News

Liz Shuler Elected AFL-CIO President

The AFL-CIO Executive Council today elected Liz Shuler, a visionary leader and longtime trade unionist, to serve as president of the federation of 56 unions and 12.5 million members. Shuler is the first woman to hold the office in the history of the labor federation. The Executive Council also elected United Steelworkers (USW) International Vice President Fred Redmond to succeed Shuler as secretary-treasurer, the first African American to hold the number two office. Tefere Gebre will continue as executive vice president, rounding out the most diverse team of officers ever to lead the AFL-CIO.

In Memoriam: Richard L. Trumka (1949-2021)

Our brother and leader Richard Trumka passed away on August 5, 2021, at the age of 72.

After Two Presidents Failed, Can Biden Actually Get Infrastructure Done?

“We’re at a crossroads. Inaction will only worsen the suffering that working people have weathered over the past year,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. “But if we commit to rebuilding our communities on an unprecedented scale, we can get through this crisis stronger than before.”

Read the full article in The Los Angeles Times.

Inside Joe Biden's Decision to Dive into the Amazon Union Drive

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is using the president’s new message to advocate for the swift passage of Democrats’ Protecting the Right to Organize Act. If passed, the measure would be the first bill to overhaul labor rights since the Taft-Hartley amendments of 1947 to the National Labor Relations Act, which outlawed some organizing tactics and allowed states to enact right-to-work laws. The new bill, among other things, would extend collective bargaining rights to gig workers, overturn state right to work laws, and allow the federal labor board to levy penalties against companies who violate federal labor law. Biden, Trumka wrote in a Monday statement, “has proven he’s willing to speak out and stand with us. Now it’s time to follow words with action.”

Read the full article in Politico.

Biden Issues Strong Defense of Workers' Right to Organize

In a statement last night, President Biden issued an unprecedented call to action for working people across the country to exercise our right to form unions. “Unions lift up workers, both union and non-union, but especially Black and Brown workers. I made it clear—I made it clear when I was running—that my administration’s policy would be to support unions organizing and the right to collectively bargain. I am keeping that promise,” Biden said plainly.

Biden Backs Amazon Warehouse Workers' Union Drive

Stuart Appelbaum, president of the RWDSU, thanked Biden for his support of the organizing drive. He said in statement, "As President Biden points out, the best way for working people to protect themselves and their families is by organizing into unions. And that is why so many working women and men are fighting for a union at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama." Appelbaum told NPR in January that the Bessemer warehouse workers wanted to join a union over concerns with grueling productivity quotas and wanted more input on workplace policies.

Labor Leaders Meet with Biden, Harris

This afternoon, leaders of the labor movement gathered at the White House to meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris about our shared goal of revitalizing America’s infrastructure.

USW Member, Single Mom Finishes College Degree With Help From Union Plus

United Steelworkers (USW) member Jessica Hartung has a lot on her shoulders, but her load has been lightened by one thing in particular—her debt-free college degree. “I’m a single mom, with an autistic son. I have a full-time job, and COVID-19 has changed so much stuff,” said Hartung (not pictured). Despite her range of nonstop responsibilities, it has always been important to her to finish her college degree. For her, the most significant obstacle was the cost.

NLRB Swats Down Amazon's Effort to Delay Union Election in Alabama

Some 5,800 workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, will begin voting today on whether to form a union after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) denied Amazon’s last-ditch effort to delay the election. Last month, Amazon made a motion to request a stay of the union election for workers at the fulfillment center in Bessemer and appealed the decision by the NLRB Region 10.

As Amazon Union Vote Starts, AFL-CIO's Tech Think Tank Considers Future of Labor

On Monday in Alabama, more than 5,800 of them will be able to vote on whether to become the first Amazon warehouse in the United States to unionize. "Now it's our turn to be a disruptor," said Elizabeth Shuler, secretary-treasurer and second highest-ranking officer of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States. It's a big day for the AFL-CIO. Not only is it providing guidance to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which is organizing the Amazon warehouse workers.