To Daniel Ramos, a machine operator at the Danone North America plant in Bridgeton, N.J., a vote to become a member of the BCTGM was a decision he made based on worker dignity. โI will vote for the union because we deserve dignity and respect. We need to make sure our voices are heard. We have the power of our voice. I feel positive โ we will win this union election because it is what is...
No one had to worry about social distancing, shaking hands or meeting face-to-face for the recent meeting of IUF union affiliates with members employed by Philip Morris International (PMI) . Instead of meeting as planned in Poland, BCTGM representatives together with other IUF affiliate unions representing workers in tobacco growing, manufacturing, sales and marketing in Europe and the Americas joined together for a zoom video conference. BCTGM International Secretary-Treasurer David Woods, Assistant to the International President...
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today began a video series exposing the human cost of President Trumpโs broken promises that U.S. workersย โwonโt lose one plantโ and declarations that โ[plants] are all coming back.โ The first video highlights workers at Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM) Local 6016 in Roanoke, Va. FreightCar America announced in July 2019 that it would be closing and laying off 198 TCU/IAM members. The work moved to Mexico and Alabama. In September 2020, FreightCar America announced...
We are quickly approaching the most consequential election of our lifetime. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate communities across the country, there has been a sharp decrease in the number of people who are able to work the polls on Election Day. This threatens the number of polling places that can remain open and could easily create long lines. When there arenโt enough poll workers, voting locations close and lines stretch for hours. Help your...
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, affecting more than 7.4 million Americans, with more than 210,000 deaths in the United States, the AFL-CIO has released its annual Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect report, which contains data showing how the current administrationโs failure to act in the past has been a main contributor to the gravity of the current public health crisis. During a video press conference to release the report, AFL-CIO...
Since the pandemic began, OSHA, whose mission is โto ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women,โ reports that it has receivedย over 10,000 complaintsย from workers concerned about a lack of protections against the coronavirus. But until early September, six months into the crisis, the agency had issued citations to justย twoย employers, requiring them to adopt safer practices, according to available OSHA records.Read the full article here. ...
Last week, updated COVID-19 relief legislation was introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The new measure is a promising, good-faith effort to push negotiations on long-overdue COVID-19 relief forward. It is geared toward helping the people who need it most: front-line workers, the unemployed, the uninsured, retirees and all those who rely on critical public services like schools, fire and emergency medical services, sanitation, and child care. Tell the Senate: Pass the HEROES ACT! This legislation...
The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting women, particularly women with children and women of color. While both women and men are suffering the economic fallout of the virus, it is women โ already more likely to be living in poverty than men, already more likely to be earning a smaller paycheck, already with less savings, already more likely to be in precarious jobs โ who are being disproportionately squeezed. "These setbacks -- characterized by some economists as the nationโs first female recession -- stand in sharp contrast to the dramatic progress women...
Brothers and Sisters: One of the biggest elections of our lifetime is coming up in November. The votes that we cast as union members will be crucial in ensuring we have pro-labor candidates elected at the local and state level all the way up to the White House. BCTGM members need to show our union voting power and solidarity at the ballot box. Download here On its way to the printing press today, the special 2020 Workers VOTE...
Statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removing SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission information from its website: Scientists across the world have been saying for months that the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) travels distances through the air. The CDC finally acknowledged that on Friday but today abruptly retracted that recognition. This is a total and blatant disregard for science and keeps workers from getting the protections we need. This is yet another...
The coronavirus pandemic has amplified many workers' desires for workplace protections โ both against losing their jobs and against the virus. Faced with unsafe working conditions or precarious employment, workers are turning to the BCTGM for help. "Employers may or may not provide the safety tools that workers need. And yet workers know that if they speak up and refuse to work without the proper safety measures, they'll be fired."BCTGM International Director of Organization John Price. Under...
Brothers, sisters and friends, I want to wish you and your families a happy Labor Day. I know this year Labor Day will be nothing like our celebrations of the past. Many parades are canceled, backyard barbecues will likely be smaller or not even held this year. But while we may not be together, we are still united as a union and as a movement. This Labor Day we celebrate workers โ especially essential workers like BCTGM...
As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the country, working people are looking for ways to join together to form a union in their workplaces and negotiate for strong health and safety protections. The AFL-CIO has launched a new โAm I Safe at Work?โ web tool to raise awareness of what a safe workplace should be, and how a union can help achieve those goals. The Am I Safe at Work web tool contains fundamental information to empower...
August 18, 1920, women gained the constitutional right to vote after a century-long fight for equal representation. TODAY commemorates the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. As we approach the 2020 election, mobilizing working women to vote is paramount to the goals of electing female candidates and candidates who advocate for women, and of getting this country back on track in the wake of the...
On Friday, August 14,ย Jill Biden and Louis Gossett Jr. will join Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Seniors for Biden for a virtual rally celebrating the 85th anniversary of the creation of Social Security.ย Please click here to RSVP for the LIVE event!They're going to discuss Joe Bidenโs plans to protect retirement security as President -- and how you can help make a difference in November.There will also be a special announcement by Robert Roach, Jr., President of...