MUST LISTEN
TRUMKA: Unions are key to health and safety on the job
Bloomberg Radio
April 16, 2021
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined Balance of Power Radio to discuss why all workers deserve a strong voice on the job, how unions are key to health and safety on the job and why we must pass the #PROAct.
MUST READ
The Washington Post
By Cat Zakrzewski
April 16, 2021
Liz Shuler, the AFL-CIO's secretary-treasurer, said in an interview she has “no doubt” the union push would have been successful if the Pro Act were in place because it might have deterred Amazon from allegedly intimidating workers. “Right now if Amazon breaks the law, it's like a slap on the wrist," Shuler said. “There's really no downside to breaking the law time and time again to intimidate people. … The Pro Act would reverse course on that.”
AMAZON
LISTEN: Unionization After Amazon (Audio)
Connecticut Public Radio
By John Henry Smith
April 13, 2021
Amazon workers in the company’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse last week voted overwhelmingly not to join a union. This happened despite tales from inside Amazon warehouses across the country of grueling work conditions and little time for bathroom breaks. Labor and management nationwide have been watching this situation closely for what it might mean for the union effort in other states. One of those watchers is Connecticut AFL-CIO president Sal Luciano. He joined Connecticut Public Radio’s All Things Considered to share his thoughts on why this unionization effort failed and what that means for the future of unions.
TRANSPORTATION
Freight Trains in the US Are a Disaster Waiting to Happen (Video)
Vice News
By Aaron Gordon
April 17, 2021
Freight trains in the US are crashing more often, and people in the industry are worried about what comes next. VICE News' Motherboard looks into how the industry got here.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
OFF THE GRID: A flood of federal aid often fails to reach America’s poorest families
The Washington Post
By Greg Jaffe
April 15, 2021
Today, the federal government is in the midst of one of the biggest expansions of the social safety net in U.S. history, committing $5 trillion over the last year to keeping American families afloat. President Biden predicted the flood of aid could cut child poverty in half. And yet for all its successes, the trillions in aid have often failed to reach the poorest Americans in places like the south end of Peoria.
IN THE STATES
AG Healey speaks to essential women workers about wage theft
Boston Globe
By Laura Crimaldi
April 17, 2021
On Saturday, a half dozen women, some of them immigrants, described their workplace experiences at a virtual news conference organized by the Matahari Women Workers’ Center in Boston to call attention to wage theft and its impact on essential workers. The event included a recorded message from state attorney general Maura Healey, who said last year her office ordered employers to pay more than $12.3 million in restitution and penalties for violating wage and hour laws. Nearly $1 billion in wages is stolen annually from workers across the state, according to Kevin Brousseau, political director for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.
RETIREMENT SECURITY
Cleveland.com
By Marty Walsh and Sherrod Brown
April 16, 2021
When work has dignity, everyone can earn a secure retirement. Pensions are critical to the economic security of families who depend on these benefits to afford the rent or the mortgage, their prescription drugs and medical bills, and more. On April 15, the two of us joined U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and Mayors Tito Brown of Youngstown and Nan Whaley of Dayton in leading a virtual roundtable discussion on the historic work we did in President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan to save the multiemployer pension plans that tens of thousands of Ohioans earned over a lifetime of work.