The consequences of corporate greed are disastrous. Just ask the 600 former Mondelēz/Nabisco working people and members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) union in Chicago, who were laid off one year ago today as the company shifted production to Mexico.

Stand with Mondelez/Nabisco Working People Whose Jobs Were Outsourced by Watching and Sharing This Video

The consequences of corporate greed are disastrous. Just ask the 600 former Mondelēz/Nabisco working people and members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) union in Chicago, who were laid off one year ago today as the company shifted production to Mexico.

More than 5,000 Nabisco workers in North America have been given pink slips in the past two decades while Mondelēz executives have made out like bandits. Mondelēz's CEO has made more than $200 million in the past 10 years. Billions have gone back to the largest investors in dividends and stock buybacks.

To mark this solemn anniversary, today’s Digital Day of Action will center on sharing this one-minute promo for the upcoming short-form documentary “Made in America,” a Front Page production, which will air on PBS this spring.

Join the fight to save American jobs and stop outsourcing! Watch and share the video below:

Learn more at FightForAmericanJobs.org.

admin Thu, 03/23/2017 - 05:00

Today, more than 100 institutional investors with a combined $3 trillion in assets under management sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in support of a CEO-to-worker pay ratio disclosure. The signatories of the investor statement on pay ratio disclosure include a variety of pension plans, asset managers, foundations, faith-based funds and state treasurers.

Investors with $3 Trillion in Assets Call for CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio Disclosure

Today, more than 100 institutional investors with a combined $3 trillion in assets under management sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in support of a CEO-to-worker pay ratio disclosure. The signatories of the investor statement on pay ratio disclosure include a variety of pension plans, asset managers, foundations, faith-based funds and state treasurers.

SEC Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar has solicited additional public comment on the SEC’s pay ratio disclosure rule. This rule is scheduled to go into effect next year and will provide material information to investors on how CEO pay levels compare to company employees. Today’s letter to the SEC on pay ratio disclosure shows that investors strongly desire this information.

“It is a shame that the SEC is reconsidering its implementation of the ‘pay ratio’ disclosure requirement,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Seven years is way too long to wait for a commonsense rule that gives investors material information and increases transparency. As shareholders, we deserve to know whether CEO pay is out of balance in comparison to what a company pays its employees.”

The SEC’s pay ratio disclosure rule is required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to provide investors with more context when voting on CEO pay. According to the AFL-CIO’s Executive PayWatch, CEO pay at S&P 500 Index companies remains a stubbornly high 335 times the average nonsupervisory worker’s pay in the United States.

admin Wed, 03/22/2017 - 05:00

Tags: Dodd-Frank Act

One of the lessons of history is that it must be retaught so our children won’t repeat it. When I left Union Plus last year, I decided to enter into an “encore” career and published a graphic novel to teach kids about labor history. But most importantly, how to become an activist when you’re a teenager. That was just the beginning—AFT got involved and decided that we needed to go big on this. Through #ShareMyLesson, we wrote a lesson plan that guides kids through worker history but also gets them engaged in issues during this very important political time.

Getting Kids to Be Activists Through a Graphic Novel

One of the lessons of history is that it must be retaught so our children won’t repeat it. When I left Union Plus last year, I decided to enter into an “encore” career and published a graphic novel to teach kids about labor history. But most importantly, how to become an activist when you’re a teenager. That was just the beginning—AFT got involved and decided that we needed to go big on this. Through #ShareMyLesson, we wrote a lesson plan that guides kids through worker history but also gets them engaged in issues during this very important political time.

The graphic novel is for 8- to 16-year-olds; this “Generation Z” is now larger than millennials or baby boomers. When the Rules Aren’t Right: 7 Time Travel Tales of Activism is the story of Emma, a typical teenager tired of her family and her chores. She goes back in time with her nana in a time machine made out of kitchen appliances and participates in parts of activist history. From the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire to international child labor activism to farm worker safety, the book focuses on the long arc of social justice.

AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT Executive Vice President Mary Cathryn Ricker took time on March 17 to endorse this book at an AFT luncheon honoring female activists for Women’s History Month, including Neidi Dominguez with the AFL-CIO.

Weingarten noted that the AFT’s free Share My Lesson website offers a lesson plan using the novel: https://sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/when-rules-arent-right-7-time-travel-tales-activism-leslie-tolf-279986.

So I’m re-engaging, re-activating and re-igniting. My goal? To get 1,000 educators to read the book and 100,000 kids to use it. Although only 1 in 10 kids are growing up in a union household, they’re coming of age in a politically active time. To find out more about the book, visit WhenTheRulesArentRight.com or contact Leslie Tolf at leslieatolf@gmail.com. Can you help?

Leslie Tolf is president emeritus of Union Plus and a graphic novel activist. admin Mon, 03/20/2017 - 11:00

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka made the following statement regarding President Donald Trump’s proposed budget:

 “Working people in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin didn’t vote for a budget that slashes workforce training and fails to invest in our nation’s infrastructure. President Trump’s proposed budget attempts to balance the budget on the backs of working families. The $54 billion cut to programs that benefit working families is dangerous and destructive. Huge cuts to the departments of Labor, Education and Transportation will make workplaces less safe, put more children at risk and make improving our failing infrastructure much more difficult. The administration can and should do better.”

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

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka made the following statement regarding President Donald Trump’s proposed budget:

“Working people in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin didn’t vote for a budget that slashes workforce training and fails to invest in our nation’s infrastructure. President Trump’s proposed budget attempts to balance the budget on the backs of working families. The $54 billion cut to programs that benefit working families is dangerous and destructive. Huge cuts to the departments of Labor, Education and Transportation will make workplaces less safe, put more children at risk and make improving our failing infrastructure much more difficult. The administration can and should do better.”

The budget abandons the future—slashing investments in workers, communities, young people, protecting our environment and building democracy. There are major cuts in job training, education, health programs, the environment, the arts and foreign aid. Research programs in science and medicine are slashed. Sixty-two government programs/agencies are slated for elimination.

Here are some key highlights:

Department of Labor: Overall cut $2.5 billion (-20.7%)
The budget makes it harder for workers to get the training they need in order to advance in their industry and to compete globally.

• Major cuts:
  • Job training/employment/re-employment
  • Senior Community Service Employment Program eliminated
  • Job Corps
  • Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) grants eliminated
  • Safety and health training grants eliminated

Department of Health and Human Services: Overall cut $12.6 billion (-16.2%)

People suffering from terminal diseases will be affected by lack of new medicines, and low-income workers will not receive assistance to heat their homes during the cold months of winter.

• Cuts National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding by 18.3% (-$5.8 billion)
• Eliminates the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides assistance to help low-income people heat and cool their homes
• Eliminates $403 million in health professions and nursing training programs
• Restructures the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and directs money to states through block grants
• Increases funding for opioid prevention and treatment services by $500 million

Department of Education: Overall cut $9.2 billion (-13.5%)

This budget would destroy public schools and eliminate much-needed training for teachers. It also makes it harder for young people to go to college.

• Increases funding for school choice by $1.4 billion
  • Redirects $418 million to private/charter schools
  • Eliminates $2.4 billion for Supporting Effective Instruction state grants
  • Reduces or eliminates funding for teacher-preparation programs (State Teacher Quality/Supporting Effective Instruction grants)
  • Eliminates federal funding for before- and after-school and summer-school programs
  • Eliminates the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program, which provides grants for students with the greatest need

Department of State: Overall cut $10.9 billion (-28.7%)

The budget would harm workers around the world who are standing up to multinational corporations and repressive governments that restrict workers’ rights and lower wages.

• Cuts funding for U.N. programs
• Reorganizes and consolidates U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs

Department of Treasury: Overall cut of $0.5 billion (-4.4%)

These cuts allow the super-wealthy and corporations to get away with not paying taxes and allow big banks to crush small community banks.

• Cuts IRS by $239 million
• Eliminates funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund

Department of Transportation: Overall cut $2.4 billion (-12.7%)

This will mean less investment in railroads and airlines at a time when our nation has an infrastructure deficit of over $4 trillion.

• Privatizes air traffic control
• Restructures and cuts federal subsidies for Amtrak
• Cuts funding for the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant Program

Commerce:
This will mean more resources to enforce our nation’s trade laws. Our current trade policy has put corporations ahead of workers—resulting in jobs shipped overseas and lower wages.

• Strengthens International Trade Administration’s trade enforcement/compliance assistance
• Eliminates the Economic Development Administration, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Environmental Protection Agency: Overall cut $2.6 billion (-31.4%)

These cuts will make our drinking water less safe and our air more toxic.

• Claims to maintain funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure
• Discontinues funding for Clean Power Plan
• Reduces funding for Superfund cleanup
• Eliminates 50 EPA programs
• Cuts enforcement programs

Veterans Affairs: Overall increase $4.4 billion (+6.0%)

These funds provide much-needed resources for our nation’s veterans.

• $4.6 billion increase for VA health care to improve access and timeliness of medical service
• $3.5 billion in mandatory budget authority to extend and fund the Veterans Choice Program, which provides the option to see a private provider. The program was set to expire in August 2017.

Selected programs proposed for elimination

The budget targets for elimination arts and music programs and legal aid for the poor. Planning a future for the communities of Appalachia and protection from hazardous chemicals are also on the chopping block.

• Appalachian Regional Commission
• Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program
• Chemical Safety Board
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting
• Legal Services Corporation
• National Endowment for the Arts
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)

admin Thu, 03/16/2017 - 10:24

Tags: Donald Trump

The Congressional Republican health plan is an attack on everyone’s health benefits. No health care coverage—workplace plans, Medicare, Medicaid or the individual insurance coverage now available as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—is untouched. For more than a century, working people in their unions have fought to make health care a right for every American. The Republican plan contradicts this very idea by making care less affordable and less accessible. It’s bad for our health care, it’s bad for working families and we fully oppose it.

9 Ways the Republican Health Care Bill Makes Health Coverage in America Unaffordable and Out of Reach Unknown

The congressional Republican health plan is an attack on everyone’s health benefits. No health care coverage—workplace plans, Medicare, Medicaid or the individual insurance coverage now available as a result of the Affordable Care Act—is untouched. For more than a century, working people in their unions have fought to make health care a right for every American. The Republican plan contradicts this very idea by making care less affordable and less accessible. It’s bad for our health care, it’s bad for working families, and we fully oppose it.

Here are nine ways the Republican health care bill is bad for America’s working families and their health.

1. The Republican health plan will take health coverage away from 24 million people.

Congress’ budget experts say the Republican plan will take health benefits away from 24 million people once it goes into full effect. This haphazard “repeal and replace” effort will result in painful taxes on working families, cuts to Medicaid, tax giveaways for the super-rich and a weakening of Medicare. Of all the bad ideas in this flawed plan, forcing workers to pay a so-called “Cadillac tax” on employer-provided health care has to be among the worst. That’s a terrible plan for health care in America.

2. The Republican plan isn’t really a health care plan at all. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from working people to Wall Street.

The Republican plan gives the 400 highest-income households an average tax cut of about $7 million each. The average millionaire household will get more than $50,000 every year. Insurance corporations will score $145 billion over 10 years from the Republican plan, while pharmaceutical manufacturers will get $25 billion. Republicans pay for these tax breaks by cutting health benefits for everyday Americans who struggle the most to make ends meet and taxing people’s workplace health plans.

3. The Republican plan keeps a tax on middle-class people's health benefits while giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy few.

While the Republican plan provides tax cuts for the super-wealthy, insurance corporations, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers, it puts the costs of the legislation squarely on the backs of middle-class people by keeping the so-called “Cadillac tax.” This is a 40% excise tax on the cost of employment-based health insurance that exceeds certain amounts. Congress’ budget experts predict that many employers facing the health benefits tax will simply drop coverage and that millions of people will have to seek other forms of coverage while some go uninsured. Research has found that the health benefits tax will fall predominantly on middle-class families while sparing the wealthy few. As health insurance premiums continue to rise, the health benefits tax will force employers offering coverage to choose between paying the tax and increasing out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles, for their employees.

4. The Republican plan will result in people paying thousands of dollars in new out-of-pocket costs to get the medical care they need.

The Republican plan will make working people pay higher out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles and copays, for at least three reasons:

• The Republican plan completely eliminates the ACA’s help with out-of-pocket costs for people who buy individual health coverage, meaning some will see the share of costs they pay go up by nearly five times.
• The Republican plan eliminates protections requiring health plans to cover a minimum share of medical costs, meaning insurance companies and employers offering coverage can and will shift more of those costs to individuals through higher out-of-pocket requirements.
• Congress’ budget experts predict that the vast majority of employers will respond to Congress keeping the so-called “Cadillac tax” by shifting costs to working people through higher deductibles, copays, coinsurance and maximum out-of-pocket limits to avoid paying the tax. That’s despite the fact that workers’ deductibles for single coverage increased nearly six times faster than people’s earnings between 2011 and 2016.

All of this will mean worse health outcomes for working families. Research shows that people forgo essential medical care, such as treatment for chronic conditions, not just nonessential services, when cost-sharing requirements increase. When people forgo needed treatment, their use of emergency department and hospital services increases.

5. The Republican health plan will make health coverage unaffordable for millions of Americans.

The Affordable Care Act helps eligible people pay for individual health insurance by giving them flexible tax credits that limit what they have to pay for premiums out of their own pocket based on their income. This approach takes into account where families live and the rising cost of coverage. The Republican plan eliminates the ACA’s protections against high premiums. It substitutes flat tax credits that range from $2,000 to $4,000 per person, depending on age. The Republican tax credits provide no protection for people who live in high-cost areas and will not keep up with rising premiums in the future. As a result of the deep cuts made by the Republican plan, people who get help today will have to pay $1,700 more per year for premiums out of their own pocket, on average, and that extra out-of-pocket premium will go up over time, hitting $2,900 extra in 10 years. Further, some states would be hit especially hard. In the 11 states with the highest premium costs, people would see a 50% or greater cut in the tax credits they get in 2020, requiring them to pay $3,000 more each year out of their own pockets, on average. Alaskans would be hit with a whopping $10,000 increase in their out-of-pocket premiums, on average.

6. The Republican health plan hits older people hard with big cuts in help to pay premiums, while letting insurance companies charge them much more.

AARP estimates the Republican plan would spike premiums for a 64-year-old making $25,000 per year by $7,000 in 2020 and for one making $45,000 by over $4,300. Congress’ budget experts show it actually gets much worse than that over time. They estimate that a 64-year-old earning $26,500 in 2026 (175% of the federal poverty level) would be hit with a $12,900 increase in her out-of-pocket premiums compared with the ACA—and that would be for much worse coverage, with much higher deductibles, copays and coinsurance. The ACA helps eligible people pay for individual health insurance by giving them flexible tax credits that limit what they have to pay for premiums out of their own pocket, something that’s especially valuable the older you get. The ACA also limits how much more insurance companies can charge older individuals compared with younger people, capping it at a 3:1 price ratio. The Republican health plan would undo these protections for older people by limiting tax credits to $4,000 a year for people 60 and older (maximum for people with incomes under $75,000 and phased out for those with higher incomes) and letting insurance companies charge their oldest purchasers five times what they charge young adults.

7. The Republican plan requires people to pay insurance companies 30% extra if they don’t have “continuous” health coverage.

The Republican plan replaces the ACA’s so-called “individual mandate” with a 30% penalty paid directly to insurance companies. Anyone who has more than a 63-day gap in health insurance coverage will owe the penalty to an insurance company. Not even losing a job or being unable to afford insurance will be considered excuses. The 30% penalty is effectively a tax assessed against the monthly premiums paid to an insurance company for the first 12 months when a person becomes insured again.

8. The Republican plan cuts federal funding for Medicaid.

The Republican health care bill jeopardizes health benefits and access to needed care for over 70 million Americans covered by Medicaid. Congress’ budget experts say the Republican bill will slash federal funding for Medicaid by an estimated $880 billion and take Medicaid away from 14 million people over 10 years. The Republican plan quickly phases out the ACA’s Medicaid expansion for 11 million adults and imposes a hard per capita cap on federal funding, which will not keep up with the actual cost of care.

Medicaid plays an important role in providing Americans access to needed care. Medicaid is our nation’s health benefits program for those struggling the most to make ends meet, such as children and adults with disabilities, children in low-income families, seniors who cannot afford nursing homes or the assistance needed to remain in their homes and communities, and the working poor. Medicaid plays a huge role in ensuring people get the care they need:

• Medicaid, together with the Children’s Health Insurance Program, covers 1 in 3 children (33 million).
• Medicaid covers 2 in 5 children with disabilities or other special health care needs.
• Almost half of all childbirths in the U.S. are paid for by Medicaid.
• More than 3 in 5 nursing home residents have their stays paid for by Medicaid.

The Republican Medicaid cuts will wreck state budgets. Medicaid accounts for one-fourth of total state budgets, with the federal government covering almost 60% of that spending, on average. There is no doubt that state budgets would be dramatically strained if congressional Republicans succeed in cutting Medicaid.

The Republican Medicaid cuts will cost working people their jobs. When states respond to the funding loss by cutting Medicaid eligibility, benefits and provider reimbursements, nurses, nursing home workers and home health aides will lose their jobs. When states respond by cutting back on other public services, people who provide those services will lose their jobs.

9. The Republican plan weakens Medicare to allow the wealthy and prescription drug manufacturers to dodge their tax responsibilities.

The Republican plan robs Medicare of $140 billion to give huge tax cuts to the wealthy and to prescription drug corporations. The Republican plan takes three years off of the life of Medicare’s hospital fund to give the wealthy a $117 billion tax cut.

Call your Senator TODAY to oppose this health care bill: 1-888-865-8089. admin Wed, 03/15/2017 - 05:04

Tags: Paul Ryan

Meet Kara Sheehan, a field organizer at the Texas AFL-CIO and member of Office and Professional Employees Local 298. Before joining the AFL-CIO, Sheehan worked with the Workers Defense Project and other local progressive groups in Austin, and worked at the Austin City Council.

Controversial Iowa Rep. Steve King is once again in hot water for espousing racist, white nationalist views, tweeting that "we can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies." He doubled down on his bigoted words over the weekend, telling CNN that "I meant exactly what I said."

Women's History Month Working Women Profiles: Kara Sheehan *

Meet Kara Sheehan, a field organizer at the Texas AFL-CIO and member of Office and Professional Employees Local 298. Before joining the AFL-CIO, Sheehan worked with the Workers Defense Project and other local progressive groups in Austin, and worked at the Austin City Council.

She was born into the labor movement, where both her parents and grandparents raised her with the values of solidarity and intersectional movements.

"Kara is eager and enthusiastic about changing the face of labor to be more inclusive and representative of the demographic in Texas," said Lee Forbes, her colleague at the Texas AFL-CIO. "Her unwavering passion and dedication to elevate young workers, and especially women, is not only admirable, but quite awe-inspiring."

In January, under Kara’s leadership, Texas Young Active Labor Leaders (YALL) held its first statewide conference. Nearly 100 people attended the gathering; they took to the streets on Jan. 20 to stand for their values.

Julia Kranzthor says of Sheehan, "Through her work with the AFL-CIO, Kara is a champion of worker's rights, women's rights and immigrants’ rights. What she can't fit into her workweek, she volunteers. She is a joy to be around and an inspiration, always getting people to be better, do better and work harder. She truly is a special young organizer."

With young people making up a bigger share of the workforce and the voting population, Sheehan thinks unions need to engage more young people—and she has been doing just that in Texas. There now are young worker groups in Austin, Dallas and Houston, with growing numbers of people who are getting active.

Her advice to young union members, activists and staff? "Every day will present its own challenges, but don’t give up. There are people who want to support us and make sure that we succeed. Find those people! And remember, this is a movement and it involves a lot of people and input. While it can be frustrating and challenging, it’s on us to stick with it. The more we fight, the more change we will see."

admin Tue, 03/14/2017 - 09:33

California Labor Federation: Rep. Steve King and the Racist Origins of 'Right to Work' *

This post originally appeared at Labor's Edge and is a guest post from the California Labor Fed.

Controversial Iowa Rep. Steve King is once again in hot water for espousing racist, white nationalist views, tweeting that "we can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies." He doubled down on his bigoted words over the weekend, telling CNN that "I meant exactly what I said."

King’s latest racist remarks drew praise from Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who tweeted "GOD BLESS STEVE KING," and sharp rebukes from just about everyone else, including fellow Republicans in Congress and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, just to name a few.

While this story is making headlines, there’s been scant attention paid to how King’s policy agenda reflects his white nationalist views. King is the author of the federal bill that would impose a right to work scheme nationally, which would be devastating to our country’s economy and would hit workers, especially people of color, square in the pocketbook.

Backed by an array of wealthy corporations and secret deep-pocketed donors, these laws have proliferated in Republican-controlled states across the country, leading to lower wages and fewer benefits for not just union workers, but all workers in those states. People of color—particularly women of color—are hit hardest by these laws, which fuel income inequality and put their American Dream further out of reach. According to the Economic Policy Institute, wages in right to work states are 3.2% lower than in non-right to work states. Health insurance and retirement security are scarcer.

So why would any policy maker push legislation that lowers wages? One obvious reason is that big corporations love these laws, because they undercut the ability of working people to stand together in a union to demand fair wages and decent benefits for a hard day’s work. But if you look at the history of these laws, there’s an even more sinister reason behind them: racism.

Many attacks on labor unions have roots in white supremacism.

University of Arkansas Associate Prof. Michael Pierce explained:

Right to work laws originated as means to maintain Jim Crow labor relations and to beat back what was seen as a Jewish cabal to foment a revolution. No one was more important in placing right to work on the conservatives’ political agenda than Vance Muse of the Christian American Association, a larger-than-life Texan whose own grandson described him as 'a white supremacist, an anti-Semite and a Communist-baiter, a man who beat on labor unions not on behalf of working people, as he said, but because he was paid to do so.'

Which brings us back to King. It’s no coincidence that the most racist member of Congress is also the staunchest supporter of a national right to work scheme. In the view of King and many other extremists, labor unions must be destroyed, because immigrants and people of color have a better shot at the American Dream when they are able to organize and join unions. Lower wages for everyone, including blue-collar whites, is just collateral damage in King’s view. Supporters of these laws will never admit to the racist origins of right to work. And they certainly won’t cop to the widening inequality gap these laws create. But make no mistake; racism is central to the hidden agenda.

Supporting national right to work is tantamount to supporting King’s racist world view. That’s a message every member of Congress needs to hear.

admin Tue, 03/14/2017 - 08:57

Tags: Steve King

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has made it very easy to find union-made tires by requiring that each tire carry a code that shows the company and the location of the plant that manufactured the tire. DOT requires that each tire sold in the United States carry a code that looks something like this: DOT BE XX XXX XXX. The two letters or numbers that follow the DOT identify a particular factory.

On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the economy gained 235,000 payroll slots in February and upped its estimates for December and January by another 9,000 jobs. Over the three-month period, that means an average job growth of 209,000 jobs a month. Including the ups and downs, over the past 30 years, the U.S. economy has averaged job growth of about 126,000 jobs a month. So this current rate of growth would suggest a strong labor market. Further, workers who transitioned from being out of the labor force into active job search were 2.3 times more likely to land a job than to be stuck unemployed.and looking. And unemployed workers were 1.3 times more likely to find a job than if they were to quit and drop out of the labor force discouraged. Over the year, average wages (not adjusting for inflation) rose 2.8%.

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.

Freestate Electrical is suing Donald Trump's organization for failing to pay $2 million for work done on the luxury hotel in the Old Post Office Building in Washington, D.C. Freestate, an Electrical Workers (IBEW) signatory contractor, did award-winning work on the building when Trump was running for president. Four other contractors have sued over the project, claiming nearly $5 million in unpaid bills.

The U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in February and unemployment was little changed at 4.7%, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages were up 2.8% from last February, but that growth is modest for this point in a recovery. This continues the recovery of the labor market at a tempered rate, which means the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee should continue to let the economy grow at this rate and not raise interest rates.

In a historic vote, telenovela performers at Spanish-language station Telemundo have voted to join SAG-AFTRA. The vote was 91–21 in favor of membership, and this is the first time in 65 years a group of performers at a major television network sought a unionization election. The new bargaining unit will cover actors, dancers, singers and stunt performers for shows produced in the United States. SAG-AFTRA will meet with the performers to discuss issues related to fair pay, residuals, benefits and on-set safety measures.