High Stakes in the Great Lakes: AFL-CIO Holds Regional 2018 Meeting AFL-CIO

“Working people are ready to turn the tide, go on offense and win. We see it every day from coast to coast, in industries far and wide,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said to the crowd of more than 400 labor union activists gathered in Detroit, for the AFL-CIO Great Lakes District Meeting. “This much is clear: Our job has never been more important. Our unity has never been stronger. We are ready to do the hard work of rebuilding the American Dream."

Representatives from state federations, central labor councils and affiliate unions in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania discussed the stakes of the 2018 elections and how the union movement can win for working people.

Attendees at the conference heard from their counterparts in other states on how to achieve those victories, including analysis of the current political landscape, member engagement strategies and campaign planning.
 

Union membership grew by 52,000 members last year. #RightToWork is wrong for Michigan. Ron Bieber, President @MIAFLCIO pic.twitter.com/o2ZreeiQI7

— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) January 25, 2018

UAW President Dennis Williams fired up the crowd with a message of unity and power: 

They’re coming for our rights. But we don’t have to give them away. Our opponents may have the money. But we have the truth. And the truth is that union dues provide an incredible return on investment. The truth is that belonging to a union is like being part of a family that will always have your back. The truth is that corporations have become way too strong in America, and the only way to create balance and fairness in the workplace is by joining a union. This is a message we must continue to spread inside and outside our ranks.

The meeting provided all with an opportunity to exchange ideas and gain an understanding of recent research and campaign tactics that will inform the planning and execution of winning campaign strategies in these battleground states.

.@RichardTrumka asks candidates: as MI’s next gov, how will you fight outsourcing and create good paying jobs? @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/im9PBrM9js

— Michigan AFL-CIO (@MIAFLCIO) January 24, 2018

Participants had the opportunity to attend workshops on a variety of topics, including Common Sense Economics®, member engagement, internal organizing and establishing new paths to power in developing a state federation-based union member candidate program. Special thanks to Charles Wowkanech who shared insights on how the New Jersey State AFL-CIO has been able to elect thousands of union members to public office. As he says, "You can’t go through a town in New Jersey without running into one of us."

This was the first of several regional meetings that the AFL-CIO is organizing for early 2018. The others are slated to take place in Chicago; Buena Park, California; Silver Spring, Maryland; New Orleans; and Las Vegas.

Check out our photo album on Facebook.

AFL-CIO President @RichardTrumka advocating for good jobs and standing up against outsourcing during @MIAFLCIO Gubernatorial Town https://t.co/O36klLbT2k https://t.co/66grb8kVgc pic.twitter.com/aGQNU7prxK

— Western Wisc AFL-CIO (@wwaflcio) January 24, 2018 Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 01/26/2018 - 13:18

Hotel Workers Say #MeToo and Fight Back UNITE HERE

As the #MeToo movement surges across the nation, working women are finding power in their union to speak out and fight back against sexual harassment and assault on the job. In the hospitality industry, housekeepers have been pursuing protections for years, and their union, UNITE HERE, has been shedding light on their struggle.

UNITE HERE surveyed hotel workers in several cities around the country and found that sexual harassment and assault are a pervasive problem. There is a clear power imbalance between men who pay for hotel rooms and the women, often immigrants or women of color, who clean their rooms alone. In Chicago, the survey found that 58% of housekeepers had been sexually harassed by a guest, and they’ve found similar results around the country.

Several hotel workers were featured as Silence Breakers for Time magazine’s 2017 Person of the Year. "I and our union are long in awe of the courage of our hotel housekeepers, cocktail servers, bartenders, waitresses and many more members in speaking out against the sexual harassment and assault that is too prevalent in the hospitality industry. The courage of our union workers in speaking out is resulting in changed policies across our industry that can transform lives," said D. Taylor, president of UNITE HERE.

As hotel workers have spoken up and told their stories, UNITE HERE has fought for protections. Since 2013, all unionized hotels in New York City—hundreds across the city—have equipped housekeepers with panic buttons to summon help. In Washington, D.C., more than 30 union hotels have introduced panic buttons. Working alone where it’s difficult to hear calls for help, housekeepers say these panic buttons make them feel safer.

In 2016, Seattle voters passed an initiative championed by UNITE HERE Local 8 which contained requirements that hotels provide panic buttons to workers, record workers’ reports of harassment and assault by hotel guests, and reassign workers away from problem guests or ban guests when appropriate. The hotel industry has mounted a legal challenge to the new law to maintain their power and silence the women who work for them, but the labor movement continues to fight back and tell the Seattle Hotel Association to protect their employees.

In October 2017, hotel workers secured a major victory when the Chicago City Council passed the "Hands Off, Pants On" ordinance, thanks to a massive campaign by the Chicago Federation of Labor and UNITE HERE Local 1. The legislation mandates that housekeepers, in both union and nonunion hotels, be given panic buttons so they can alert hotel security when they feel threatened and prohibits hotel employers from retaliating against a hotel worker for reporting sexual harassment or assault by a guest.

On the victory, Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez said: "This is a significant step forward for the organized and those we intend to organize in the fight against sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Unfortunately, it is a step in only one industry. As we have seen in our national news, there is more work to be done to protect workers across all industries. Every day, the labor movement fights for every worker’s right to a safe and secure work environment."

In California, lawmakers have recently proposed a law requiring hotels to provide housekeepers with panic buttons and impose a three-year ban for any guest accused of violence or sexual harassment against an employee and keep a list of those accusations for five years. If it passes, California would be the first state in the nation to have a statewide law protecting hotel workers from sexual harassment and assault.

Working women have been emboldened by the #MeToo movement and will not be ignored. As they continue to come forward and tell their stories, the union movement will remain committed to believing women and empowering them to fight for protections in the workplace.

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 01/26/2018 - 13:07

Trump at One Year: Giving Cover to Hate Gage Skidmore

President Donald Trump's actions and rhetoric over his first year run counter to the values of working people. Here are some of the ways he has used his office to divide our country, abandon our values, and give cover to racism and other forms of bigotry.

Attacks Against the LGBTQ Community

• Tried to ban trans people from joining and openly serving in the military, falsely claiming that trans-related health care is expensive.
• Nearly one-third of his judicial nominees have anti-LGBTQ records.
• Appointed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. As opponents have feared, Gorsuch has not been friendly to LGBTQ Americans. He dissented against a ruling that requires same-sex parents to be listed on birth certificates.
• Rescinded guidance from the Barack Obama administration telling K-12 schools that receive federal funding that trans students are protected under federal civil rights law.
• Rescinded another Obama-era guideline that said trans workers are protected under civil rights law, enabling the federal government to argue that anti-trans discrimination isn't illegal under federal law.
• Argued in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop before the Supreme Court, claiming that business owners should be able to discriminate against same-sex couples for religious or "moral" justifications.
• Filed a legal brief claiming that the federal Civil Rights Act doesn’t protect gay and bisexual workers.
• Has legally supported numerous other anti-LGBTQ court cases, including defending North Carolina's anti-trans bathroom law and a case that would allow discrimination against trans people in health care.
• Created the Division of Conscience and Religious Freedom to reportedly work to enable health care providers’ religious liberties aren’t violated, which many see as asking for a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
• Fired all the members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS without explanation.
• Failed to recognize LGBTQ Pride Month.
• Proposed ending data collection programs about LGBTQ seniors and people with disabilities, erasing evidence of potential discrimination.

Attacks Against Women

• Reversed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, making it easier for federal contractors with chronic violations of discrimination laws to keep getting federal funding.
• Proposed a Department of Labor budget cut of 21%, which would hamper work-family protections, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act.
• Signed a bill allowing states to block Title X funding for providers that also offer abortion with nonfederal funds, including Planned Parenthood.
• Proposed denying Planned Parenthood clinics Medicaid reimbursements for serving low-income patients.
• Reinstated and expanded the Global Gag Rule, preventing recipients of foreign aid from offering any information, referrals, services or advocacy regarding abortion care, even if they don't use U.S. funds to do so.
• Cut funding to the U.N. Population Fund, which works on women’s rights worldwide, maternal health, family planning and gender equity programs.
• His pick to run Medicare and Medicaid, Seema Verma, argued that maternity coverage should be optional for insurers.
• Proposed a $50 million reduction in funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.
  Promised to make permanent the Hyde Amendment, which restricts Medicaid coverage of abortion.
• Released a short list of potential judges for the Supreme Court that was filled with anti-choice jurists.
• Nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, a man with a history of arguing against the legal foundation of Roe v. Wade.
• Defended conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly from sexual harassment allegations, as part of a history of defending those who have been accused of harassing women.
• Under his immigration crackdown, unauthorized immigrant women face a threat of deportation if they report domestic violence or sexual abuse.
• Under his health care plan, insurers could stop covering funding for birth control, breast-feeding support, and domestic violence screening and counseling.
• Eliminated a ban that kept federal contractors from using forced arbitration clauses for sexual assault, sexual harassment, or discrimination allegations.
• His Cabinet has just four women. They occupy lower-ranking positions than the white men in the administration.
• Appointed three men to federal government positions for every woman he appointed.
• Neglected to fill women’s leadership roles across the federal government, including the global women’s issues ambassador and the Office on Violence Against Women director.
• Chose staff with extreme anti-woman positions and put them into positions of power.
• Proposed requiring new moms receiving Medicaid to work within 60 days of giving birth or risk losing their insurance.
• His health care plan could eliminate maternity and newborn coverage for millions of women and slash benefits, raise premiums, and increase out-of-pocket costs for millions more.

Attacks Against People of Color, Immigrants and Religious Groups

• Established a taxpayer-funded commission to develop and advocate for policies to reduce voter fraud, an almost non-existent issue whose supposed remedies disproportionately harm people of color.
• Proposed eliminating 121 staff positions at the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.
• More than 90% of his nominees for federal judgeships are white.
• Proposed eliminating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice, which protects low-income communities and communities of color from environmental hazards.
• Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico, putting 3.4 million American lives at risk. He responded by saying that Puerto Ricans "want everything to be done for them."
• Reversed an Obama administration plan to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in national parks.
• Opened up much of the Bears Ears National Monument for commercial activities, including potential mining and oil and gas development, despite the fact that it contains countless Native American ceremonial sites, historical artifacts, and dwellings.
• Pursued harsher penalties for drug-related crimes, increasing the overincarceration of African Americans.
• Rolled back programs designed to build trust between local law enforcement and the communities they serve and provide local agencies with technical assistance.
• Reversed a Justice Department plan to reduce the use of private prisons.
• Supports cutting $21 million from tribal law enforcement, despite a lack of necessary resources to address high rates of rape and murder on tribal lands.
• Pardoned former Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, who was found guilty of illegally profiling and detaining Latinos based on their perceived immigration status.
• Proposed eliminating the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency, which is the only federal agency that provides business consulting services to people of color who wish to start or expand their own businesses.
• Wants to consolidate the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, decreasing their combined enforcement budgets by millions.
• Halted the implementation of the Obama administration's Employer Information Report, which would have confidentially collected pay data broken down by gender, race and ethnicity, in order to help uncover wage discrimination.
• Asked Congress to eliminate the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which serves 1.1 million low-income students of color.
• Is reportedly diverting Justice Department Civil Rights Division resources to attack affirmative action programs.
• Proposed slashing the budget for the Bureau of Indian Education by $64 million.
• Supported a tax bill that could lead to cuts to programs that fund historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges.
• Rescinded a federal grant designed to help right-wing extremists move away from radical ideas.
• Supported a health care proposal that would have left 8.7 million people of color without Medicaid coverage by 2026.
• Proposed cutting $6.2 billion from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides subsidized housing to poor people and people of color.
• Wants to slash $50 million from Housing and Urban Development's Indian country housing programs and completely eliminate housing funding for the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Made several attempts to ban Muslims from entering the country.
• Slashed the target number of refugees to be welcomed into the United States to the lowest levels in decades.
• Ended the DACA initiative, potentially disrupting the lives of nearly 800,000 recipients, the vast majority of whom are Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, or black, leaving many vulnerable to detention and deportation.
• Ended the protected status of 50,000 Haitians displaced by the nation’s 2010 earthquake and ensuing crises that expanded problems on the island.
• Encouraged aggressive immigration enforcement.
• Broke a campaign promise to not deport DACA recipients in April as Juan Manuel Montes became the first known DACA recipient with active status to be deported by Trump.
• Carried out immigration raids that could have harmful effects on birth outcomes. A study found that stress created by immigration raids is linked to an increase in premature births and low birth weights.
• Threatened to split up families fleeing extreme violence in nations with high rates of violence against women and girls.
• Threatened to pull funding from sanctuary cities, which could lead to families losing access to critical programs.
• Muslim Americans have seen a rise in bigotry and attacks after Trump's election, with experts blaming much of the "tremendous levels of fear" among American Muslims on Trump.
• Not only didn't mention Jewish people on Holocaust Remembrance Day, but reportedly blocked the release of a statement that did.
• A white nationalist leader facing assault charges defended himself by claiming that he was acting based on the words of Trump.
• Suggested that $20 million in federal funding for historically black colleges and universities might be unconstitutional because of race.
• Stressed the need to protect the West against forces from the South and East that threaten western values.
• After white supremacist violence erupted in Charlottesville, he condemned "many sides" for the violence, but failed to mention white supremacists, and later falsely claimed that protesters supporting a Robert E. Lee statue were "quietly" showing their support, while counter-protesters were "very, very violent."
• Defended statues honoring Confederates as part of "our history and heritage."
• Said NFL owners should fire players who kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
• Belittled Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for claiming Native American heritage, calling her "Pocahontas."
• Retweeted three anti-Muslim tweets by British far-right leader Jayda Fransen.
• Said that Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS" and suggested that Nigerians lived in huts.
• Reportedly said that people from Haiti and Africa come from "shithole countries," unlike predominantly white countries like Norway.

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 01/26/2018 - 09:40

Trumka: Despite Trump, Working People Will Build on Our Successes

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka held a roundtable discussion Tuesday to reflect on President Donald Trump’s first year in office. Trumka expressed disappointment in the Trump administration's failure to deliver on promises to secure fairer trade deals, invest in the nation’s infrastructure and revitalize working communities. Trumka also criticized the president for actively using his office to hurt working people.

Last year, 2017, was a challenging year for working people:

I’ll be perfectly frank. 2017 was a difficult year for working people. Corporations did everything in their power to hold down wages. Inequality grew. And politicians at the federal and state level launched a new wave of attacks on our dignity and rights.

Trump not only failed to live up to his promises, he actively sided with those attacking working people:

President Trump said a lot of the right things as a candidate. But his actions haven’t followed suit. There’s been no effort to label China as a currency manipulator. He’s rejected plans to revitalize our coal communities. And despite calling himself a “builder president,” he’s done nothing to invest in America’s infrastructure.

Broken promises are bad enough. But President Trump has also used his office to actively hurt working people. He has joined with corporations and their political allies to undermine the right of workers to bargain collectively. He has taken money out of our pockets and made our workplaces less safe. He has divided our country, abandoned our values and given cover to racism and other forms of bigotry.

But the efforts of Trump and his allies didn't stop working people from coming together: 

Yet even in the face of these challenges, we stood strong. We organized. We elected union members to office. We raised wages. We passionately made our case for a new set of economic rules designed to achieve broadly shared prosperity. And America has taken notice. Our approval rating is more than 60%, the highest in almost two decades.

Trumka noted that the energy of working people to stand up and fight back is on the rise:

That moment is close. I can feel it coming. I feel it in every union hall I visit and every picket line I stand on. I feel it in every politician who looks at us differently since we stopped the TPP. I feel it when I talk to brave immigrants ready to come out of the shadows and working women who are saying enough is enough.

And I feel it in the disappointment and determination of working people, one year into the Trump administration.

The president has a choice:

At the end of the day, this is bigger than any politician or president. It’s about making progress for regular working people. If President Trump wants to change course and join us in the fight to raise wages and standards, strengthen our democracy, and build better lives, we will be ready. But if he continues down his current path, workers will be looking for a new president in 2020.

Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 01/24/2018 - 15:06

Thai Unions Coordinate, Collaborate for Success Julian Hadden

After working several years at an auto parts factory outside Bangkok, Prasit Prasopsuk compared conditions at his workplace with those of a friend employed at a similar plant—and realized his wages were lower and working conditions worse because there was no union representation.

The conversation spurred Prasopsuk to action, and he went on to organize a union in 2007, starting with 200 co-workers whose numbers grew to 1,700 in two years. Now, a 16-year veteran at the factory, where he makes ball bearings, Prasopsuk is treasurer of the 40,000-member Federation of Thailand Auto Workers Union (TAW) and vice president of Thailand Autoparts and Metal Workers Union (TAM), a TAW affiliate. Both unions are part of the Thai Confederation of Electronic, Electrical Appliances, Auto and Metal Workers (TEAM).

Despite his success, Prasopsuk says it is “very difficult” to get workers to form unions in Thailand. Employers dismiss workers they suspect of organizing a union—even though it is against the law—and wield a gamut of other tactics, including forming company unions and taking legal action against workers and unions for such issues as derogatory statements on social media.

Some 525,000 workers are employed in auto parts factories in Thailand, which is the world’s twelfth-largest automobile producer in the world. The country also is a leading producer of hard disk drives, making it a major exporter of high-value goods. Most industrial factories are owned by multinational corporations, and steep competition from emerging low-wage Asian countries like Vietnam drives factory owners’ relentless efforts to cut costs by targeting workers. Some companies are moving factories to other Southeast Asian countries with lower wages. Meanwhile, the government’s stepped-up efforts to privatize key sectors is resulting in layoffs and wage cuts.

To meet these challenges, unions representing manufacturing workers and public employees have joined forces in a tightly knit network in which they regularly meet to discuss organizing campaigns and legal battles and plan for coordinated actions around issues like raising the minimum wage. Through the Thai Labor Solidarity Committee (TLSC) and Organizing Labor Union Committee, unions also engage in long-term planning around issues such as boosting organizing capacity, expanding outreach to both formal and informal economy workers, and advancing a democratic labor movement in the face of company unions.

Workers ‘Scared to File for a Union’

An hour south of Bangkok, past a traffic-choked highway near the country’s industrialized Eastern seaboard, union leaders gather at the newly built Workers’ Training Center in Chonburi. Removing their shoes as they enter the spacious main hall, which is presided over at one end by a colorful Buddhist shrine and a portrait of the revered late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, activists convene around a table to update each other on the most recent issues facing their unions.

Completed in December 2015 with funds collected by TEAM union activists, the TEAM Workers’ Training Center is a symbolic embodiment of Thai unions’ ongoing struggle to unify and coordinate their efforts. Twenty years ago, no unions represented workers in Thailand’s industrialized Eastern provinces. With the support of partners around the world, including the Solidarity Center, worker activists have formed some 1,000 factory-level unions representing more than 100,000 workers in the area, where corporations from China, Japan, Taiwan and the United States vie for regulatory breaks the Thai government offers to lure private investors into setting up factories in the eastern provinces. Two decades ago, the government created a special economic zone along the Eastern seaboard, transforming it into the “Detroit of Southeast Asia,” according to some union leaders.

Foreign exports, primarily computer hard disks and road vehicles, account for 60% of Thailand’s GDP; and last year, exports grew by 6.6%, the highest in the past four years. With regional competition intensifying, the Thai government is joining with private investors in a $45 billion set of large-scale infrastructure projects in three eastern seaboard provinces that include a new international airport, port facilities, highways and railway links.

The relentless demands for ever lower costs throughout the global supply chain reverberate across industrial plants in Thailand, where Kornchanok Thanakhun, general secretary of the Textile Workers Federation of Thailand (TWFT), said one of the biggest challenges in organizing factory unions is that “the employer dismisses union leaders” as soon as workers become interested in forming a union.

The “process to remedy fired workers takes years, that’s why workers are scared to file for a union,” said Manus Inklud, president of Petroleum and Chemical Workers Federation of Thailand and 27-year production auditor at Goodyear.

To address the issue, unions across Thailand have been urging the government to ratify International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 87 and Convention 98 covering the freedom of association and the freedom to stand together in union and negotiate together. Ratification would provide worker rights’ advocates with a strong basis for challenging employer efforts to break unions by firing workers because currently, “Thai law doesn’t provide us with a lot of support,” said Thanakhun, speaking through a translator.

Boosting Minimum Wage, Maintaining Public Services

Union activists also have pooled their efforts in a nationwide campaign to increase the minimum wage and bring it in line with inflation and cost of living. Union leaders say the government’s recent creation of provincial minimum wage tiers, governed by labor-management-government subcommittees, are manipulated by employers, and they recommend re-instituting a single national minimum wage structure.

Another key campaign involves rallying opposition to a proposed bill that would privatize crucial government services. The TLSC and its affiliate, the State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation (SERC), recently petitioned the National Legislative Assembly to pull the Governance and Administration of State Enterprises draft bill, with SERC Vice General Secretary Pongthiti Pongsilamanee reiterating that the government is increasingly focused on profitability at the expense of public service.

The union coalition also is holding educational meetings around the newly enacted 2017 Labor Protection Act, which unions say could weaken union bargaining power by normalizing the use of lower-paid student trainees in the workplace.

A Union to Improve Their Children’s Future

Advancing worker rights across Thailand could not happen without union organizers like Paitoon Bangrong, whose tireless efforts to sign up new members encounter numerous obstacles—including from workers themselves.

Bangrong, a 17-year union member and metal pipe production line worker, is president of the Eastern Labor Union and works with TEAM to help workers form unions. He says many workers he talks with do not understand the benefits of unions, in part because unions receive negative media coverage. So he explains to them how unions improve safety on the job and bolster other fundamental worker rights, and then asks if their children will work in the plants.

“If their children work in the plant, they want good conditions,” he said. “They realize a union can provide better opportunities and working conditions for their children.”

Safety issues are rampant at plants without unions, says Sema Suebtrakul, who has worked as a union organize for 20 years, literally helping form the first unions in the country’s Eastern seaboard. Factories use second-hand machines without safety protections, buildings are rent by structures that could lead to collapse, fire safety equipment doesn’t work, pregnant workers are not allowed to sit and dirty restrooms are a health hazard.

Now an organizer with the Federation of Thai Autoworkers Union/TEAM, Suebtrakul estimates he has organized more than 100 plant level unions. Originally a storekeeper with some legal background, Suebtrakul became aware of the sometime inhumane working conditions at industrial factories through a friend who was a union organizer. After he became involved in helping workers form unions, he became hooked on helping people, he said.

Larey Youpensuk, president of TAW, which represents 9,400 members at 13 plants, said “there is a clear difference between union plants and nonunion plants.”

“If you don’t have a union, you can’t negotiate with employers, you don’t have as good benefits or safety conditions.” Youpensuk said he’s proud of how he in his seven years as president, his leadership helped expand the union from five plants to 13, through intensive union organizing efforts with TAW’s parent federation, the Thai Auto Workers’ Union.

Youpensuk also beams with pride when talking about his fundraising efforts to help build the Workers’ Training Center and create a gathering point for Thai unions. Youpensuk and other Thai leaders are well aware that cohesion and coordination—solidarity!—throughout the labor movement is essential for success.

This post originally appeared at the Solidarity Center.

Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 01/24/2018 - 12:42

Tags: Solidarity Center, Thailand

Bureau of Labor Statistics Reports 260,000 More Union Members in 2017

Last week, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual report on union membership, which found that the number of union members rose by 260,000 in 2017. This reflects critical organizing victories across a range of industries, which have reaped higher wages, better benefits and a more secure future for working people around the country.

Of the report, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said:

In the face of a challenging year, the power of working people is on the rise. Together, we organized historic new unions, stood up to powerful corporations and won higher wages. But today’s data is more than numbers on a page, it’s a growing movement of working people that can’t be measured as easily. When more union members fill the halls of power, when wages rise and inequality shrinks, and when a growing number of people see that we can and will change the rules of this economy - that’s when you’ll know unions are on the rise.

Key trends found in the data include:

• Working people in "right to work" states like South Carolina and Michigan are joining unions by the thousands.
• Young workers continue to drive union growth. Since 2012, union membership among working people under 35 has continued to rise. Last year, they made up three-quarters of new members.
• Professionals and information industry workers continue to drive growth, reflecting key organizing successes by the Communications Workers of America (CWA); the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE); the AFT; and the AFGE.
• Recent victories are among working people across sectors ranging from media employees to charter school teachers and librarian professionals to the 20,000 doctors who joined unions in the past year.

Other advocates for working people weighed in on the numbers.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders:

Despite relentless, dishonest attacks from wealthy special interests, working people continue to come together for a voice on the job and a seat at the table. Union membership held steady in 2017, a testament to the resilience of people fighting strong headwinds to continue organizing even in a hostile environment.

It’s no surprise that they value unions—as the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual report shows, union workers earn considerably more on average than their non-union peers. Women and communities of color, for whom unions have historically been a pathway to the middle class, enjoy an even greater pay advantage when they join unions.

Now, corporate CEOs and other billionaires are trying to use the courts to rig the system even more in their favor, chipping away further at the rights of working people. A Supreme Court case called Janus v. AFSCME, which will be decided this year, threatens the freedom of public service workers to negotiate a fair return for the value they add to their communities.

No matter what happens, public service workers and all working people will continue to build power in numbers and stick together in strong unions.

AFT President Randi Weingarten: 

Workers are joining together in unions because they want a voice in an economy and political system that they understand is increasingly rigged against them. Unions give workers the power to negotiate for higher wages and better learning, working and safety conditions for our students, patients and communities, so they have the freedom and the clout to secure a better life.

At the AFT, we’re growing, because we care, we fight and we show up—for our students, our patients, our members and our communities; for public education, good jobs and affordable health care; against hate and bigotry; and in defense of democracy and pluralism. In the face of historic disinvestment in public education and services, political turmoil, and coordinated efforts by conservatives to ‘defund and defang’ us, the AFT has grown to more than 1.7 million educators, higher education professionals, nurses, and public employees.

Our success stems from our union’s pursuit of a voice for our members, based on deeply held convictions and a concrete plan for an economy and society that works for all, not just corporations and the rich.

Machinists (IAM) International President Robert Martinez:

The time for talk about growing our union is over. The real work of growing our membership began last year when we saw some of our most significant organizing victories in decades. We will have trained hundreds of members and staff by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Director of Organizing James White: 

Workers across America are understanding that in today’s economy, only a collectively bargained agreement provides the security and path forward toward realizing economic gain for their families.

Department for Professional Employees President Paul E. Almeida:

DPE is pleased to see professional union membership continue to grow. Our coalition of affiliate unions values the role professionals play in the labor movement, which is why we’ve worked hard to determine how to effectively represent current union members and organize new members. The tremendous gains in the public sector are the result of professionals deciding to join together to have a voice and make workplace improvements in a climate often hostile to those who work in government.

Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber:

This is great news for Michigan’s working families and great news for our economy. We need the power in numbers of unions more than ever to protect things our families need, like affordable health care, good schools, and Social Security and Medicare. Now it’s time for our elected officials in Lansing and Washington to get the message, stop attacking working people, and start working together to protect the freedom of working people to negotiate together for a fair return on our work. That’s how we’ll build an economy in Michigan that works for everyone, not just the wealthy.

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy:

These numbers show that despite political threats from Washington, more working Minnesotans are exercising their freedom to join together in unions to negotiate for a better life. It’s no coincidence that as union membership increased in 2017, so did Minnesotans’ average wages. Union workers set standards for wages and safety that benefit all working people.

New York State AFL-CIO Mario Cilento: 

The labor movement has a long and proud history in New York state, and our numbers continue to grow. We are proud to add an additional 75,000 members to the labor movement, allowing us to provide even more dedicated working men and women with good, solid, middle class jobs and an opportunity for a better life. In fact, the report shows that more than 30% of new jobs created in New York are union jobs.

The labor movement provides the best way for working people to get ahead; particularly at a time when the rights of working men and women are under attack by the fringe right in Washington. We remain committed to fighting for all working people because, when the labor movement is thriving we not only raise the wages, benefits and conditions of employment of union members, we raise the standard of living and quality of life of all working people.

Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain:

Today’s data is more than numbers, it tells us a powerful story and gives working people hope for a better future. It’s about workers standing together to bring forward positive change at work. That’s what belonging to a union is about: standing shoulder to shoulder with your co-workers to protect your freedom to find prosperity, to earn a decent living, to have safe working conditions, and respect and dignity on the job. We live in a country where inequality is rampant. Unions remain the single most effective tool for working people to fight back against inequality. As more workers stand together, our movement will grow, and the future of millions of families will be more secure. This is good news, but our work is not over. Oregon’s unions remain committed to building a state where working people can prosper, and where our freedom to stand together in union is fiercely protected.

Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 01/24/2018 - 11:00

A Year with Donald Trump: The Miseducation of Betsy DeVos AFL-CIO

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% ($9 billion) of the Department of Education's funding.
• The Trump budget would eliminate the Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants program by $2.1 billion, an amount which could pay the salaries of more than 35,000 teachers. School districts use the program to support and train their teachers.
• Would invest $1.4 billion of new funding into "school choice," taking much-needed money from public schools and giving it to private schools. The investment is expected to grow to $20 billion annually.
• Promoted using vouchers to channel funds away from public schools toward private schools that have lower quality standards and can discriminate in admissions based on gender, religion, race and income. Charters also often require children with disabilities to sign away their rights in order to receive a voucher.
• Proposed eliminating the Public-Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which provides aid to borrowers who go into public-service jobs, including government organizations, tax-exempt nonprofit groups and public schools.
• Removed the requirement that teachers and educators be required stakeholders in implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act, intimating that feedback from educators isn't "absolutely necessary" for making education plans.
• The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that the administration's hateful rhetoric has led to increased bullying in public schools and increased anxiety rates among children of color.
• Proposed cutting $200 million from the Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program, known as WIC, and threatened other nutrition programs that help students perform better in school.
• Would eliminate $1.2 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers and summer 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 from Head Start programs.
• Rescinded Obama-era guidance to keep transgender students in schools with equal access to bathrooms, school facilities and programs.
• Would eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service, which funds programs such as AmeriCorps, Teach For America and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
• Appointed Candice Jackson to be acting secretary in the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights after she has criticized programs designed to help people of color avoid sexual assault and harassment.
• Proposed cutting Pell Grants, work-study and other programs that make college accessible.
• Trump's health care plan includes cuts to pediatric services, including vaccines, eye exams and well-child visits.
• Is considering eliminating federal guidance to schools to ensure discipline policies don't discriminate against students of color and students with disabilities.
• Proposed eliminating 7% of the professional staff at the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, making it harder to ensure equal access to education.
• Diverted Justice Department's Civil Rights Division resources to attack affirmative action.
• Halted the gainful employment rule and borrower defense rule that protect students and taxpayers from fraud at for-profit colleges.
• Eliminated requirements that would have made it easier for student loan borrowers to receive better student loan servicing and get on track toward repayment.
• Would slash the budget for the Bureau of Indian Education by $64 million.
• Trump supported a tax bill that could lead to dramatic funding cuts to historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges.
• Rolled back Obama-era protections for survivors of sexual assault while signaling that she was more interested in protecting those accused of sexual assault than survivors, particularly through a busy schedule where she spent a lot of time meeting with groups that want to further reduce protections for sexual assault survivors on campuses.
• She has held or holds financial stake in Performant Recovery, a company that pursues defaulted student loan borrowers, and numerous companies with investments in for-profit colleges. Rather that fighting for students and families, she's beholden to big-money special interests.

Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 01/24/2018 - 10:58

Working People Are Watching, Mr. President: 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.

Working People Are Watching, Mr. President: "To Washington, D.C., insiders, this month’s budget negotiations are just the latest partisan exercise in a series of manufactured crises that too often result in short-term solutions. But for those who live and work outside of the Beltway bubble, much more is at stake."

Paul Booth, Antiwar Organizer and Union Stalwart, Dies at 74: "Paul Booth, a leading architect of the first major march on Washington against the Vietnam War in 1965 and later an influential union organizer and a vigorous opponent of anti-labor legislation, died on Wednesday in Washington. He was 74."

Steelworkers Union President ‘Disappointed’ and ‘Frustrated’ with Trump: "In an interview with CNN, United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said that American workers are in some ways worse off now than they were just a year ago. 'We're terribly disappointed and hugely frustrated,' Gerard told CNN. 'There's been no action that has done anything to protect and defend American jobs.... In some cases we're worse off now than we were then.'"

AFL-CIO Unions Gear Up for Major Push in 2018 Election Cycle: "The determination of the nation’s labor movement to come out on the winning side of this year’s election battles was strongly reflected here at discussions during last weekend’s AFL-CIO Martin Luther King conference. Unionists mapping plans here see 2018 as an election year during which they can join with allies to win races in all levels of government and halt in its tracks the anti-labor offensive of the Trump administration and the GOP."

Women Get Tips on Running for Elective Office: "Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, said she believes more female union members could become effective political candidates if they're encouraged to run. Polls conducted in 2017 by Gallup and Pew Research Center show public support for labor unions has rebounded in recent years, with about 60 percent saying they approve of them or view them favorably. Fewer than 50 percent of respondents voiced support for labor unions in the early 2010s."

Trumka: Key Battle Ahead is the 2018 Elections: "Saying when an economy 'doesn’t support the majority of its citizens, it needs to be fixed,' AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the 2018 elections are key. And in fixing the economy—by sweeping anti-worker elected officials out of office—workers and their allies will also counter the right wing’s attacks on public sector workers, many if not most of whom are minorities, including African Americans, he added."

In the Air: Renounce a Sexist Past: "Flight Attendants, about 80% women, are ongoing victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Not that long ago, the industry marketed the objectification of 'stewardesses,' a job only available to young, single, perfectly polished women who until 1993 were required to step on a weight scale. Our union was formed to give women a voice and to beat back discrimination and misogyny faced on the job."

Outgoing NLRB Chair Miscimarra Leads Attack on Working People's Rights: "On Dec. 16, 2017, National Labor Relations Board Chair Philip Miscimarra’s term came to an end. In the final days before the end of his term, a series of 3-2 decisions were handed down that were unprecedented in several respects, not the least among them was the extent that the decisions will harm working people."

When CEOs Say 'Do No Harm' in NAFTA, They Mean 'Don’t Harm Me': "We keep hearing CEOs of global companies and giant agribusiness conglomerates say 'do no harm' in the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations, but from the perspective of working families who haven’t had a raise in the past 20 years, this advice doesn’t make any sense."

Let’s Rebuild the Middle Class by Rebuilding Our Infrastructure: "The middle class has been on a steady slide for decades. Signs of this slide are all around us: anemic wage growth, historic income inequality, chronic unemployment and underemployment and, not coincidentally, the steady erosion of workers’ freedom to join unions and bargain for fair wages and benefits. At the same time, American households are facing rising costs that far outpace their stagnant wages. The result is that tens of millions of Americans are stuck in middling jobs that cannot support a family, while a select few enjoy the benefits of rampant inequality."

NJ State AFL-CIO Praises Gov. Murphy on Equal Pay Order: "Marking one of his first actions in office, Governor Phil Murphy (D) signed an executive order promoting equal pay for equal work for women. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO released the following statement following the announcement."

In Houston, Working Families Seek to Reclaim King's Dream: "This past weekend in Houston, the AFL-CIO hosted its Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference, with a theme of 'Reclaiming Our Dream: Strategize, Organize, Mobilize.' Hundreds of working family advocates came together to shift the rules and build power so that working communities can thrive and families can enjoy the fruits of their labor."

From Christmas Trees to Casinos: Worker Wins: "Our latest roundup of worker wins begins with a victory for Christmas tree workers in North Carolina and includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life."

King and Meany Brought Civil Rights and Labor Together for a Legacy That Continues Today: "Beginning in 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and then-President George Meany of the AFL-CIO began a relationship that would help bring the labor and civil rights movements together with a combined focus on social and economic justice."

Celebrating the Life and Work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "Many chapters in the story of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. are well-known to Americans. The I Have a Dream speech. The Nobel Peace Prize. The Mountaintop speech. His Letter from a Birmingham Jail. His commitment to nonviolence. All the incredible accomplishments of a visionary."

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 01/23/2018 - 09:15

Tips Are More Important Than You Think ROC & NELP

The Donald Trump Labor Department is proposing a rule change that would mean that restaurant servers and bartenders could lose a large portion of their earnings. The rule would overturn one put in place by the Barack Obama administration initiated, which prevents workers in tipped industries from having their tips taken by their employers. Under the new rule, business owners could pay their wait staff and bartenders as little as $7.25 per hour and keep all tips above that amount without having to tell customers what happened.

A new study from the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and the National Employment Law Project shows that waiters and bartenders earn more in tips than they do from their base hourly wage. The median share of hourly earnings they make from tips makes up nearly 59% of waitstaff earnings and 54% of bartenders' earnings. Allowing employers to take much or all of that tipped income would be a major blow to many working in the restaurant and bar industry.

Workers in these fields are already poorly compensated. A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, found that "median hourly earnings for waiters and bartenders are a meager $10.11 per hour, including tips. That is just $2.86 above the current federal wage floor and far below what workers throughout the country need to make ends meet."

While proponents of the change suggest that businesses might use the tips to give workers more hours or to subsidize non-tipped employees, but with no requirement for such use of the tipped wages, employers could use them in any way they see fit. EPI analysis found that the new rule would transfer $5.8 billion from workers to employers.

Read the full report.

Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 01/22/2018 - 10:44

Women Take to the Streets One Year Later, Still Committed to Fighting Trump Agenda

On the one-year anniversary of the Women's March, activists again took to the streets to demand equality and justice for all. 

Here are some of the key tweets from events around the country:

The Women’s March was an incredible day for working women to make their voices heard. March on! #1YearSinceWomensMarch pic.twitter.com/YF6r70HLfW

— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) January 18, 2018

Women are primary breadwinner for 40% of US families, so equal pay isn’t just a “women’s issue,” it’s an economic issue @lizshuler #WomensMarch2018 https://t.co/BobdgC1izY

— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) January 21, 2018

600k in LA. 300k in Chicago. 200k in NYC. And tens of thousands more across the country, in cities big and small. #WomensMarch2018 was a massive success—and proof we’re not going away. https://t.co/NKcMbREKVD

— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) January 21, 2018

.@marybemcmillan, president of the @NCStateAFLCIO - “Workers’ rights are human rights, and human rights are workers’ rights.” #metoo “Don’t call me baby, it’s CEO!” #RallyOnRaleigh #womenlead #TimesUp pic.twitter.com/Gk6dpRLngD

— WomensMarchOnRaleigh (@WomensMarchNC) January 20, 2018

#WomensMarchNYC #WomensMarch2018 #resist #NeverQuit pic.twitter.com/WR883tyuMM

— DC37, AFSCME (@DistCouncil37) January 20, 2018

Timelapse: Watch thousands take to the streets of Cincinnati for the 2018 Women's March @Enquirer pic.twitter.com/6J73iqKnvM

— Amanda Rossmann (@ARossmann02) January 20, 2018

We’re back! #WomensMarch2018 pic.twitter.com/A4JPS06Qev

— Machinists Union (@MachinistsUnion) January 20, 2018

Huge crowd of #SinglePayer supporters at the San Francisco #WomensMarch2018. Single payer is a feminist issue! #SB562 pic.twitter.com/OlvUqwEXzT

— NationalNursesUnited (@NationalNurses) January 20, 2018

IUPAT DC-5 Organizing Team out in support of Woman's Rights @ Seattle's Women's Rights March 2018 pic.twitter.com/fmyCx02DEU

— josejose (@Josejos32147419) January 20, 2018

.@UFCW1428 were loud and proud at the Women’s March in Los Angeles this weekend! pic.twitter.com/ILIaSpJT74

— UFCW (@UFCW) January 22, 2018

Women's March Milwaukee. Labor in the house. Solidarity! United in the struggle. pic.twitter.com/KEhv0UGpGn

— WI AFL-CIO (@wisaflcio) January 20, 2018

The Missouri AFL-CIO was out in force with the thousands of marchers today in St. Louis. The labor movement has always been on the forefront in this nation’s fight for equality and we aren’t stopping now! An attack on one of us is an attack on us all. #STLWomensMarch pic.twitter.com/i42Curpk1n

— Missouri AFL-CIO (@MOAFLCIO) January 20, 2018

Say it loud, say it proud! Labor Rights are Women’s Rights!

Victory at Los Angeles Times Continues Digital and Newsroom Organizing Momentum

Los Angeles Times newsroom employees made history by voting 248–44 to be represented by the NewsGuild—the first newsroom union in the paper's 136-year history.

The vote at the Times is part of a larger trend that has been going on in recent years where folks in newsrooms that are digital or have a strong digital presence have been exercising their freedom to come together in union.

Approximately 400 employees at Vox Media recently voted to be represented by Writers Guild of America, East, and the company voluntarily recognized the union. The union organizing committee at Vox said: "Through voluntary recognition, Vox Media has joined the growing ranks of digital media companies that understand the necessity of unions to secure basic protections for those of us who work in an always-evolving industry. A union will give us the means to maintain what we love about working for this company, and to have a collective voice when we address anything that may change."

The wave of digital media companies unionizing gained momentum in 2015, when the now-defunct Gawker Media joined numerous other digital companies that recognized unions and ratified contracts, including Vice Media, ThinkProgress and HuffPost. More recently, writers and editors at a number of other digital publications have affiliated with WGAE and currently are in contract negotiations, among them The Intercept, Salon, Thrillist and MTV News.

Some of the owners of these organizations have fought unionization at their company. Joe Rickets, owner of New York-based sites Gothamist and DNAinfo, shut both websites down rather than recognize employees' right to organize. But those exceptions to the trend haven't slowed down working people who recognize the importance of organizing.

Kim Kelly, an editor at Vice Media, explained it: "People were fed up and broke and anxious about the future, and the union gave them a way to take control and force things to change."

Daniel Marans, a reporter at HuffPost, said that digital media publications need to grow with a changing digital workplace: "That comes to things like transparency on pay, having a decent pay scale that allows a ladder of sustainability where you can support yourself on such an income, and having due process and a guarantee of severance in the case of layoffs."

As the most recent votes at the Los Angeles Times and Vox show us, the trend of organizing at digital publications will continue to grow.

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 01/19/2018 - 14:25

Union Organizer and Antiwar Activist Paul Booth Passes at 74 AFSCME

Paul Booth, a longtime union organizer and leading antiwar activist, died this week from chronic lymphocytic leukemia at the age of 74.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued the following statement: 

I offer my deepest condolences to Heather and the entire Booth family. Everyone who had the privilege of knowing and working with Paul is grieving today. Paul was a good friend and a lifelong activist for working people. From college campuses to Chicago union halls to AFSCME headquarters, he gave every minute and ounce of sweat he had to the cause of social justice. Now, more than ever, we must continue that important work. As he recently urged, 'Let us all be missionaries—missionaries for solidarity, for organizing, for growing our unions and for the fights for justice.’

AFSCME President Lee Saunders also spoke about Booth: "Paul was an organizer’s organizer, a man of great generosity and integrity, a friend and mentor to so many people in AFSCME, the labor movement and the progressive community." AFSCME's website paid further tribute to Booth:

But résumé items don’t capture everything he brought and meant to AFSCME. His leadership helped the union grow and thrive, becoming more diverse and dynamic. He was a gifted organizer. He combined passionate idealism with strategic smarts. He spent every day fighting for the right of public service workers to have dignity, security and a better life....

Paul was also a man of generosity, decency and integrity, who believed in paying it forward—in grooming the next generation of activists. He has been a mentor and teacher to so many in AFSCME and beyond.

Paul is survived by his wife, Heather Booth, a powerhouse of her own in the progressive movement. They met at an anti-war sit-in more than 50 years ago, and Paul proposed just a few days later. Paul and Heather have two sons, Gene and Dan, and five grandchildren. 

Paul Booth leaves behind a loving family, legions of friends and admirers, and a towering, inspiring legacy.

Here is video of Booth speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2016:

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 01/19/2018 - 11:25

In the Air: Renounce a Sexist Past AFA-CWA

Flight Attendants, about 80% women, are ongoing victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Not that long ago, the industry marketed the objectification of "stewardesses," a job only available to young, single, perfectly polished women who until 1993 were required to step on a weight scale. Our union was formed to give women a voice and to beat back discrimination and misogyny faced on the job.

We defined our careers at the bargaining table, in the courts and on Capitol Hill. We taught the country to leave the word "stewardess" in the history books. But the industry never disavowed the marketing schemes featuring short skirts, hot pants, and ads that had young women saying things like "I’m Cheryl, fly me."

Even today, we are called pet names, patted on the rear when a passenger wants our attention, cornered in the back galley and asked about our "hottest" layover, and subjected to incidents not fit for print. Like the rest of our society, flight attendants have never had reason to believe that reports of the sexual harassment we experience on the job would be taken seriously, rather than dismissed or retaliated against.

The most effective thing that could be done now is a series of public service announcements from airline chief executives. It would be powerful to hear these men clearly and forcefully denounce the past objectification of flight attendants, reinforce our safety role as aviation’s first responders and pledge zero tolerance of sexual harassment and sexual assault at the airlines. They need to back up their words with action: A survey of our members last year showed the majority of flight attendants have no knowledge of written guidance or training on this issue available through their airline. Increased staffing and clear policies are needed.

Credibility from the industry on this issue isn’t only about keeping only flight attendants safe. It is absurd to think that a group of people frequently harassed for decades can effectively become enforcers during emergencies without this level of clarity about the respect we deserve. Knowing that CEOs will back us up will also make it easier for flight attendants to intervene when passengers are sexually harassed or assaulted on planes. Flight attendants need to know the airlines will take this as seriously as any other safety duty we perform.

Sara Nelson is the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. This article originally appeared at the Washington Post.

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 01/19/2018 - 11:01

Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf Expands Overtime Rules to Benefit Working People

The officers of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder, issued the following joint statement on Gov. Tom Wolf’s overtime expansion announcement:

For the last four decades, too many working people have been denied fair compensation for their dedication and productivity. Governor Wolf’s actions are a crucial first step to correcting this imbalance and changing the rules of the economy to benefit Pennsylvania’s workers. Now more than ever, while the federal government is repealing workplace and wage protections for working people, the governor’s initiative on this matter is critically important.

Read the governor’s official announcement below:

Governor Wolf to Modernize Outdated Overtime Rules to Strengthen the Middle Class and Provide Fairness for Workers

Today, as part of his "Jobs That Pay" initiative, Governor Tom Wolf announced a proposal to strengthen the middle class by modernizing Pennsylvania’s outdated overtime rules to increase the pay of nearly half-a-million people to ensure they are compensated fairly for their hard work.

"Pennsylvania’s overtime rules haven’t changed in more than 40 years and workers are paying the price," Wolf said. "I am taking this action to ensure hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who work more than 40 hours a week for the same job receive the overtime pay they have earned.

"It’s simple, if you work overtime, then you should get paid fairly for it. This important step will put more money into the pockets of hardworking people and will help expand the middle class in Pennsylvania."

Governor Wolf made the announcement at The Fresh Grocer of Grays Ferry in Philadelphia, where he was joined by legislators, local elected officials, store management, staff, and local workers, who were quick to praise the governor’s announcement. 

"What the governor is proposing is common sense," said Denise Kennedy, an Upper Darby resident and secretary at Garrettford Elementary School. "Paying workers fairly on the lower end of the pay scale will put more money in our pockets so we can spend it at local businesses. All I can say is, what can I do to help get this done?"

The middle class is built on the idea of hard work and fair pay, but workers in Pennsylvania have not received a minimum wage increase in nearly a decade and overtime rules established in 1977 have not kept up with inflation. 

Many hardworking Pennsylvanians are not getting the overtime pay they deserve. Because the overtime rules have not been updated, employees are covered by an exemption to overtime that was intended for high-wage, white-collar employees more than 40 years ago. As a result, a salaried worker earning up to $24,000 a year, which is below the poverty line for a family of four, can work more than 40, 50, 60 or more hours a week and is not guaranteed overtime at time-and-a-half. 

"Four decades is far too long for Pennsylvania’s overtime regulations to remain stagnant," said Acting Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak. "Updating the overtime rules to keep pace with our 21st century economy is the right thing to do for the hardworking men and women of the commonwealth. It will also generate competitive salaries and reduce turnover, helping to create and keep ‘Jobs that Pay’ here in Pennsylvania."

At the direction of Governor Wolf, the Department of Labor & Industry is finalizing a plan to modernize rules and clarify requirements. The new rules will phase in over four years to increase the salary threshold that requires employers to pay overtime to most salaried workers.

The first step will raise the salary level to determine overtime eligibility for most workers from the federal minimum of $455 per week, $23,660 annually, to $610 per week, $31,720 annually, on Jan. 1, 2020. The threshold will increase to $39,832 on Jan. 1, 2021, followed by $47,892 in 2022, extending overtime eligibility to 370,000 workers and up to 460,000 in four years.

Starting in 2022, the salary threshold will update automatically every three years so workers are not left behind. Additionally, the duties for executive, administration and professional workers will be clarified to make it easier for employers to know if a worker qualifies for overtime. 

"This long-overdue moment for thousands of struggling, hard-working employees in the 8th senatorial district and across Pennsylvania is saying this really is a happy new year," said Sen. Anthony Williams.

When fully implemented, modernizing overtime rules will increase the wages of an estimated 460,000 workers in Pennsylvania. That will lead to a stronger middle class. When workers earn more, they spend it in their local communities, which helps grow the economy throughout the state.

"The governor’s proposal will give many working families in Pennsylvania an increase in their income and will make sure they are paid for the hard work they are doing," said Rep. Jordan Harris. "That additional revenue will help pay utility bills, buy groceries, take vacations, and just make life a little easier."

The Department of Labor & Industry anticipates releasing the proposed to update the regulations for public comments in March. 

This post originally appeared at Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 01/19/2018 - 10:47

Donald Trump: A Year of Making Workplaces More Dangerous Wikimedia Commons

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 Safety and Health Peg Seminario described Trump's actions:

The Trump administration has teamed up with Republican leaders in Congress and corporate allies to launch a war on regulatory protections, putting workers and the public in danger. Workers’ safety and health, wages and financial security are threatened. These regulatory protections don’t kill jobs. But there is no doubt that rolling back these protections will hurt workers.

Here are some of the ways Trump's record on health and safety has failed working people in the United States:

• Repealed an Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule requiring employers to keep accurate injury records (PL-115-21).
• Repealed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule to make sure federal contractors follow safety and labor laws (PL-115-11).
• Repealed Department of Labor rules providing for state and local governments to establish voluntary retirement savings programs for private-sector workers. (PL-115-25, PL 115-35).
• Executive Order 13771 required that for every new worker protection, two existing safeguards must be repealed.
• Executive Order 13777 required agencies to identify regulations that are burdensome to industry that should be repealed or modified.
• Withdrew an OSHA policy allowing workers to designate walkaround representatives to participate in OSHA inspections in nonunion workplaces.
• Withdrew more than a dozen rules from the OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration regulatory agenda, including standards on combustible dust, styrene, 1-bromopropane, noise in construction, update of permissible exposure limits, and MSHA penalties and refuge alternatives in coal mines, which abandons protecting workers from major hazards.
• Withdrew Wage and Hour Division guidance and interpretations on independent contractor and joint employer status, issued to ensure workers receive the benefits of labor protections and to prevent misclassification of workers.
• Proposed a 2018 budget that would slash the Department of Labor's budget by 21%, eliminate worker safety and health training programs and the Chemical Safety Board, cut NIOSH’s job safety research by $100 million and cut NLRB funding by $17 million.
• A U.S. District Court overturned DOL's 2016 rule to update and expand overtime protections for 4.2 million workers on Aug. 31, 2017. It is unclear whether DOL will appeal the ruling. Secretary Acosta has announced that he thinks the salary threshold in the rule is too high, and DOL is moving forward with rulemaking to consider lowering the salary threshold and other measures to weaken the Obama overtime pay protections.
• In response to Executive Order 13772 directing review of financial regulations, the DOL delayed the compliance date for DOL's conflict of interest fiduciary rule for 60 days until June 9, 2017, and has proposed to delay certain provisions until July 1, 2019. DOL is currently reviewing the rule and has solicited comments on whether it should be revised.
• A U.S. District Court issued an injunction against DOL's persuader rules. DOL proposed to repeal the rules and final repeal action is expected shortly. These rules were created to increase transparency in the union-busting industry.
• Delayed OSHA’s new beryllium standard from March 10, 2017, until May 20, 2017. Industry groups have asked OSHA to stay the rule (general industry, construction and maritime) and reopen the record for consideration of the standard. He also proposed weakening the beryllium rule in construction and maritime by revoking the ancillary provisions on medical surveillance, exposure monitoring, housekeeping and other measures.
• Delayed enforcement of the OSHA silica standard in construction for 90 days until Sept. 23, 2017, allowing continued high dust exposures that will result in the deaths of more than 160 workers. He later announced a further 30-day delay for full enforcement of the standard.
• Delayed MSHA’s mine examination rule for metal and nonmetal mines from May 23, 2017, until Oct. 2, 2017, and further delayed 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 abated.
• Delayed the compliance date for reporting summary injury data to OSHA under the injury tracking rule from July 1, 2017, until Dec. 1, 2017. OSHA also announced it intends to issue a separate proposal revising or revoking other provisions of the rule.
• Delayed the effective date of EPA’s Risk Management Program rule to prevent chemical accidents from June 19, 2017, until Feb. 19, 2019, putting workers, the public and first responders in danger.
• Removed from active development on the regulatory agenda critical OSHA standards on workplace violence, infectious diseases, process safety management and emergency preparedness, and MSHA standards on silica and proximity detection systems for mobile mining equipment.
• Nominated Andrew Puzder, a fast food restaurant chain CEO, as secretary of labor. Puzder's nomination was withdrawn after allegations of labor violations and concerns about personal conduct.
• Nominated David Zatezalo, a former coal mine CEO, as MSHA assistant secretary. Zatezalo's mining company had a history of serious mining violations.
• Nominated Marvin Kaplan, a former 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 board.

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 01/18/2018 - 13:49

Outgoing NLRB Chair Miscimarra Leads Attack on Working People's Rights

On Dec. 16, 2017, National Labor Relations Board Chair Philip Miscimarra’s term came to an end. In the final days before the end of his term, a series of 3-2 decisions were handed down that were unprecedented in several respects, not the least among them was the extent that the decisions will harm working people.

What the board did during this time wasn’t normal. The decisions were all of great importance, they all reversed recent precedent, and they were issued without public notice or the ability for affected parties to weigh in with arguments or evidence. In several of the cases, the NLRB went far outside the facts of the case and  applied the law to other situations, including to both pending cases and other cases that may come before the board. In one case, the board addressed a question that neither party to the case raised. And, not least of all, two members of the NLRB, William Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan, only served on the board for a few months each before casting deciding votes in significant decisions without the benefit of briefing by all interested members of the labor-management community.

Here is a closer look at several of those key cases:

Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors (365 NLRB No. 156): Despite no one involved in the case asking for it, the board reversed the 2015 decision in the Browning-Ferris Industries case (362 NLRB No. 186). The decision provided that only direct control of employees determines who is the employer of those workers, rejecting indirect, reserved, or limited and routine control as potentially determining factors. In other words, an employer only counts as your employer if they have direct control over your terms of employment. Other legal entities involved in the work process are not responsible, even if they have a say in your employment situation—for example, controlling the speed of the line on which you work as in Browning-Ferris.

PCC Structurals Inc. (365 NLRB No. 160): This case rewrote the rules governing which employees are part of a unit and eligible to vote on whether to be represented by a union. Under the new standard, employers have more opportunity to add more employees to the requested unit in order to dilute the pro-union vote and also to delay a vote through litigation over the unit.

Raytheon Network Centric Systems (365 NLRB No. 161): When an existing collective bargaining agreement expires, the previous rule was that employers cannot make unilateral changes in terms and conditions of employment even if such changes had been allowed under the expired, unless the changes did not involve the exercise of discretion. Under the new ruling, the standard has changed, making it legal for a company to make changes as long as they are consistent with past activity. This means an employer could raise health care premiums for workers previously covered by a collective bargaining agreement after that agreement expires, for both bargaining unit employees and unrepresented employees, as long as the action was consistent with past practices under the expired management rights clause.

The Boeing Company (365 NLRB No. 154): The work rules, policies and handbook provisions that employers make have to be consistent with law and not suggest to employees that they might be discipline for exercising their right.  At least until this decision. In this case, the board changed the test used to determine whether work rules are legal, making it easier for employers to chill and even restrict activity that is protected under the National Labor Relations Act, as long as the impact on the protected rights is outweighed by the justifications for the rule that restricts the activity.

UPMC (365 NLRB No. 153): This one overruled a 2016 decision that determined that an administrative law judge may accept a settlement offer over the objections of the general counsel and charging party only if it constituted a full remedy for all violations alleged in a complaint. The new ruling says that a less-then-complete settlement can be accepted by the administrative law judge if it meets a reasonableness standard under a multifactor test. In other words, the judge can reject the position of both the expert general counsel and the aggrieved party and accept a weaker settlement offer.

Despite Miscimarra’s departure, these types of actions by the NLRB aren’t coming to an end any time soon. There is currently one vacancy on the NLRB, but President Donald Trump has just announced that he will nominate another management-side lawyer to take the seat—John Ring. But unions and working people are contesting several of these last-minute decisions, both in the courts and before the board.

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 01/18/2018 - 11:54

Tags: NLRB

When CEOs Say 'Do No Harm' in NAFTA, They Mean 'Don’t Harm Me' AFL-CIO

We keep hearing CEOs of global companies and giant agribusiness conglomerates say “do no harm” in the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations, but from the perspective of working families who haven’t had a raise in the past 20 years, this advice doesn’t make any sense.

NAFTA continues to hurt families across the United States, Canada and Mexico, pushing down our wages, making it harder to join together in union, and making us constantly vulnerable to losing our jobs due to outsourcing. NAFTA threatens our health and undermines democracy. It forces our governments to pay off private companies like Exxon Mobil that object to laws and rules created in a democratic fashion. So how could any rational person say that fixing NAFTA would be "harmful"?

It’s true that the negotiations could make NAFTA more like the Trans-Pacific Partnership—and that would be extremely harmful. But big businesses liked TPP, so that’s not what they mean.

To understand what they mean, let’s use an analogy, comparing North America's economy to the human body. Like the human body, the North American economy is susceptible to various illnesses, and NAFTA is one such illness. In fact, we can compare NAFTA to a tumor. Like a tumor, it has led to rapid growth in profits and incomes for some, but at the expense of the economic health of the rest of us. In fact, bad U.S. trade policies cost most of America’s workers $2,000 a year in lost income.

To heal the North American economy, we need new rules for trade. New rules that level the playing field and prioritize ordinary families over corporate profits. But changing the rules means getting rid of the privileges that global corporations now enjoy. And just like tumors cling to life, these companies are fighting to keep their entitlements.

Those who have profited off NAFTA say "do no harm" because they can only see what benefits them. They don’t see that the unfair rules are actually bad for America as a whole. NAFTA’s unfair rules make it harder for most families to reach the American Dream because they divert the benefits of trade to those who already are economically powerful. That’s why we always feel like we are running in place and not getting ahead.

Changing the rules of trade means those who have benefited at the expense of others must get used to a level playing field. It means the president will have to say no to global corporations, despite their whining. The president promised to protect working families from bad trade, but it remains to be seen whether he will renegotiate NAFTA to protect working families or, as he did with the tax bill, protect the interests of his rich and powerful friends.

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 01/18/2018 - 11:10

Let’s Rebuild the Middle Class by Rebuilding Our Infrastructure The Biden Forum

The middle class has been on a steady slide for decades. Signs of this slide are all around us: anemic wage growth, historic income inequality, chronic unemployment and underemployment and, not coincidentally, the steady erosion of workers’ freedom to join unions and bargain for fair wages and benefits. At the same time, American households are facing rising costs that far outpace their stagnant wages. The result is that tens of millions of Americans are stuck in middling jobs that cannot support a family, while a select few enjoy the benefits of rampant inequality.

As we live through this era of severely concentrated wealth at the top, coupled with a flood of low-wage jobs, our elected representatives have failed to come together to enact solutions to this imbalanced economy. In particular, they have not been able to advance one strategy that provides quality middle-class jobs while easing the burden on families: rebuilding American infrastructure.

Our infrastructure failings are epic. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave our infrastructure a D+ grade. A $1 trillion shortfall in drinking water system upgrades would be completed by around 2220 at the current spending rate. Amtrak, our nation’s landmark passenger railway system, is forced to beg for adequate resources while using Civil War–era tunnels. One-in-five miles of highway is in poor condition with a repair backlog well over $400 billion. People are starving for more and better public transit but instead we are watching our transit systems decay. We even trail 20 countries in internet download speed. These are all symbols of unfulfilled promises.

Inadequate and under-maintained infrastructure costs American households dearly. Americans spend 5.5 billion hours in traffic each year, costing families more than $120 billion in extra fuel and lost time. Seemingly insignificant problems such as potholes or deteriorating road surfaces chip away at families’ earnings by requiring more frequent vehicle maintenance. ASCE’s report found that without additional investment in infrastructure, the household budgets of working families would take a hit of $1,060 a year. Well-performing infrastructure lowers prices on household goods, prevents energy and shipment costs from soaring, and shortens commuting times for working families.

Infrastructure is also about jobs. Rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, especially if we commit to strict Buy America requirements, will produce millions of high-quality jobs along the entire supply chain — while also connecting more workers in disadvantaged communities to opportunity.

The link between infrastructure and quality jobs is simple: union members are mostly the ones who do the work needed to operate, build, and maintain our nation’s roads, rail, transit, aviation and maritime networks, drinking water systems, and schools. And union jobs are a direct pathway to the middle class.

The Economic Policy Institute’s data on the union difference tell a persuasive story. Unionized employees earn 13% more across all industries and a whopping 87% more in the expanding service sector. Non-union workers benefit as well when more people are unionized. For example, if today’s unionization rate were at 1979 levels, non-union worker pay would rise 5%, or over $2,700 a year. More than 9 in 10 workers in unions have health care, compared to only 67% among non-union workers. Across the board, on sick pay, vacation and other work-life balance issues, unionized workers drastically outperform non-union workers.

Funding a serious infrastructure package will drive growth and innovation, reboot American competitiveness and create the types of jobs that elude too many Americans. Of course, there is a catch. The cost of eliminating the backlog and actually modernizing our infrastructure is north of $4 trillion over the next 10 years.

Some say that rebuilding our infrastructure is too expensive, or that we simply need to pass the job to the private sector. But this is not about America being broke; we have the resources. The president and Congress just found trillions in offsets and new debt to fund a massive tax cut that fails to allocate a dime for infrastructure investment. And we must not only consider the costs of action, but the costs of inaction as well: remember, we still send our kids to far too many schools built before the Korean War, and have over 9 million people who still connect to the internet via dial-up service.

Part of the solution lies in repairing the federal gas tax, which funds Highway Trust Fund investments in transit, highways and bridges. This funding source has not been indexed to inflation, let alone increased, for more than two decades. In the 25 years under a frozen fuel tax, many things have conspired against us: the purchasing power of the tax has cratered, improved fuel efficiency of cars and trucks has reduced gas usage and tax receipts, and the cost of building and repairing our surface transportation infrastructure has gone up.

We must move beyond speeches about the need to rebuild the middle class and start advancing on-the-shelf solutions that have worked for decades: rebuilding the country and empowering all workers to bargain for fair wages. Only then we will be witness to an era of American renewal and economic expansion defined by an inclusive economy where wages rise for everyone, families and communities thrive, and opportunity knocks at everyone’s doorstep.

This post originally appeared at the Biden Forum.

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 01/18/2018 - 10:34

Working People Are Watching, Mr. President

To Washington, D.C. insiders, this month’s budget negotiations are just the latest partisan exercise in a series of manufactured crises that too often result in short-term solutions. But for those who live and work outside of the Beltway bubble, much more is at stake.

What happens in the coming days has the potential to fundamentally shift the balance of power in the workplace. Nothing less than the right to dream, live, work and retire in security is on the table as Congress faces key decisions and deadlines.

It is hard to be optimistic given the House and Senate’s last major action: a budget-busting, worker-bashing tax cut designed to further enrich big corporations, concentrate wealth in the hands of the few and ship jobs overseas.

The bill President Trump signed into law is a moral and economic abomination, which is why poll after poll show the vast majority of Americans oppose it. If there was ever a time to change course and start governing on behalf of working people, this is it.

Read the full post in The Hill.

Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 01/17/2018 - 15:18

NJ AFL-CIO Praises Gov. Murphy on Equal Pay Order

Marking one of his first actions in office, Governor Phil Murphy (D) signed an executive order, promoting equal pay for equal work for women. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO released the following statement following the announcement:

"Governor Murphy’s executive order to promote equal pay for equal work makes it clear that his administration will fight for all working families and do everything in its power to ensure justice and equality in the workplace," stated New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech. "On behalf of the state labor movement, we praise this long overdue action and look forward to a new era of progress for our state’s working families."

New Jersey State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Laurel Brennan stated, "Our state is positioned to advance the fight for women’s equality and economic justice, and the steps taken today show that organized labor, along with our state leadership, are ready to lead the way."

Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 01/17/2018 - 10:51