rights via the Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME Council 31.

Indeed, the ideals King fought and died for—including access to good jobs, fair pay and safe working conditions—are the same ones working people are fighting for today.

Those struggles—combined with the teachings of Dr. King and the bravery and sacrifice of Memphis sanitation workers—have inspired our brothers and sisters at AFSCME and the Church of God in Christ to carry King’s legacy forward with the I AM 2018 initiative. Through this campaign, a new generation of activists will be mobilized. Voters will be trained on how to hold elected leaders accountable. And the freedom of all working people to join together to make life better for themselves, their families, and their communities will be advanced.

Transportation labor is proud to stand with those who have pledged to honor Dr. King’s life and dream by committing to carrying his legacy into the future. Today we also recommit our efforts to ensure Dr. King’s legacy lives on by fighting for policies that empower working people to join together in union. It is through our collective efforts that misery and despair will be transformed into hope and progress.

This post originally appeared at Transportation Trades Department.

Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 04/04/2018 - 14:57

Trumka in Memphis: We’re reaching for that mountaintop AFL-CIO

At the 1961 AFL-CIO Convention, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature. He spews racism from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other.

When the rich and powerful oppress others, they rarely go after just one community. They attack whatever unity they can find among working people. They know that united we rise and divided we fall.

It was 50 years ago that I first tasted the power of collective action in the coal mines of southwestern Pennsylvania. Standing together, we made those jobs safer. We demanded good pay, decent benefits and a better life. And we refused to let the bosses divide us.

That same year, we saw the resilience of working people right here in Memphis. Black workers had been deemed less than human. They were treated no better than the garbage they picked up every day. They were robbed of their economic security, their human dignity and in the case of Echol Cole and Robert Walker, their lives.

And then the workers turned tragedy into triumph. They showed their power. They went on strike and marched and rose their fists in the air. They said loudly and proudly for all of us to hear, “I am a man.” With Dr. King at their side, they changed the course of history.

Half a century later, too many working people are still being treated as less than. The woman grabbed without her consent. The immigrant forced to live and work in the shadows. The African-American still waiting to be judged by the content of their character. The trans person denied the dignity of a safe bathroom.

Their fight is OUR fight.

So on this day…we are pledging to finish what the sanitation workers started. We are making a promise to our nation and each other to win the dream Dr. King died for.

To the labor-hater and the race-baiter, the union-buster and corporate hustler, we say this:

We are men.

We are women.

We are teachers and steelworkers.

We are nurses and coal miners.

We are firefighters and sanitation workers.

WE are the American labor movement, the people who built this country into the most prosperous nation the world has ever known. And, we ain’t done yet.

We’re marching forward. We’re fighting back. We’re reaching for that mountaintop. And if we stick together, no one has a chance in hell of stopping us.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka was at AFSCME's "I AM 2018" opening rally today to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 04/04/2018 - 13:21

FLOC Calls for Convenience Stores to Stop Selling VUSE E-Cigarettes

On April 9, 2007, Santiago Rafael Cruz was assassinated in the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) office in Mexico. The organizer gave his life in service of trying to improve the lives and workplaces of farm laborers. In his honor, FLOC will picket nationally outside 7-Eleven, Circle K, Kangaroo Express and Wawa convenience stores, calling on the corporations that run these stores to stop selling VUSE e-cigarettes.

VUSE e-cigarettes are a hallmark product of Reynolds American’s tobacco line and are sold at most convenience stores, where 36% of all tobacco sales take place. FLOC and allies have been communicating with the corporate officers of 7-Eleven, Wawa and Couche-Tard (the parent corporation of Circle K and Kangaroo). Since the chains haven’t responded to repeated letters and emails, FLOC will rally outside stores across the country, calling on them to drop the VUSE brand.

For more than a decade, FLOC has been challenging Reynolds to end abuses and human rights violations in its tobacco supply chain. After ignoring FLOC for five years, Reynolds finally started holding talks in 2012, but the talks have yet to lead to an outcome that would guarantee these farm workers freedom to come together in union. FLOC is boycotting VUSE until Reynolds signs an agreement that guarantees farm workers freedom of association.

Stand with farm workers today by boycotting VUSE and demanding that convenience stores stop selling this product until Reynolds agrees to give farm workers a voice on the job. For information on how to get involved or to organize an action, email boycottvuse@floc.com. 

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 04/03/2018 - 16:29

Caution: Your Right to a Timely Vote May Be at Risk

Three years ago, the National Labor Relations Board took modest steps to streamline, modernize and improve the process by which workers petition for an election to vote on forming a union at work. The rules reduced unnecessary delay caused by management lawyers litigating issues in order to slow down elections and deprive workers of their right to vote.

Under the rules, workers get to vote two weeks sooner—the median time from petition to election is 23 days, compared with 38 days under the old rules. This shows that the goal of reducing unnecessary delay has been met.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other corporate interests have been campaigning to get rid of the rules, saying they are unfair to businesses. First they tried lawsuits—and lost, with the rules upheld in full by courts in Washington, D.C., and Texas. Then the Chamber and their allies tried to block the rules with legislative action, which has so far failed.

But now three Republican appointees to the NLRB are asking for public comments on whether the rules should be changed. The two Democratic appointees to the NLRB—Mark Gaston Pearce and Lauren McFerran—disagree, saying the rules have worked well and there is no reason to change them.

The NLRB is taking public comments until April 18 on whether it should change the 2014 rules. Add your voice to the growing chorus telling the NLRB to keep the rules.

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 04/03/2018 - 11:02

King's Agenda for Working People Resonates 50 Years Later Wikimedia Commons

Fifty years ago this week, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his final speech in Memphis, Tennessee. In the decades since his assassination, much of the focus on King’s life has centered on his civil rights legacy. But his final days in Memphis are a reminder that he was also a relentless champion for the dignity of work.

King was in Memphis in support of sanitation workers represented by AFSCME who were on strike after two members, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death by a garbage truck. The strikers sought recognition of their union, a pay increase, overtime pay, merit promotions, safer working conditions and equal treatment of black workers.

But King wasn’t a latecomer to the fight to raise the voices of working people. He had long before figured out that the movement for civil rights and the movement for workers’ rights were one and the same. In 1961, he explained this in a speech to the AFL-CIO:

This unity of purpose is not an historical coincident. Negroes are almost entirely a working people. There are pitifully few Negro millionaires and few Negro employers. Our needs are identical with labor’s needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor’s demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature, spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.

King is best known for his “I Have a Dream” speech given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, organized by labor leaders A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. While the media and historians have emphasized the speech’s civil rights themes, the event was just as much focused on jobs and the rights of working people.

The agenda of the march was no secret; organizers explicitly listed 10 demands. They included:

• The creation of a massive federal jobs program to place all unemployed workers in meaningful and dignified jobs with decent wages.

• The elimination of exceptions to the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

• The passage of a Fair Employment Practices Act that would bar discrimination in government employment and contracting.

• The creation of a national minimum wage act that would provide a decent standard of living. (At the time, the demand was for at least $2 an hour. In today’s dollars, that amount would be $15.95 per hour.)

The remaining demands were all related to working people having the things they need to survive and prosper outside of the workplace or exercise their political rights:

• The passage of comprehensive and effective civil rights legislation that would guarantee all Americans access to all public accommodations, decent housing, adequate and integrated education, and the right to vote.

• The withholding of federal funds from all programs in which discrimination exists.

• The desegregation of all school districts.

• The enforcement of constitutional penalties against states that violate the voting rights of African Americans.

• The issuance of an executive order banning discrimination in all housing supported by federal funds.

• Giving the attorney general legal authority to use the courts to pursue relief from violation of constitutional rights.

King and his fellow civil and labor rights leaders laid out a good blueprint for improving our country and making our economy work better for all Americans, not just the few at the top. Speaking to sanitation workers in March of 1968, in one of the final speeches of his illustrious career, King called for equality and prosperity for all working people, regardless of race:

If you will judge anything here in this struggle, you’re commanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the worth and significance of those who are not in professional jobs, or those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight, that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity, and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity, and it has worth. One day our society must come to see this. One day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker if it is to survive. For the person who picks up our garbage, in the final analysis, is as significant as the physician. All labor has worth. You are doing another thing. You are reminding, not only Memphis, but you are reminding the nation that it is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages. I need not remind you that this is the plight of our people all over America. The vast majority of Negroes in our country are still perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. My friends, we are living as a people in a literal depression. Now, you know when there is vast unemployment and underemployment in the black community, they call it a social problem. When there is vast unemployment and underemployment in the white community, they call it a depression. But we find ourselves living in a literal depression all over this country as a people. Now, the problem isn’t only unemployment. Do you know that most of the poor people in our country are working every day? They are making wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the mainstream of the economic life of our nation. These are facts which must be seen. And it is criminal to have people working on a full-time basis and a full-time job getting part-time income.

King was right. We must continue to pursue his vision of social and economic justice.

Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 04/02/2018 - 16:59

Martin Luther King Jr. Championed Civil Rights and Unions Kentucky AFL-CIO

Kentuckians, including many union members, will march Wednesday in Frankfort in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was murdered April 4, 1968, in Memphis.

“The MLK Memorial March to Move” will travel along Capitol Avenue and conclude on the Capitol steps.

Dr. King returned to Memphis on April 3, 1968, to renew his stand in solidarity with striking African American sanitation workers who belonged to AFSCME Local 1733.

Dr. King saw the civil rights movement and the union movement as natural allies.

“As I have said many times, and believe with all my heart, the coalition that can have the greatest impact in the struggle for human dignity here in America is that of the Negro and the forces of labor, because their fortunes are so closely intertwined,” he said.

Dr. King warned that enemies of racial justice were also enemies of unions: “The labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.”

He denounced “right to work” laws as a scam: “In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right to work.’ It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights.

“Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone.…Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer, and there are no civil rights. We do not intend to let them do this to us. We demand this fraud be stopped. Our weapon is our vote.”

Many union leaders have joined the struggle for equality and economic justice for all. Their numbers include residents of the Bluegrass State, among them Norbert Blume and Augusta Thomas of Louisville and W.C. Young of Paducah.

A Teamster, Blume, who died in 2011, served in the state House of Representatives from 1963 to 1978; he was speaker for the last six of those years. In 1964, he introduced legislation outlawing discrimination in public accommodations. Blume’s bill was a precursor to the Civil Rights Act of 1966, which Dr. King hailed as “the strongest and most comprehensive civil rights bill passed by a Southern state.”

Thomas, 85, is vice president for women and fair practices with the American Federation of Government Employees in Washington. In 1960, she journeyed from Louisville to Greensboro, N.C., to join the historic lunch-counter sit-ins. Angry whites spat on her and knocked her off a stool. Police arrested her twice.

A friend and schoolmate of Dr. King when she lived in Atlanta in her teens, Thomas joined him in Memphis 50 years ago. She heard his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech the night before he was killed. She was at the Lorraine Motel when he was assassinated and heard the shot that took his life.

A national labor and civil rights leader, Young, who died in 1996, spent most of his life in the union movement, retiring in 1987 as Chicago-based Region 10 director of the AFL-CIO’s Committee on Political Education. He said his wallet always included two cards—his union card and his NAACP card. The W.C. Young Award is the highest honor the Paducah-based Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council bestows.

Like Young, Dr. King was a student of labor history. In 1965, the 30th anniversary of the landmark Wagner Act, he pointed out that when the 20th century turned, “women earned approximately 10 cents an hour, and men were fortunate to receive 20 cents an hour. The average workweek was 60 to 70 hours.”

He added, “During the ’30s, wages were a secondary issue; to have a job at all was the difference between the agony of starvation and a flicker of life. The nation, now so vigorous, reeled and tottered almost to total collapse. The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.

“Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, government relief for the destitute and, above all, new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome. When in the ’30s the wave of union organization crested over our nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society.”

Click here to listen to Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan talk about Dr. King’s support for unions and what they do.  

This post originally appeared at Kentucky State AFL-CIO.

 

Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 04/02/2018 - 14:46

It Is Always About the People: In the States Roundup California Labor Federation

It's time once again to take a look at the ways working people are making progress in the states. Click on any of the links to follow the state federations and central labor councils on Twitter.

Arkansas AFL-CIO:

https://t.co/dFg900qjAY

Say whaaaaat?! This is great news, right? This means the #arleg won't vote to cap WC benefits next session, correct? We certainly hope so. *crosses fingers* *takes a picture of post* #arlabor #1u @ARlaborradio @aryoungworkers @arlaborwomen

— Arkansas AFL-CIO (@ArkansasAFLCIO) March 28, 2018

California Labor Federation:

Every day we organize and fight for working people, we honor the legacy of #CesarChavez. We'll never stop. Rest in Power, Cesar ✊ #1u #UnionStrong #CesarChavezDay pic.twitter.com/mvfxkafqRt

— California Labor Federation (@CaliforniaLabor) March 30, 2018

Colorado AFL-CIO:

SB171 would define Colorado workers as independent contractors instead of employees while lining the pockets of billion-dollar corporations like Uber and Handy. Call your State Rep. & tell them to vote NO on SB171! #GoodJobsNOW #coleg pic.twitter.com/UUb1hJGwXp

— Colorado AFL-CIO (@AFLCIOCO) March 27, 2018

Connecticut AFL-CIO:

#ImStickingWithTheUnion #1u https://t.co/dLLajC6OJa

— Connecticut AFL-CIO (@ConnAFLCIO) March 28, 2018

Florida AFL-CIO:

"Despite these needs, a $3 billion budget surplus helped fuel a $171 million, election-year tax-cut package, approved by lawmakers as one of their last tasks before adjourning the 2018 session last week." https://t.co/SIFWMz3z5S

— Florida AFL-CIO (@FLAFLCIO) March 19, 2018

Georgia AFL-CIO:

For gig economy workers in these states, rights are at risk https://t.co/UaaWDT8P6r via @CNNMoney Tell your State Sen NO on #HB789

— AFL-CIO Georgia (@AFLCIOGeorgia) March 21, 2018

Indiana State AFL-CIO:

The relationship between you and your employers is not one of equals...being in a union fixes the imbalance #1U pic.twitter.com/jfDSOcZdBk

— Indiana AFL-CIO (@INAFLCIO) April 1, 2018

Iowa Federation of Labor:

Workers accuse Trump administration, DeVos of union-busting https://t.co/vVUvHlk3o0

— Iowa AFL-CIO (@IowaAFLCIO) April 2, 2018

Kansas State AFL-CIO:

Working Families aim to even things up. https://t.co/6evGAWjGc5

— Kansas AFL-CIO (@KansasAFLCIO) March 30, 2018

Kentucky State AFL-CIO:

Another organization promoting an assault on injured workers. Shame on you, Kentucky Realtors.https://t.co/90F7BpQeqM https://t.co/LYk79zOuaG

— Kentucky AFL-CIO (@aflcioky) April 1, 2018

Maine AFL-CIO:

Linda testified against @Governor_LePage's bill to give a tax cut to the top 1%. "Working people like myself would be better served by good health care and the chance to retire with dignity than more tax cuts for the wealthy." - Linda, Livermore Falls #mepolitics @steelworkers pic.twitter.com/5Xc4qCVamB

— Maine AFL-CIO (@MEAFLCIO) March 16, 2018

Massachusetts AFL-CIO:

Great victory for working people in Lynn last night! #1u Lynn council votes to penalize contractors who violate state labor laws - Itemlive : Itemlive https://t.co/LpZCDVQVFj via @itemlive

— Massachusetts AFLCIO (@massaflcio) March 28, 2018

Metro Washington (D.C.) Council AFL-CIO:

“Hell no!” to contract takeaways, say Ed Dept employees #afge pic.twitter.com/SI12dNBg23

— MetroDCLaborCouncil (@DCLabor) March 28, 2018

Michigan AFL-CIO:

"Trump’s proposed infrastructure plan would make working people pay more, sell off our roads and bridges to corporations and rich investors, and leave the rest of us behind." @jimananich @MISenDems @stateinnovation https://t.co/Erg0VdVcWC

— Michigan AFL-CIO (@MIAFLCIO) March 26, 2018

Minnesota AFL-CIO:

Minnesota IAM Local 623 Members Approve “Effects Agreement” at Closing Electrolux Plant https://t.co/MsEiwoREUZ via @workdaymn @MachinistsUnion #1u

— Minnesota AFL-CIO (@MNAFLCIO) April 1, 2018

Missouri AFL-CIO:

Some in the #moleg some want to pave the way for self-driving semi-trucks in Missouri. We say NO on #HB1295 and #SB861! https://t.co/BriSt6xMLz

— Missouri AFL-CIO (@MOAFLCIO) March 31, 2018

New Jersey State AFL-CIO:

NJ AFL-CIO Sec. Treas. Laurel Brennan testifies on behalf of #EqualPay for equal work. pic.twitter.com/N3Z39uv4og

— New Jersey AFL-CIO (@NJAFLCIO) March 19, 2018

New Mexico AFL-CIO:

“Apprenticeships popular again as workers turn to trades” https://t.co/DycR0AU6JK .@LaborFed4NM @AFLCIO

— NMFL (@LaborFed4NM) March 29, 2018

New York State AFL-CIO:

Statement of New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento on Sexual Harassment Legislation Included in State Budget - New York is taking bold and decisive action against the scourge of sexual harassment in the workplace. Statement at https://t.co/kR9ivC6Ldu

— NYSAFLCIO (@NYSAFLCIO) March 31, 2018

North Carolina AFL-CIO:

#OrganizeTheSouth: “Our stigma here is so bad in the South. Most people are ashamed to tell their neighbors that they are in a union,” he said. “And we actually want to change... https://t.co/e19kcHMqJY

— NC State AFL-CIO (@NCStateAFLCIO) March 28, 2018

Ohio AFL-CIO:

Thanks @ATUComm Pres. Jordan for fighting to keep Columbus moving forward & safe. We know a bus is nothing without us! Smart City or no, buses should have trained @AFLCIO drivers We can be hi-tech & keep our humanity as well! https://t.co/AfZ35tFLVF

— Ohio AFL-CIO (@ohioaflcio) April 1, 2018

Oklahoma State AFL-CIO:

Its important to know the numbers behind the budget crisis. https://t.co/V2kbxW3mlr

— Oklahoma AFL-CIO (@OK_AFL_CIO) March 23, 2018

Oregon AFL-CIO:

"Workers at a Burgerville in Southeast Portland said they plan to file for a federal union election, a move that could place employees of the fast-food franchise at the forefront of a national labor fight.”https://t.co/vbZa6Ja0NO #1u #ORPOL

— Oregon AFL-CIO (@OregonAFLCIO) March 30, 2018

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO:

#WomensHistoryMonth - Thank you to the women who, despite the sweat on their brow, found ways to resist and organize. Thank you to the women who raised us—the women who raised America. And thank you to the women who still do. https://t.co/FrgjZD9rHR

— PA AFL-CIO (@PaAFL_CIO) March 29, 2018

Rhode Island AFL-CIO:

#FightFor15 #DPS #1u pic.twitter.com/X6Gx1MleaG

— Rhode Island AFL-CIO (@riaflcio) March 22, 2018

South Carolina AFL-CIO:

Read and share https://t.co/NTUB3k59ZV

— SC AFL-CIO (@SCAFLCIO) March 29, 2018

Texas AFL-CIO:

We are ready for 2018 Citizenship Drive tomorrow at Dobie Middle School. We will be assisting eligible permanent resident with their naturalization applications! #1u #TxLabor #HazteCiudadano @AFLCIOLatino @Tefere_Gebre @lizshuler @RickTxAFLCIO @RichardTrumka pic.twitter.com/8i0av3df1x

— Texas AFL-CIO (@TexasAFLCIO) March 30, 2018

Virginia AFL-CIO:

#1u "Game developers look to unions to fix the industry’s exploitative workplace culture" https://t.co/AvG938EeI4

— Virginia AFL-CIO (@Virginia_AFLCIO) March 26, 2018

Washington AFL-CIO:

Thank you, @GovInslee, @SenSaldana, @andybillig, and the many others who supported these historic bills! #waleg https://t.co/ApfsVUeaJU

— WA State AFL-CIO (@WAAFLCIO) March 20, 2018

West Virginia AFL-CIO:

“We’re seeing a great field of pro-working family candidates in 2018.” WV AFL-CIO Endorses Candidates in 2018 Primary Election: https://t.co/OCkGxJOrS7 #wvpol pic.twitter.com/4nXM8HBkpf

— West Virginia AFLCIO (@WestVirginiaAFL) March 26, 2018

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO:

VOTE VOTE VOTE! Record-breaking voter turnout possible for election Tuesday, based on early voting numbers, https://t.co/PtjgvCvYLc

— WI AFL-CIO (@wisaflcio) April 1, 2018 Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 04/02/2018 - 10:15

Organizing Leads to Prosperity: What Working People Are Doing This Week Boilermakers

Welcome to our regular feature, a look at what the various AFL-CIO unions and other working family organizations are doing across the country and beyond. The labor movement is big and active—here's a look at the broad range of activities we're engaged in this week.

Actors' Equity:

"But theatre will not go away. Because theatre is a site, I am tempted to say a refuge. Where people congregate and instantly form communities. As we have always done." @SimonMcBurney for #WorldTheatreDay https://t.co/mVAE9yoQX8

— Actors' Equity (@ActorsEquity) March 27, 2018

AFGE:

Staffing at the EEOC is at a historic low. We're hoping that changes soon. https://t.co/RIoCsmDZsG

— AFGE (@AFGENational) March 27, 2018

AFSCME:

Workers at UCAN, a youth services agency in Chicago, voted to form a union with AFSCME Council 31 despite a strong anti-unionization campaign mounted by their employer. We welcome these fighters to the AFSCME family. https://t.co/p2CQL5XnmD pic.twitter.com/loHvm4RIpo

— AFSCME (@AFSCME) March 27, 2018

AFT:

March 31: Engage students w the life & legacy of activist Cesar Chavez https://t.co/t7bShH1hU1 @sharemylesson #CesarChavezDay pic.twitter.com/BE9cnzBbWM

— AFT (@AFTunion) March 28, 2018

Air Line Pilots Association:

@WeAreALPA celebrates Girls in Aviation Day Reno, helping to ignite girls’ enthusiasm for the industry! #GIAD, #ClearedToDream, #WAI2018Experience pic.twitter.com/kKSpWKdBKh

— ALPA (@WeAreALPA) March 24, 2018

Alliance for Retired Americans:

Prices for the 20-most prescribed brand name drugs for seniors have risen an average of 12 percent each year since 2012. That's nearly 10 times higher than the rate of inflation. Older Americans can't live like this anymore. We need #RxForAll! https://t.co/fI6UJTipRV pic.twitter.com/qdwSYnbUJ3

— Alliance Retirees (@ActiveRetirees) March 27, 2018

Amalgamated Transit Union:

Asleep at the Wheel: Close Call with Fatigued Dallas #Greyhound Driver Highlights Sweatshops on Wheels https://t.co/G3zvcww9Sz #1u #DriverFatiguePreventionAct pic.twitter.com/01nFP6qAFJ

— ATU, Transit Union (@ATUComm) March 23, 2018

American Federation of Musicians:

Working people are under attack and they are rising up to join in union together! #Organize
https://t.co/RuNNTQor02

— Amer. Fed. Musicians (@The_AFM) March 28, 2018

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance:

ICYMI: Tipped workers, educators, and public schools win in #omnibus bill, while fate of undocumented immigrants remains uncertain: https://t.co/7Zr1VhRXzP pic.twitter.com/Gn9TsBrDgR

— APALA (@APALAnational) March 26, 2018

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA:

Thx to your advocacy, we are closer than ever to achieving our #Fightfor10! Our 10 hours min rest & Fatigue Risk Management Plan will be in the final version of the long-term bill as long as we continue to hold lawmakers accountable w/ our action. https://t.co/jivtCf6Be4

— AFA-CWA (@afa_cwa) March 24, 2018

Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers:

MUST READ: The Baker Uprising - BCTGM | The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union https://t.co/7ff6EJOSgm

— BCTGM International (@BCTGM) March 22, 2018

Boilermakers:

Better opportunities. A union can help you get better wages, benefits and a say in shaping your future. Check it out. #FormAUnion #Organize https://t.co/FnkGKuwOwu pic.twitter.com/aFYonllTtv

— Boilermakers Organizing (@joinIBB) March 22, 2018

Communications Workers of America:

CWA has opened negotiations w/the State of New Jersey for 32k state employees! At stake are across-the-board wage increases & restoring withheld salary increments — annual raises state workers receive when they reach an annual milestone in state service. https://t.co/UdLD86yDEJ

— CWA (@CWAUnion) March 27, 2018

Department for Professional Employees:

Interested in increasing the power of working people? Check out @WomenLeadLabor's new fellowship. Letters of interest due April 6. #1u https://t.co/jFAIZj3hK9

— DPE (@DPEaflcio) March 28, 2018

Electrical Workers:

#IBEW urges bidding process for Puerto Rico power restoration https://t.co/nmNXTMeU7U

— IBEW (@IBEW) March 27, 2018

Farm Labor Organizing Committee:

VP Justin Flores explains the #BoycottVUSE campaign and asks supporters in Winston Salem to join @SupportFLOC in boycotting @RAI_News tobacco product VUSE until Reynolds signs an agreement guaranteeing farmworkers protections to organize and join labor unions #1u pic.twitter.com/yg05Kwu4UC

— Farm Labor Organizing Committee (@SupportFLOC) March 26, 2018

Fire Fighters:

Over 1,200 Days And Counting: San Antonio, TX #Fire Union Contract Still Lacks Resolution https://t.co/2nMbUX6wAX

— IAFF (@IAFFNewsDesk) March 28, 2018

Heat and Frost Insulators:

Second year apprentice Damon Cannon working the Local 6 booth at the Brockton Workforce Investment Career Fair! pic.twitter.com/lZWowYup39

— Insulators Union (@InsulatorsUnion) March 27, 2018

International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers:

"Describing the move as “mean spirited,” Debbie Jennings, president of International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 4, which represents workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine..." #IFPTELocal4 https://t.co/GuZ0Femmvr

— IFPTE Local 4 (@IFPTELocal4) March 23, 2018

International Labor Communications Association:

#ILCAbookshelf This week we’re reading Julius G. Getman’s The Supreme Court on Unions from @CornellPress. An important book to understand Janus, so-called “Right-to-work” and the role of courts in shaping labor law https://t.co/azcEIVb8Kq #1u pic.twitter.com/5AR84FfzsX

— ILCA Communications (@ILCAonline) March 23, 2018

Jobs With Justice:

NEW: A study of @Gap stores shows that predictable and consistent work schedules aren’t just good for working people, but can also help improve a store’s bottom line. Corporations should heed the findings and end their unstable scheduling practices. https://t.co/8FgKb1MqMH #1u

— Jobs With Justice (@jwjnational) March 28, 2018

Laborers:

See which 15 states have the worst #roads and #infrastructure in US #RepairOurRoads #FixOurBridges https://t.co/w3lExvTfjH

— LIUNA (@LIUNA) March 28, 2018

Machinists:

Workers at BMW Victoria join IAM | Canadian Labour Reporter https://t.co/55jTzesK1W

— Machinists Union (@MachinistsUnion) March 28, 2018

Metal Trades Department:

Proud to see our affiliates leading the way on diversity in the trades. https://t.co/7r8OpJ3pNa

— Metal Trades Dept. (@metaltradesafl) March 27, 2018

National Air Traffic Controllers Association:

#OnThisDay in 2008 #NATCA & the #FAA signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing the ATSAP. This voluntary reporting program has helped advance safety culture in U.S. aviation, overall making the National Airspace System safer for all users.
https://t.co/fPNDsC7hlY pic.twitter.com/Q4ApgrZTXO

— NATCA (@NATCA) March 27, 2018

National Day Laborer Organizing Network:

Watch and share. Thanks to @BklynDefender! https://t.co/HwHzLY6yb6

— NDLON (@NDLON) March 27, 2018

National Domestic Workers Alliance:

Rest in Power, Linda Brown. You and your family’s bravery in the face of bigotry has reshaped our country and leaves a powerful legacy of equality whose ramifications will be felt for many generations to come #BlackWomenLead #WomesHistoryMonth https://t.co/dgK5X8jMY2

— Domestic Workers (@domesticworkers) March 27, 2018

National Nurses United:

In Healthcare Worker Safety, California Leads The Way https://t.co/krMfRstBrz #workplaceviolence

— NationalNursesUnited (@NationalNurses) March 27, 2018

National Taxi Workers Alliance:

Please donate and share to support our brother Nicanor Ochisor's widow. Nicanor was a yellow taxi owner-driver who committed suicide after facing financial ruin. https://t.co/hqH37KdHBK

— NY Taxi Workers (@NYTWA) March 28, 2018

The News Guild-CWA:

Philadelphia Media Network is adding six fellows to engage diverse audiences that they are 'simply not reaching.' @TNGLocal10. https://t.co/Wj46WSDTRo. pic.twitter.com/gHZGv9kXPg

— NewsGuild (@news_guild) March 28, 2018

NFL Players Association:

Today, we're joining @AmDiabetesAssn advocates to take Capitol Hill by storm for the annual Call to Congress! Players are sharing the impact of diabetes on their lives with legislators. #ThisIsDiabetes #TeamTackle pic.twitter.com/oNXZwciNaA

— NFLPA (@NFLPA) March 22, 2018

North America's Building Trades Unions:

"Privatization would leave small states like Maine in a lurch because there is no financial incentive for corporations to invest in small states where there is minimal return on investment." https://t.co/3vmYV4EUrE

— The Building Trades (@BldgTrdsUnions) March 27, 2018

Plasterers and Cement Masons:

Thank you @dscc for putting forth a plan with BROAD and SUSTAINABLE investment in our infrastructure and America's workers. We look forward to continued discussions that will result in a bipartisan bill to rebuild America. #builditrightbuilditnow https://t.co/TgyhMqfrHx

— OPCMIA International (@opcmiaintl) March 27, 2018

Pride At Work:

Congratulations to @rweingarten, President of @AFTunion, and her wife, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum!

Make Your Easter Union-Made in America! AFL-CIO

Easter is this Sunday, so here is a list of union-made in America treats to fill an Easter basket and your holiday dinner table brought to you by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's resource site, Labor 411.

Easter candy

• Cadbury Creme Eggs and other chocolate products
• Dum Dums
• Gimbal’s Gourmet Jelly Beans
• Haviland Nonpareils
• Jelly Belly
• Laffy Taffy
• Malted Milk Eggs (PAAS, Mighty Malts)
• Marshmallow Peeps
• Mike and Ike
• Necco
• Smarties
• Tootsie Rolls and Pops

And don't forget to pick up a union-prepared Easter ham or lamb:

• Appleton Farms ham
• Black Forest ham
• Butterball ham
• Cook's ham 
• Farmland Old Fashioned Pit Ham
• Farmland Original Pit Ham
• Fischer Meats lamb
• Hormel Honey Roasted Ham
• Tyson Foods ham

If you feel like doing a little egg dyeing, try these:

• Alta Dena
• Betty Crocker food coloring
• Clover Sonoma
• Horizon

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 03/29/2018 - 10:31

Say No to Poverty Policies: The Working People Weekly List

Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s this week’s Working People Weekly List.

Worker Death Shines Spotlight on Disney's Poverty Policies: "As a result of the federal tax cut, Disney promised that its employees would get $1,000 bonuses. Disney offered the bonuses to most of its employees with no conditions. But for 41,000 union members in Orlando, Florida, and Anaheim, California, Disney is requiring them to agree to the company's contract proposals in order to get the bonus."

How Unions Carried Pennsylvania’s 18th District — and Why the DNC Should Be Paying Attention: "Rep.-elect Conor Lamb made national waves with an improbable win last week in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District. He faced down $10 million in outside money funneled to his opponent by corporate and right-wing interests. He fought through a barrage of incessant, hyper-partisan attacks blanketing the airwaves. He was abandoned by his own party’s national infrastructure in a district that hadn’t elected a Democrat in nearly 15 years. And he still came out on top."

The Lessons of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Are Still Relevant 107 Years Later: "On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the 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 deaths. Thirty minutes later, the fire was over, and 146 of the 500 workers—mostly young women—were dead."

The Racist Roots of Right to Work: "Proponents of 'right to work' laws often use lofty language to sell their agenda, with false appeals to freedom, among other high ideals. But right to work is about freedom only in this way: It’s about taking away the freedom of working people to join together in strong unions."

UAW Takes Action to Support Incarcerated Korean Trade Unionists: "A UAW representative recently returned from a trip to South Korea to try to secure the release of two key labor leaders jailed for their union activity. Since December 2015, Han Sang-gyun, who was president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, has been imprisoned for representing his members. And last December, KCTU General Secretary Lee Young-joo also was arrested after a 10-day hunger strike and two years of house arrest. There are other trade unionists who are charged or incarcerated as well."

The People's March Madness Sweet Sixteen: "Welcome to the AFL-CIO's March Madness Sweet Sixteen! But instead of focusing on the hottest basketball teams, we're focusing on the MARCH part of March Madness. Not the month, but actual marches."

New President for the New Mexico Federation of Labor: "On March 20, the New Mexico Federation of Labor Executive Board unanimously appointed Vince Alvarado as its new president. Alvarado is the business manager and financial secretary for International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 49, a position he has held since 2010. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the SMART Local 49 Health Plan and Joint Apprenticeship and Training Council. Alvarado is a third-generation sheet metal worker originally from El Paso, Texas, who served in various leadership roles on the job and with his union for more than two decades. He is currently the only state federation leader in the country who comes from SMART."

JetBlue Inflight Crew Members Vote on Joining TWU: "Nearly 5,000 JetBlue inflight crew members have begun the voting process this week in an effort to join the Transport Workers (TWU). Last year, an overwhelming majority of the inflight crew members signed cards in favor of coming together to negotiate a fair and just contract. Ballots will be cast between now and April 17."

Puerto Rico: Those Unforgettable Days: "There are days in our lives that are unforgettable. They are entrenched in our minds. They follow us like perennial shadows. Six months ago, I spent five days in Puerto Rico—two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated this Caribbean island. As I look back into this short trip, I see images and situations that have stayed with me. Memories that are a constant reminder of how much remains to be done to lift up all working families who were affected by this disaster. Here are some of these moments."

Trumka: The Politicians Screaming About a Trade War Are Beholden to Wall Street: "Wall Street’s hair is on fire about steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by President Trump, because closing mills and factories in the United States and moving them overseas is how investors enrich themselves. And those wealthy investors reap even fatter profits when offshore mills and factories violate trade laws. Wall Street doesn’t care about the social and economic costs of unfair trade, because working people and our communities pay the price."

It's About Dignity and Humanity: Worker Wins: "Our latest roundup of worker wins begins with a group of production assistants voting unanimously for a voice on the job and includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life."

Today's Working Women Honor Their Courageous Foremothers: "Nearly two centuries ago, a group of women and girls—some as young as 12—decided they'd had enough. Laboring in the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, they faced exhausting 14-hour days, abusive supervisors and dangerous working conditions. When threatened with a pay cut, they finally put their foot down."

Drake: 'Tariffs to Protect U.S. National and Economic Security Are Overdue': "Celeste Drake, trade policy specialist at the AFL-CIO, participated in a discussion last week about trade and tariffs at The Dialogue."

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 03/29/2018 - 09:28

Worker Death Shines Spotlight on Disney's Poverty Policies UNITE HERE

As a result of the federal tax cut, Disney promised that its employees would get $1,000 bonuses. Disney offered the bonuses to most of its employees with no conditions. But for 41,000 union members in Orlando, Florida, and Anaheim, California, Disney is requiring them to agree to the company's contract proposals in order to get the bonus. 

In December, Disney workers in Orlando rejected the company's offer of a 50-cent pay raise, far below the livable wage that Disney's employees are fighting for. A new report shows that the overwhelming majority of Disney employees who responded said they do not earn enough for basic expenses every month.

Meanwhile, the tax cut will bring Disney some $2 billion every year. Giving every Disney employee the promised $1,000 bonus would cost Disney $125 million. The report on Disney employees revealed that more than 10% of working people at Disneyland resorts have been homeless or have not had a place to sleep in the past two years.

Yeweinisht "Weiny" Mesfin was one of those Disney employees who was homeless. Weiny's former co-worker, Vanessa Munoz, told Weiny's story to Left Voice:

I met [Weiny] in October 2013. Carsland was her home. You could find her in that land working from 11:30 p.m. to 8 a.m., six days a week. She always smiled and greeted you with a “hello.” Restrooms were her major.

The first month working with her in restrooms was hard. She had her own ways of doing things, and as soon as I got to know her, I knew what she liked and what she didn’t. She was good at her job and never once did I hear her complain about her job or her pay.

Every day she had a pear or apple for lunch and occasionally a muffin. Sometimes she’d buy me lunch and refuse to have me pay her back. So I would secretly pay for her muffins or lunch whenever I saw her walk into the cafe. "No, darling! It’s OK," was her reply whenever the lunch lady would tell her that her meal was paid for. She would then come to me and thank me but, the next day, would beat me and secretly buy me lunch. She was like that with everyone, not just me. If you had a birthday, she would chip in and help buy you a cake. Because that was the type of person she was. She was a kind person who was loved by everyone....

November 2016: Weiny goes missing right after Thanksgiving weekend. Working for almost five years for this company now, I was used to seeing people come and go. Some went and just never came back. Sometimes you saw it coming and sometimes you just didn’t. I wasn’t ready for her to go, and I never thought I’d see her go.

It took about a month for us to find her. It took endless messages, Facebook shares, phone calls and driving around. All it took was a message from her cousin that Wednesday morning in December. "We found Her. She is passed. Thank you for all that you did" was what it read. My heart dropped, and I wanted to just disappear. I felt like what I did wasn’t enough. I felt like I was to blame.

Soon enough, I found out more things about my friend, Weiny. I found out she was found in her car in a gym parking lot after suffering a heart attack. She sat in her car for almost a whole month waiting for someone to find her. Why? Because she lived in her car and that gym parking lot was her home. She would use the gym to shower and use the restroom.

She didn’t have enough money to get her own place, and my heart broke because all she did was give and give. Never once did she complain. But behind that smile and "good morning, darling" lived a whole different person. A woman struggling and working eight-hour shifts for six days for a company that didn’t even bother helping with flower arrangements. For a company that took and took from her and terminated her on the spot after her third no call, no show. A company that asked for her costumes back as soon as possible so they can give them to the next re-hire.

Someone out there on third shift at Disney now wears my Weiny’s beanie, her sweater, shirts and pants. Someone out there is about to give as much as Weiny did for a company that refuses to pay the employees an affordable living wage.

Read the rest of the story and take action today by telling Disney to pay all of its employees the promised $1,000 bonus.

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 03/27/2018 - 10:59

How Unions Carried Pennsylvania’s 18th District — and Why the DNC Should Be Paying Attention AFL-CIO

Rep.-elect Conor Lamb made national waves with an improbable win last week in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District. He faced down $10 million in outside money funneled to his opponent by corporate and right-wing interests. He fought through a barrage of incessant, hyper-partisan attacks blanketing the airwaves. He was abandoned by his own party’s national infrastructure in a district that hadn’t elected a Democrat in nearly 15 years. And he still came out on top.

It wasn’t because of some stale advice whispered into his ear by an overpaid consultant. He doesn’t owe this victory to super PACs or corporate donations. It certainly wasn’t thanks to the Democratic Party establishment — it’s still finding its way out of an agenda and message that failed to resonate with working people in 2016.

The fact is: Working people and the power of a union-run, member-to-member campaign are what carried the 18th District.

This election came down to a fight between our grassroots labor coalition and state Rep. Rick Saccone’s corporate-funded, RNC-managed smear campaign. The outcome proved what we already knew: The path to power runs through the labor movement.

Conor will be settling into a new office in Washington because he proudly stood with unions in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Read the full post at Medium.

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 03/27/2018 - 10:51

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

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the 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 deaths. Thirty minutes later, the fire was over, and 146 of the 500 workers—mostly young women—were dead.

Watch this video to learn more about the tragedy:

Many of us have read about the tragic Triangle fire in school textbooks. But the fire alone wasn’t what made the shirtwaist makers such a focal point for worker safety. In fact, workplace deaths weren’t uncommon at the time. It is estimated that more than 100 workers died every day on the job around 1911.

A week after the fire, Anne Morgan and Alva Belmont hosted a meeting at the Metropolitan Opera House to demand action on fire safety, and people of all backgrounds packed the hall. A few days later, more than 350,000 people participated in a funeral march for those lost at Triangle.

Three months later, responding to pressure from activists, New York’s governor signed a law creating the Factory Investigating Commission, which had unprecedented powers. The commission investigated nearly 2,000 factories in dozens of industries and, with the help of such workers’ rights advocates as Frances Perkins, enacted eight laws covering fire safety, factory inspections, and sanitation and employment rules for women and children. The following year, they pushed for 25 more laws—entirely revamping New York State’s labor protections and creating a state Department of Labor to enforce them. During the Roosevelt administration, Perkins and Robert Wagner (who chaired the commission) helped create the nation’s most sweeping worker protections through the New Deal, including the National Labor Relations Act.

The shirtwaist makers’ story inspired hundreds of activists across the state and the nation to push for fundamental reforms. And while there have been successes along the way, the problems that led to the Triangle fire are still present today. It was just five years ago, for instance, that the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh killed more than 1,100 garment workers.

As worker health and safety continues to be a significant issue both in the United 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, legislation and mobilization, working people and their unions have fought for safe and healthful working conditions to protect workers from injury, illnesses and death. We have made real progress, winning strong laws and protections that have made jobs safer and saved workers’ lives.

Over the years, our fight has gotten harder as employers’ opposition to workers’ rights and protections has grown, and attacks on unions have intensified. We haven’t backed down. Most recently, after decades-long struggles, joining with allies we won groundbreaking standards to protect workers from silica, beryllium and coal dust, and stronger protections for workers to report injuries and exercise other safety and health rights.

Now all these hard-won gains are threatened. President Trump and many Republicans in Congress have launched an aggressive assault on worker protections.

The worker protections under assault include:

• Trump's proposed fiscal year 2019 budget cuts funding for the Department of Labor by 21%, including a 40% cut in job training for low-income adults, youth, and dislocated workers and the elimination of the Labor Department’s employment program for older workers.
• The budget also proposes to cut the Occupational Safety and Health Administration budget, eliminate OSHA’s worker training program and cut funding for coal mine enforcement, while proposing a 22% increase for the Office of Labor-Management Standards' oversight of unions.
• The budget also proposes to slash the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s job safety research budget by 40%, to move NIOSH to the National Institutes of Health from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and to remove the World Trade Center Health Program from NIOSH’s direction.
• OSHA delayed the effective date of the final beryllium standard originally issued in January 2017. Then it delayed enforcement of the standard until May 11, 2018. In June 2017, OSHA proposed to weaken the beryllium rule as it applies to the construction and maritime industries.
• OSHA delayed enforcement of the silica standard in construction, which in December was fully upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
• OSHA delayed the requirement for employers to electronically report summary injury and illness information to the agency set to go into effect on July 1, 2017, until December 31, 2017. OSHA has announced it intends to issue a proposal to revise or revoke some provisions of the rule.
• OSHA withdrew its policy that gave nonunion workers the right to have a representative participate in OSHA enforcement inspections on their behalf.
• The Mine Safety and Health Administration delayed the mine examination rule for metal and nonmetal mines from May 23, 2017, until Oct. 2, 2017, and then again until March 2, 2018. MSHA also proposed weakening changes to the rule, including delaying mine inspections until after work has begun, instead of before work commences.
• In November 2017, MSHA announced it would revisit the 2014 Coal Dust standard to examine its effectiveness and whether it should be modified to be less burdensome on industry. This comes at the same time NIOSH reported 400 cases of advanced black lung found by three clinics in Kentucky.
• OSHA withdrew over a dozen rules from the regulatory agenda, including standards on combustible dust, styrene, 1-bromopropane, noise in construction and an update of permissible exposure limits.
• The agency also suspended work on critical OSHA standards on workplace violence, infectious diseases, process safety management and emergency preparedness.
• MSHA withdrew rules on civil penalties and refuge alternatives in coal mines from the regulatory agenda and suspended work on new standards on silica and proximity detection systems for mobile mining equipment. 

The Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy took place 107 years ago today. We have a long way to go to make sure that we prevent the next such tragedy and keep working people safe and healthy.

Kenneth Quinnell Sun, 03/25/2018 - 08:39

The Racist Roots of Right to Work

Proponents of "right to work" laws often use lofty language to sell their agenda, with false appeals to freedom, among other high ideals.

But right to work is about freedom only in this way: It’s about taking away the freedom of working people to join together in strong unions.

It’s no secret that wealthy corporations and individuals are pouring money into politics like never before to stack the deck against working people and pad their own profits. The State Policy Network, an alliance of right-wing think tanks with a combined annual budget of $80 million, is an example. In a 2016 fundraising letter, it announced a "breakthrough" campaign to "defund and defang" public service unions.

The goal of SPN, the letter reads, is to "permanently break the power of government unions." It cites its opposition to the role that organized public-service workers play as advocates for quality public services and for policies that help working families and hurt corporate bottom lines, like health care and retirement security.

This network of front groups for wealthy special interests has implemented a multipronged strategy to achieve its goal: passing right to work laws at the state and local levels, spreading misinformation and contacting public-service workers directly to persuade them to drop out of their unions, and by using the court system to undo legal precedent and impose right to work nationally. Both organizations behind Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, which seeks to make right to work the law of the land and was argued before the Supreme Court in February, are part of SPN.

But what none of them would ever openly say—not even in a letter to donors—is where right to work comes from and what its real agenda is. 

Continue reading at AFSCME.

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 03/23/2018 - 14:46

UAW Takes Action to Support Incarcerated Korean Trade Unionists UAW

A UAW representative recently returned from a trip to South Korea to try to secure the release of two key labor leaders jailed for their union activity. Since December 2015, Han Sang-gyun, who was president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, has been imprisoned for representing his members. And last December, KCTU General Secretary Lee Young-joo also was arrested after a 10-day hunger strike and two years of house arrest. There are other trade unionists who are charged or incarcerated as well.

The UAW Executive Board passed a resolution calling for the pardon and release of these trade unionists and UAW President Dennis Williams has raised this issue at high levels of the U.S. and South Korean governments. The UAW representative met with Han, Lee and the U.S. and South Korean governments to present UAW member petitions and to push for basic labor and human rights and for their release.

Prison Visit with Lee

General Secretary Lee thanked UAW President Williams and his members for their support. She said that she is very touched and that it shows that the world’s workers are one. Although she had been ill at the time of her detention, due to a hunger strike, she reported that she is now on the road to recovery.

Visit to the South Korean Ministry of Justice

At the South Korean Ministry of Justice, the UAW met with two deputy directors of the Human Rights Policy Division delivering the petitions and the UAW letters condemning Han and Lee’s imprisonment and vowing to keep fighting.

Prison Visit with Han

The UAW delivered to President Han its petition for his release signed by President Williams and more than 500 UAW members. President Han was very moved by the support and solidarity.

U.S. Embassy Visit

At the U.S. Embassy, the UAW met with the counselor for political military affairs and delivered letters and petitions calling for the release of Han and Lee, as well as UAW President Dennis Williams’ statement in support of their release.

This post originally appeared on the UAW website. 

Tim Schlittner Fri, 03/23/2018 - 08:55

The People's March Madness Sweet Sixteen! AFL-CIOLabor and working people's marches throughout history.

Welcome to the AFL-CIO's March Madness Sweet Sixteen! But instead of focusing on the hottest basketball teams, we're focusing on the MARCH part of March Madness. Not the month, but actual marches.

We've set up a bracket of some of the most important marches and rallies for working people in American history. When we organize and fight for our values, we win. Here are 16 times where working people came together as leaders or as supporters and allies toward the greater good. Which one is your favorite?

Here is a little bit more detail on each march, so you can choose your favorite:

New York Shirtwaist Strike (1909): Also known as the Uprising of the 20,000, the New York Shirtwaist Strike involved primarily Jewish women working in New York factories who went on strike in order to gain improved wages, safer working conditions and better work hours. Led by Clara Lemlich, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and the National Women's Trade Union League of America, the strike was the largest by female workers up to that point. While successful for the New York working women, industry-wide safety problems were exposed a year later when the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire killed 146 garment workers.

Bread and Roses Strike (1912): After the Massachusetts Legislature cut the workweek by two hours, mill owners in Lawrence sought to cut working people's take-home pay. The Industrial Workers of the World mill workers launched a strike that was met with hostility, from the banning of parades and outdoor rallies to troops patrolling the workers' neighborhoods. The workers refused to give up, however, as many of them were fighting not only for better work conditions and treatment, but for the basic bread they needed to survive. The strikers won not only a pay raise and other gains for themselves, but the new system they won led to pay increases for 150,000 New Englanders.

Mother Jones and the March of the Mill Children (1903): Mary Harris "Mother" Jones went to the Kensington section of northern Philadelphia to rally 46,000 textile workers in their demands for a reduced workweek of 55 hours and a ban on night work by women and children. The year following the march, the National Child Labor Committee formed and Pennsylvania toughened its child labor laws the year after that.

Women's Suffrage Parade (1913): The day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, more than 5,000 women came to Washington by foot, by horseback or by wagon. Among the marchers demanding women's suffrage were the incoming president's niece. The marchers were heckled and harassed by the crowd at the time, but six years later, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, enshrining women's right to vote in the Constitution.

Silent Protest Parade (1917): After years of violence against African Americans, the East St. Louis Riot left several hundred African Americans dead and nearly 6,000 homeless, inspiring the NAACP and other organizations to launch the Silent Protest Parade. More than 10,000 women, men and children marched silently through the streets of New York. 

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963): The largest civil rights march of its era, more than 250,000 descended on the National Mall in support of civil and economic rights for African Americans. Labor leaders such as A. Philip Randolph were key in planning and executing the event.

Farmworkers March from Delano to Sacramento (1966): In protest of poor pay and working conditions, 75 Latino and Filipino grape workers led by César Chávez marched 340 miles from Delano, California, to the state Capitol. After a 25-day trek, they were greeted by 10,000 supporters. The strike lasted five years, ending in the creation of the United Farm Workers and the first contract between growers and farmworkers in U.S. history.

Poor People's March on Washington (1968): In the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, 3,000 people marched on the National Mall and set up a protest camp for six weeks. The marched called for improved economic and human rights for poor Americans. Numerous government programs to assist the poor were created as a result.

Women's Strike for Equality (1970): On the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, more than 20,000 women marched in support of equal opportunity in the workforce, and political and social equality.

Equal Rights Amendment March in Illinois (1976): More than 16,000 protesters marched on Springfield, Illinois, calling on the state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Numerous marches would follow over the years, and they were one of the defining efforts of the women's movement.

National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights (1979): More than 100,000 people marched on Washington, D.C., in support of civil and economic rights for LGBTQ Americans. In addition to a call for comprehensive legislation, the marchers called for an executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal government, military and government contracting.

Solidarity Day! (1981): A diverse crowd of more than 260,000 marched in opposition to cuts to programs that support working people. Ronald Reagan's cuts were aimed at everything from Social Security to occupational safety laws.

Million Woman March (1997): More than a million African American women marched through the streets of Philadelphia in support of improved civil, political and economic rights.

March for Women's Lives (2004): More than a million women marched on Washington, D.C., in support of women's reproductive freedom.

Detroit March in response to water shut-offs (2014): Detroit residents, union members and progressive activists, led by the Incredible Hulk himself, Mark Ruffalo, marched through the streets of Detroit in response to the water utility shutting off water for thousands of poor residents.

Women's March (2017): Following the inauguration of Donald Trump, more than 4.2 million women and men held rallies across the nation. The marchers protested the proposed policies of the administration and Trump's personal mistreatment of women.

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 03/22/2018 - 12:18

New President for the New Mexico Federation of Labor New Mexico AFL-CIONew Mexico Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Ashley Long swears in Vince Alvarado as the new President of the state labor federation.

On March 20, the New Mexico Federation of Labor Executive Board unanimously appointed Vince Alvarado as its new president. Alvarado is the business manager and financial secretary for International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 49, a position he has held since 2010. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the SMART Local 49 Health Plan and Joint Apprenticeship and Training Council. Alvarado is a third-generation sheet metal worker originally from El Paso, Texas, who served in various leadership roles on the job and with his union for more than two decades. He is currently the only state federation leader in the country who comes from SMART.

New Mexico Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Ashley Long (IAM) said New Mexico labor leaders were excited to support Alvarado in his new role: “The energy behind our Executive Board’s decision to appoint Vince as our new president was so enthusiastic and positive. There is a strong sense of unity that is growing and expanding across the New Mexico labor movement right now, and Vince is the exact leader we need. Together, we will keep up the momentum to grow a stronger movement for New Mexico's working families.”

New Mexico has emerged as an increasingly important state in the national fight to protect workers’ rights. As a team, New Mexico labor leaders, including Alvarado, mobilized working people and their communities to defeat "right to work" legislation in the state Legislature for the past four sessions. They continue to fight a right-wing funded push across the state to pass right to work on the county level. New Mexico is also a key state in the upcoming 2018 elections, where union leaders and activists are organizing to elect a pro-worker governor and solidify pro-worker majorities in their Legislature.

Long is confident that she and Alvarado can achieve those goals while continuing to unite and grow the New Mexico labor movement. “Vince is an absolute professional. He’s level-headed, thoughtful and experienced,” said Long. “We are a well-balanced, diverse leadership team that will work with our Executive Board to keep labor in New Mexico moving forward in a positive way.”

Alvarado said he also felt positive about the state labor movement's potential for growth: “The New Mexico labor movement has become more and more united ever since we joined together to defeat right to work four sessions ago, when we didn’t have the governor or the House on our side. Our movement has been doing well, but there is always room for improvement. There was a lot of good energy when our Executive Board appointed me to lead the federation, and there is a lot of potential to keep making our state better for working people."

Tim Schlittner Thu, 03/22/2018 - 11:20

JetBlue Inflight Crew Members Vote on Joining TWU TWU

Nearly 5,000 JetBlue inflight crew members have begun the voting process this week in an effort to join the Transport Workers (TWU). Last year, an overwhelming majority of the inflight crew members signed cards in favor of coming together to negotiate a fair and just contract. Ballots will be cast between now and April 17.

TWU President John Samuelsen said:

JetBlue [inflight crew members] have come to the realization that the company does not have their best interests in mind. They have come to the right place, because TWU will win this election and will strategically engage JetBlue to win a solid contract. The company is more interested in making profits off the backs of its workers than in rewarding them for making it the extremely successful company that it is.

Inflight crew member Lyndi Howard explained the employees' motivation: "JetBlue [inflight crew members] would like the real opportunity and power to make improvements to our professional lives through collective bargaining and contractual language."

A statement on TWU's website explained how the process led to success:

This historic moment was made possible by the dedication of your co-workers who are serving as your committed team of in-house, rank and file activists. Through their efforts and your overwhelming support, you and your team have signed a sufficient number of cards needed to file for an election, so that the inflight crewmembers can begin to take control of their collective future. Your organizing team has done an exceptional job communicating with your workgroup and reaching out to the entire community of JetBlue inflight crewmembers. I congratulate them on their success.

Learn more about the campaign at Time We Unite.

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 03/22/2018 - 11:17

Puerto Rico: Those Unforgettable Days Gonzalo Salvador

There are days in our lives that are unforgettable. They are entrenched in our minds. They follow us like perennial shadows. Six months ago, I spent five days in Puerto Rico—two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated this Caribbean island. As I look back into this short trip, I see images and situations that have stayed with me. Memories that are a constant reminder of how much remains to be done to lift up all working families who were affected by this disaster. Here are some of these moments:

Saturday, Oct. 7—Luis Muñoz Marin Airport, Carolina, Puerto Rico

Families with small children, elderly people. All of them desperately trying to leave the island. A feeling of guilt invaded me as I stepped onto my United Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey. Nearly 300 volunteers from different unions stayed in Puerto Rico for another two weeks, providing critical relief to people who were affected by Hurricane Maria. In the previous four days, they became my brothers and sisters.

Wednesday, Oct. 2—Baseball Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico

It is 4 o’clock in the morning. "Everyone up. Time to go." I overheard the voice coming from back in the locker room, still half asleep while laying down on a cot. My roommates, most of them operating engineers, dressed in a heartbeat. They were energized and looking forward to getting to work.

Less than 12 hours earlier, we arrived on a flight from Newark Airport provided by United. Buses took us to our new "home": The Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

Time flies. It took less than two weeks to organize this relief mission and to get volunteers from many unions who had valuable skills that were urgently needed in Puerto Rico—electricians, nurses, truck drivers, operating engineers, plumbers, only to name a few.

The conditions at the baseball stadium were precarious at best. We had a limited supply of food and drinking water. But at least we had electricity and spotty cell phone reception. We were the lucky ones. At the time, nearly 90% of the island didn’t have any power. Only a few had access to water.

But even as we encountered these dire conditions, all volunteers were eager to go out and help. They reminded me of what the labor movement is all about: brotherhood, sisterhood and solidarity. Each union member was proud to give a hand to those most in need.      

Friday, Oct. 6—Barceloneta, Puerto Rico

It took a caravan of trucks and heavy machinery nearly three hours to reach Barceloneta, a small town less than 50 miles west of San Juan. The scenery that surrounded us was similar to a surrealist painting—trees were uprooted, all the vegetation was wiped out. Desolation. There wasn’t a trace of that paradisiacal island I visited many years before on vacation.

As soon as we arrived to this town, nurses and doctors began visiting a nearby nursing home. I joined a team of truck drivers and operating engineers who were in charge of clearing a road of debris.

At a distance, I spotted a house without a roof. A tree had fallen on its balcony. The windows were broken. A couple in their late 60s came out and asked me for help. They hadn’t had water or electricity for days. They said that they lost everything. I turned around in frustration, only to find more people asking me for water to drink.

On our way back, I took a bus and sat next to our health care volunteers. A nurse told me that people were sick and unnecessarily dying. A doctor from California showed me the photo of a man in his 80s. He said that he was about to die of dehydration and malnutrition.

"If we had arrived a day later, he would have died," the doctor added.

The sun was down. Total darkness surrounded us. Only a light was blinking far away. A beacon of hope, I thought.     

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Almost six months have passed since that day. The news is not good. Nearly 10% of the island doesn’t have electricity. Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, have no other option than to leave their homes and move to the "mainland." More than 1,000 people have died from causes related to the hurricane. Unnecessary deaths, as the nurse told me back in October. She was right. Most of those deaths were preventable.

And to add insult to injury, instead of pushing for policies that would provide Puerto Rico relief, there are talks of privatizing schools and lowering standards for teachers and other working people.

Today, I look back and think of all the people who I met during all those days in Puerto Rico. It is impossible not to wonder what happened to all of them. How is the couple in Barceloneta who lost everything doing? Is the man at the retirement home whose life was saved by a volunteer still alive?

Were our volunteer efforts in vain?  

No.

Our volunteers not only repaired the electric grid and generators, restored water, cleared roads and provided critical health care, they left an impression on every person they helped. I am sure that even today, those efforts endure.

And while greedy corporations continue to take advantage and make money off of Puerto Rico’s misfortune, union members are still on the ground helping their fellow Americans.

Like that light blinking during the night among the darkness, I believe that there is still hope for Puerto Rico. Our union volunteers’ solidarity is proof that even in the middle of a catastrophe, goodness prevails over greed. The labor movement’s constant commitment to aid our brothers and sisters, who continue to be under distress, is nothing short of heroic.

I am proud to be part of this movement. I am proud of every single woman and man who responded to the call to go to Puerto Rico.

Those days. Those unforgettable days.

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 03/20/2018 - 10:18