News

John J. Sweeney (1934-2021), AFL-CIO President Emeritus

John Sweeney, who led an era of transformative change in America’s labor movement, passed away Feb. 1 at the age of 86.

Trumka: 'Biden is committed' to strengthening unions

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka discusses why America needs a strong labor movement and how the Biden administration is committed to strengthening unions.

A Radical Republican Proposal To Roll Back Worker Protections

Last week, the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on H.R. 3441, the so-called Save Local Business Act -- a bill that has almost nothing to do with saving small and local businesses. According to its sponsors, the legislation was introduced to overturn the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) 2015 decision in Browning Ferris Industries.

Labor Unions Are Stepping Up To Fight Deportations

Yahaira Burgos was fearing the worst when her husband, Juan Vivares, reported to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in lower Manhattan in March. Vivares, who fled Colombia and entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, had recently been given a deportation order. Rather than hide, he showed up at the ICE office with Burgos and his lawyer to continue to press his case for asylum.  

NNU Deploys Additional Nurses to Hurricane-Affected Areas

“What we know from RNRN’s work in previous disaster-stricken areas, including hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as post-earthquake Haiti and super typhoon Haiyan, is that after an initial surge of volunteers, many people have to return to work. That is true in this case, as well as some volunteers being pulled to Florida, to address the impending hurricane Irma,” said RNRN director Bonnie Castillo.

What Labor Day Means to My South Side and Black Union Family

Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, I learned at an early age the power of unions to dramatically improve the opportunities of black families in America.

Read the full article.

Trumka: This Labor Day, Fight for Paid Leave

The tension between work and time off has always been a concern of the American labor movement. Work may be one of our core values, but it has a purpose, which is to allow us to live good lives, provide for ourselves and our families and, yes, to earn some time off to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Today, work and time off are badly out of balance, and Labor Day is a case in point.

Read the full essay.

Labor Day 2017: Working People Take Fewer Vacation Days and Work More

Working people are taking fewer vacation days and working more. That's the top finding in a new national survey, conducted by polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the AFL-CIO in collaboration with the Economic Policy Institute and the Labor Project for Working Families. In the survey, the majority of America's working people credit labor unions for many of the benefits they receive.

Texas Working People Step Up in Worst Storm Ever

As Hurricane Harvey and its remnants bring unprecedented flooding and damage to a huge portion of Texas, working people in the state are going above and beyond their duties to help one another.

Why I Served on Trump’s Manufacturing Council—And Why I Left

In January, I was invited to serve on President Donald Trump’s manufacturing council, along with my boss, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. At the time, I was deputy chief of staff at the AFL-CIO (the largest federation of trade unions in America) and a spokesperson for the organization on trade, manufacturing, and economic policy. President Trumka and I agreed to serve because we believed — and still do — that working people should have a voice in crucial government decisions affecting their jobs, their lives, and their families.