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Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips

Berry Craig
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Check out Bill Londrigan's quotes in a Lexington Herald-Leader op-ed that is posted in the LABOR DAY section of today's Press Clips.

MUST WATCH

Workers & Unions With First Female President of AFL-CIO

Thirteen

Sept. 2, 2022

We continue our Woman Thought Leader Series with Liz Shuler, the first female president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). She discusses the rights of labor workers, the organization’s fight for equal pay among women and men, the current presidential administration's stance on labor unions, and much more.

 

MUST READ
Liz Shuler: Once 'essential,' then expendable, American workers are transforming the economy (Opinion)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Liz Shuler

Sept. 5, 2022

Last year alone $6.5 trillion flowed from the bottom 90% of wage earners to the top 1%. That means the janitor who cleans our child’s school, the nurse who cares for our sick father and the grocery clerk who always greets us with a smile are struggling, while the wealthiest among us literally skyrocket into space with bottomless bank accounts. Upward mobility seems out of reach for most Americans. Young people are backsliding with low wages, out-of-control housing prices and crushing health care costs. But our story — the American worker’s story — will not be written by billionaires. This Labor Day, working people are writing a new chapter infused with hope for a brighter future. We’re no longer tolerating being called “essential” one minute and treated as expendable the next. Whether on a manufacturing shop floor, in a high-rise office, in a corner cafe or Amazon warehouse, workers are transforming our economy.

 

AFL-CIO official says unions are gaining strength

Macomb Daily

By Susan Smiley

Sept. 4, 2022

As Americans honor the labor movement and the contributions of workers this Labor Day weekend, AFL-CO Secretary/Treasurer Fred Redmond says unions are gaining strength and numbers through an unprecedented nationwide grassroots movement. Redmond was in Detroit on Friday to meet with local union officials and to prepare for the kickoff of the AFL-CIO’s new Permission to Dream program later this month. Redmond, who has an extensive work history in the steel industry, said what he observes right now is unlike anything he has seen previously in the labor movement. “I never remember a moment like this,” said Redmond. “What is happening is very organic and at a grassroots level. Workers are independently standing up and we embrace that, but we are also here to assist them and guide them through the process.”

 

MUST LISTEN

Labor Unions Inspire Support All Across The Economy

The Joe Madison Show

Sept. 5, 2022

Liz Shuler on Joe Madison The Black Eagle: “we have the power to collectively change that and write the next chapter of what work is going to look like in this country. And the way we do that is through the power of unions and coming together to amplify our voices

 

LABOR DAY
The continued fight for fair treatment in the workplace

WFAE

By Elvis Menayese

Sept. 4, 2022

Fred Redmond’s fight for social, racial, and economic justice, equality, and fair treatment in the workplace and throughout society bring him to Charlotte this Labor Day weekend. On Sunday, he’s a guest speaker at St. Paul Baptist Church on behalf of AFL-CIO’s Labor in Pulpit, Bimah, and Minbar Program which aims to strengthen the relationship between the labor and faith community. Redmond made history on June 12 when he became the highest-ranking African American officer in the history of America’s labor movement — a milestone accomplishment that was not easy to achieve. Redmond hopes his story will inspire young Black Americans.

 

There's Cause for Optimism on Labor Day (Opinion)

Newsweek

By Lee Saunders

Sept. 5, 2022

Working people have been through the wringer these last few years. A devastating public health crisis has demanded more and more of us, but we've very often gotten less and less in return. As we prepare for Labor Day 2022, however, there is cause for hope and optimism. The hardships of the pandemic have lit a fire under working people, who are organizing with momentum we haven't seen in years. From Amazon to Starbucks, from women's soccer players to some of the nation's most prominent museums, in the private sector and in public service, workers are standing up to their bosses and demanding justice, refusing to be intimidated and building power in numbers.

 

Biden, Harris prepare for traditional Labor Day events

Roll Call

By Niels Lesniewski

Sept. 2, 2022

Shuler met with reporters Thursday morning in Washington before heading out on the road. Speaking at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, Shuler spoke about the AFL-CIO's efforts to expand union membership, including among gig workers and employees of such companies as Starbucks and Amazon. "We don't put candidates first, we put workers first. And we look through the lens of working people when we're identifying the issues that we measure those candidates against, and it happens to be that President Biden, who is a Democrat, has been very much a pro-union president," Shuler said. "So, we are proud of the track record that he has had and his administration has had, and that translates down at every level. You know, from city council to Congress and the United States Senate. It's through an issues-based lens."

 

SAG-AFTRA Podcast With AFL-CIO President Looks To Future Of Labor Movement

Deadline

By David Robb

Sept. 2, 2022

SAG-AFTRA is celebrating the upcoming Labor Day weekend with a podcast featuring Liz Shuler, president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO, which represents 57 affiliated unions, including SAG-AFTRA, and workers in every ZIP code in the country. According to Shuler, the future of organized labor is bright. “We are stronger together,” Shuler said on the podcast. “By being an affiliate union of the AFL-CIO, it brings the full breadth and scope and power of 12.5 million working people to each other’s fights. And SAG-AFTRA is on the front lines of so much. A lot of people think, ‘Oh, well, SAG-AFTRA, are they really workers?’ Well, of course, because you work in an industry like Hollywood, or you are someone in broadcast, you absolutely have the same issues that working people in other professions have: safety and health concerns, discrimination and harassment concerns, and making sure you’re being paid equitably for your work.

 

On Labor Day, rampant inequality is leading to new support for labor unions (Opinion)

Lexington Herald-Leader

By Berry Craig

Sept. 2, 2022

“You can only push people down just so far and before they react,” warned Bill Londrigan, Kentucky State AFL-CIO president, who said that the country is in the midst of its “widest spread of income inequality in history.” Added Londrigan: “Millions are in poverty and making way less than a livable wage while some CEOs and others have become mega-billionaires. When those conditions prevail, more and more workers realize that their individual voices are not enough to achieve a standard of living and working conditions that are adequate for them. Throughout history, the only real response that has a tangible result is organization, unionization and collective bargaining.”

 

'What are you going to do for working people?': Wisconsin AFL-CIO president speaks on importance of labor for midterms

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Ricardo Torres

Sept. 2, 2022

It's been more than two years since Milwaukee hosted Laborfest and with President Joe Biden planning to attend, it marks the first time since 2014 that a sitting president is scheduled to attend the event.  In interviews with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bloomingdale and Shuler talked about what role labor and labor policy will have on the 2022 midterms. 

 

Labor Day: State of the unions in Alexandria

ALX Now

By Vernon Miles

Sept. 2, 2022

With Labor Day coming up on Monday, a couple of the leading unions and labor organizing groups in Alexandria say they’ve seen substantial gains but there’s still work to be done. Collective bargaining for public safety agencies was one of the leading issues early in late 2021 and early 2022. Labor activists were also critical of the city’s involvement in financing the development of the Hotel Heron in Old Town, saying the city should leverage its position to ensure better wages and treatment of employees.

 

Granite City parade will promote state labor amendment

The Telegraph

Julie Laakko Swanson

Sept. 2, 2022

Monday's Granite City Labor Day parade, one of the largest parades in the region, is themed "Vote Yes on Workers’ Rights Amendment.”  Dean Webb, President of the Greater Madison County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, said the Granite City parade often sees crowds “three or four deep” along the route. 

 

Resurgent labor movement empowers all workers

Wisconsin Examiner

By Stephanie Bloomingdale

Sept. 4, 2022

This Labor Day, as we enjoy the day off that has become a cherished part of Americans’ late summer calendar, let’s take a moment to reflect on the history this holiday commemorates and the role our resurgent labor movement is playing going forward. By the late 1800’s, the Industrial Revolution had transformed society in both positive and negative ways. Productivity had skyrocketed, but this material abundance came at a heavy price for the workers who made it possible. The average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks for wages that barely fed a family. Children as young as 5 or 6 worked dangerous jobs in mills, factories and mines. Workplaces for people of all ages were often unhealthy and unsafe. To address these intolerable conditions, workers joined together in labor unions, acting collectively to improve the lives not only of union members, but of all working people. Things often taken for granted today represent hard-won victories achieved by union workers of an earlier generation.

 

The surge in union organizing should inspire us all (Opinion)

Anchorage Daily News

By Joelle Hall

Sept. 4, 2022

Labor Day is an opportunity to reflect on what working people have achieved over the decades and also a prod to spur our modern fight for economic justice and a strong middle class. In past decades, working people used collective action, dedicated organizing and unionism to win the weekend, end child labor, achieve the 40-hour work week, safer workplaces and important steps toward equality on the job.

 

‘It’s not a thing of 100 years ago': Unions, supporters celebrate significance of Labor Day

Fox17

By Lauren Edwards

Sept. 5, 2022

When Theresa Kanoza arrived to the Labor Day festivities in downtown Muskegon, she had over two dozen copies of the novel The Women of the Copper Country in a box. By the time the event was over, they were all passed out. “Well, in this book, it’s a historical novel,” Kanoza said during an interview with FOX 17. “It’s the strike of the copper mines in 1913. Women led it. Their husbands, fathers, and brothers were toiling in the mines, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.” 

 

2022 is the most promising Labor Day for unions in several decades (Opinion)

The Hill

By John Logan

Sept. 5, 2022

This is an unusually promising Labor Day for American unions — maybe the most hopeful for many decades — for several reasons. First, the annual Gallup poll released last week showed a 71 percent public approval rate for unions – the highest level since 1965. The sky-high approval rate is even more remarkable given the organizational weakness of organized labor. Unions currently represent just 10.3 percent of the American workforce.

 

AFL-CIO: Labor Day 2022 is about remembering to vote in the mid-term election (Opinion)

NJ.Com

By Charles Wowkanech

Sept. 5, 2022

Everyone loves Labor Day weekend. It is a well-deserved time to relax and get together with family and friends. While we celebrate our freedoms, we should also remember the sacrifice that working people made through the labor movement to have the rights that we all take for granted — and do everything in our power to protect them — including voting in the upcoming mid-term elections.

 

POLITICS

AFL-CIO launches massive voter mobilization effort

Fox 31

By Kyra Purvis

Sept. 5, 2022

With elections approaching, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is kicking off a massive voter mobilization effort. The goal is to empower working people to make the difference in scores of close races around the country. The organization stands as the largest labor federation in America and represents approximately 13 million workers across the nation. In this 2022 mobilization effort, the organization hopes to educate voters on candidates and their stance on “the working people of America.”

 

AFL-CIO announces largest ever voter mobilization ahead of midterms

The Hill

By Karl Evers-Hillstrom 

Sept. 2, 2022

The AFL-CIO on Friday launched an organizing drive that will aim to connect more than 100,000 volunteers with nearly 8 million voters ahead of November’s midterms. The mobilization effort is the largest in the history of the labor federation, which represents more than 12.5 million workers. AFL-CIO volunteers will meet with workers in person and send a flurry of texts, phone calls and digital messages in a bid to shore up support for pro-union candidates. 

 

LABOR AND ECONOMY

The U.S. unemployment rate rose in August, and Black workers saw declining participation in the labor force

CNBC

By Samantha Subin

Sept. 2, 2022

The August jobs report showed the U.S. unemployment rate rise across the board. Meanwhile, Black workers marked the only demographic to see their labor force participation fall. For August, Black labor force participation fell to 61.8% from 62% in July, while the employment to population ratio dipped to 57.9% from 58.3%. William Spriggs, chief economist to the AFL-CIO, said that looking at Black workers is one way to gauge and understand what’s really happening among employers. Black workers across the board face more discrimination than many other groups, which could be one explanation, he said. A potential slowdown in hiring — as evident through this week’s ADP private payrolls data — could also be a contributor to these results. “When firms slow their hiring rate, that hit Black workers immediately because they’re already in line the longest to try and find a job,” Spriggs said. “What’s happened is the queue’s just gotten longer so the discouraged worker effect is much more acute for Black workers. While it’s too early to assign a specific cause to the declining labor force participation among Black workers, Gould said the continued downward trend in recent months may signal something other than “a statistical anomaly.”

 

ORGANIZING

Young workers are organizing. Can their fervor save unions?

The Washington Post

By Steven Greenhouse

Sept. 2, 2022

Not long ago, a top official from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told me that labor unions were relics of the 1930s and that today’s workers don’t really need them — that they can do just fine lifting themselves up individually without an “outside third party” like a union speaking on their behalf. Workers — particularly young workers — disagree. As we head into Labor Day, they’re more enthusiastic about unions than they have been for decades. Over the last year, employees at some of the nation’s best-known companies — Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s, Apple, REI and Chipotle — have organized for the first time. Workers at a Trader Joe’s in Minneapolis voted 55-5 to unionize; at an REI store in Manhattan, it was 88 to 14. Unions are no more relics than these young workers are; they’re useful mechanisms to improve pay and the jobs that come with it.

 

IN THE STATES

Meatpacking workers, advocates describe 'dehumanizing' conditions in Nebraska plants

Lincoln Journal Star

By Jenna Thompson 

Sept. 4, 2022

Each of the six meatpacking workers voiced concerns about frequent injuries, hazardous working conditions, discrimination and harassment in their workplace. Darcy Tromanhauser, program director of immigrants and communities with Nebraska Appleseed, said their stories are common. She believes the meatpacking industry stands in the way of a decades-long, hard-fought struggle for meatpacking workers’ rights.

 

Labor unions recruit new members with 'Building Union Diversity' program

KSDK

By Mark Maxwell

Sept. 5, 2022

Few American cities can claim a richer labor history than St. Louis. "St. Louis is a very, very strong union town," Jake Hummel, president of Missouri AFL-CIO, said. The Missouri AFL-CIO, that is located in Jefferson city, shows people what unions do, how to form a union and take action. U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, the former mayor of Boston, echoed the sentiment.