Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
POLITICS
In final speech, Trumka said labor’s fighting for democracy under siege
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
August 11, 2021
In what turned out to be his final address to a union crowd, the late AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka declared organized labor is fighting not just for itself, but for “democracy, which has been under siege.” “Give us back our power, and we’ll pull our country back from the brink,” he declared. Trumka used those phrases in a six-minute August 4 Zoom address to convention delegates of Labor’s Council for Latin American Advancement, meeting in Las Vegas. He died the next morning of a heart attack at age 72. “We need this Congress to pass the PRO Act, to rewrite years of laws that are hurting working people, not helping them,” Trumka said. The PRO (Protect the Right to Organize) Act, labor’s number one legislative priority, is the most pro-worker wide-ranging labor law reform bill since the original 1935 National Labor Relations Act.
Senate plows through budget, rejecting most GOP ‘social issue’ schemes
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg and John Wojcik
August 11, 2021
“To build back better, we must be bold. And that means unparalleled investment in America’s working families,” acting AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said. “The $3.5 trillion budget resolution is what we need to continue on the path toward making our country whole again.” That project ranges “from investing in working families, education, paid leave, child care, clean energy jobs, and game-changing infrastructure projects to the creation of a long overdue path to citizenship” for undocumented people, she said. It will also lead to “expansion of health care access and labor law enforcement with real penalties,” Shuler added.
JOINING TOGETHER
New York Times tech workers halt work in escalating union fight
CBS News
By Irina Ivanova
August 11, 2021
Hundreds of software engineers and product designers at the New York Times staged a work stoppage Wednesday as part of an escalating battle with the storied newspaper's management over their push to unionize. The employees left their jobs at noon and planned to halt work for the rest of the day in a move to draw attention to what they describe as efforts by the media company to hinder the union recognition process. Tech workers are seeking union recognition for about 600 staffers including product designers, software engineers, developers and product managers. The Times' roughly 1,300 editorial and business employees are represented by the NewsGuild, a division of the Communication Workers of America.
IN THE STATES
Richard Trumka’s last speech (Opinion)
Alabama Political Reporter
By Bren Riley
August 11, 2021
On the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 4, thousands of mine workers, union and allies alike, came from as far as Pennsylvania to Brookwood, Alabama in support of the ongoing coal miner strike against Warrior Met Coal, Inc. It was one of the largest rallies in Alabama labor history and one of my proudest days as president of the Alabama AFL-CIO, the state’s largest labor union federation. We had the honor of hearing remarks recorded by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the former United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) leader, reformer and hero. He spoke, as he always did, with his trademark strength, gusto and ability to inspire. The following morning, Rich unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack at the age of 72. The world will always remember Rich for his lifelong devotion to working people, for his unparalleled leadership, and for being the voice of the 21st Century labor movement. But for the UMWA members who ache for his passing, they will remember him as one of their own—who came home, one last time, to bring them together and push them forward.
Attorney General seeks to reverse Right To Work law
Mid Hudson News
August 12, 2021
In a letter to Congress, the multistate coalition of Attorneys General highlights the urgent need to pass the PRO Act and urges the U.S. Senate to act to improve the lives of America’s working families. “Unionizing is a core American right, and no business should be able to infringe on a worker’s ability to organize,” said Attorney General James. “Over the past year, we have been reminded of the critical need to protect our workers and ensure they have better pay, benefits, and working conditions. In honor of the late Richard Trumka and all the workers who sacrificed so much over the past year, I stand with my fellow attorneys general in urging the Senate to pass the PRO Act and support working people.” “The labor movement has proven firsthand that in unity there is great strength,” said Jenn Puja, labor council director, Westchester/Putnam Central Labor Body AFL-CIO. “Every worker deserves the right to organize. The PRO Act will amplify the voices of working families who strive to make a better, brighter tomorrow. Worker safety, protections, and conditions will be further strengthened and secured. The time is now to pass the PRO Act like our future depends on it — because it does.” Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO is lobbying for the reforms, saying “The reforms included in the PRO Act are necessary to restore some balance to our country’s labor laws in the face of the increasingly drastic lengths employers have gone to silence the voices of their workers.”
COVID concerns cancel Belleville Labor Day parade
Fox2Now
By Gregg Palermo
August 12, 2021
Another large parade in the St. Louis area to celebrate Labor Day will be canceled this year due to concerns about COVID-19. The Southwestern Illinois Labor Council announced Thursday that it would forego the annual parade and picnic scheduled for Labor Day in Belleville. “We were hopeful that with everyone getting the COVID- 19 vaccinations, mask wearing and social distancing, we would be able to return to normalcy and enjoy celebrating labor together. I, along with the SWICLC Executive Board and area Labor Leaders, agree that it is in everyone’s best interest that we refrain from holding large celebrations and large in person gatherings,” Scot Luchtefeld, President of the Southwestern Central Labor Council AFL-CIO said in a Facebook post Thursday.