Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
MUST WATCH
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on GMA3
GMA3
Sept. 1, 2022
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler joined GMA3 this morning to discuss why we aren’t facing a “labor shortage” but instead, there’s a shortage of family-sustaining jobs and high-quality jobs with fair wages and good benefits.
Bloomberg TV
Sept. 1, 2022
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler joined Bloomberg TV to discuss why 71% of Americans support labor unions and the moment we are in as workers are rising up across the country to stand up, demand more at work and protect our democracy.
MUST READ
Union rebound? AFL-CIO’s Shuler sees promise, long road ahead.
Christian Science Monitor
By Mark Trumbull
Sept. 1, 2022
Anewly released poll heading into Labor Day weekend shows a near-record 71% of Americans approve of labor unions, up from 64% just before the pandemic. Yet that Gallup poll stands in contrast to some raw math: Just 1 in 10 workers on U.S. payrolls are union members, half the level seen four decades ago. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO labor federation, wants to bridge that gap – starting by adding a million new people to union ranks over the next 10 years. As she spoke at a Monitor Breakfast for reporters on Thursday, it was clear that for her, it is personal. It’s about her own story, and the life stories of people she has met, some of whom leave memories that make her voice quake with emotion. “We would say that unions are a pillar of a healthy democracy, and we see it around the world that unions have always been sort of bedrock to the foundation of a healthy economy and a healthy society,” Ms. Shuler told reporters.
US Union Chief Says Starbucks Tactics Show Labor Reform Is Needed
Bloomberg
By Katia Dmitrieva
Sept. 1, 2022
“The fundamentals of labor law are broken,” Liz Shuler, president of AFL-CIO, said at a Christian Science Monitor event Thursday in Washington. “Labor-law reform is needed.” Shuler, who was elected as president at a labor convention in June, said that unions are the only way for workers to gain leverage and a seat at the table. “Coming together collectively is how we rebalance the scales,” she said.
MUST LISTEN
Liz Shuler on Labor Day, Workers’ Rights, and the State of Unions (14 minutes in)
The Tent
Sept. 1, 2022
In honor of Labor Day, Daniella talks with AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler about what the holiday means; recent wins for the labor movement, including the Inflation Reduction Act; and the key issues workers and unions continue to fight for.
JOINING TOGETHER
Workers at Michigan’s largest cannabis company voted to form a union
Detroit Metro Times
By Alex Washington
Aug. 30, 2022
The last few months have seen a rise in food and retail workers filing petitions to organize a union at their respective stores. And now, workers in the cannabis industry are joining, too. On Monday, workers at Lume Cannabis Co.'s adult-use dispensary at 15391 S. Dixie Hwy., Monroe, announced they had elected to form a union. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 876 says it is the first of Lume's locations to unionize.
Architects at a New York Firm Form the Industry’s Only Private-Sector Union
The New York Times
By Noam Scheiber
Sept. 1, 2022
A union campaign dating back two years and involving workers at several New York-based architecture firms has notched its first victory. Employees of a 22-member firm called Bernheimer Architecture announced Thursday that they had formed what appears to be the country’s only formal union at a private-sector architecture firm. The architects will join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — and the firm, which specializes in affordable-housing and other residential projects, has recognized the union voluntarily.
IN THE STATES
Western WI AFL-CIO: Announcing the return of the Labor Day Parade and Fest in La Crosse
Wis Politics
Sept. 1, 2022
As Coulee Region residents prepare to celebrate Labor Day, the Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO is pleased to announce the return of La Crosse’s Labor Day Parade & Fest, after cancellation of the event in 2020
and 2021 due to COVID concerns. Parade step-off will take place at 10:00 AM on September 5, 2022, from the corner of Gillette and Kane Streets on the north side of La Crosse. “The WWAFLCIO invites all area residents to include the parade and the merriments afterwards at Copeland Park as part of their Labor Day celebration.” – Mike Davis Jr, President WWAFLCIO.