Don’t tell me I’m not American.
This is the story of AFL-CIO Executive Vice-President Tefere Gebre — his life, and almost death. It's a story of the American Dream realized in the most dramatic way. ...
30 August, 2016
Franklin Street Bakery Workers Fight to Join BCTGM Local 22
When workers at the Minneapolis-based Franklin Street Bakery had enough of management's unfair treatment, they reached out to BCTGM Local 22 for help in forming a union. But as soon as the company got word that workers were trying to unionize, they began harassing, threatening and intimidating them. Since its organizing drive began this spring, Local 22 has filed “at least a dozen” charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Franklin Street Bakery for violating workers’...
29 August, 2016
AFL-CIO Commits to Mobilizing Millions of Women in 2016
August 3, 2016 - The following is a statement by AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Liz Shuler on the AFL-CIO Executive Council’s Working Women Economic Agenda: Women make up more than half of the U.S. electorate, and we vote at higher rates than men. From now until November, the AFL-CIO will be talking to women voters about the issues that impact them the most. We will have conversations with our friends and family on the doors, on the...
04 August, 2016
Portland Specialty Baking Workers FIGHT BACK
In the beginning, workers were not afraid. On the morning of January 11, sick of unsafe working conditions and unfair pay, dozens of workers at Portland Specialty Baking marched into the company president’s office and asked for voluntary union recognition. [caption id="attachment_5711" align="alignright" width="300"] Current and former workers at Portland Specialty Baking, together with attorneys and supporters, announced a class action wage theft lawsuit on Aug. 8.[/caption] It was early 2015 that BCTGM Local 114 (Portland, Ore), with...
03 August, 2016
Worker Champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren Meets Nabisco Worker Smith
Today at the Democratic National Convention, BCTGM Local 300 member and laid off Nabisco worker Michael Smith was invited to address the DNC Labor Council on Organizing. In addition to Smith, the Council heard from Alicia Hamiel, a representative of the Fight For Fifteen movement; Ernesto Salazar, a car wash worker, and numerous political leaders united in the call for higher wages and workers' rights. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered powerful remarks to the gathering as she reminded everyone: "you...
27 July, 2016
L. 300 Member and Former Nabisco Worker Addresses DNC Senior Council
Today at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, BCTGM Local 300 member and laid-off Nabisco worker Michael Smith spoke before the National Democratic Seniors Coordinating Council. Part of the meeting included addresses from Members of Congress, national senior citizen leaders and top officials from the DNC about Social Security, Medicare and the importance of the senior vote in 2016. Smith was invited to address the group concerning the importance of retiree involvement in helping to change the nation's trade laws....
26 July, 2016
10 Reasons Hillary Clinton Stands with Working People
This is re-posted from the AFL-CIO NOW Blog. Working people recognize the high stakes in the 2016 presidential election. On one side, you have Donald Trump, who supports "right to work," which takes away power from working people, and thinks your wages are too high. On the other side, you have Hillary Clinton, who has a long history of advocating for families and working people. She believes that paid family leave, earned sick days, fair schedules, equal pay...
26 July, 2016
Local 300’s Smith to DNC: Support U.S. Workers with Fair Trade Laws
Today as the Democratic National Convention kicked off in Philadelphia, BCTGM Local 300 member and laid off Nabisco worker Michael Smith was meeting labor delegates,union leaders and political activists to give voice to the nation's working families negatively impacted by unfair U.S. trade laws. Smith met briefly this afternoon with U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D. Minn.). Ellison, who is a strong supporter of America's working families. The Congressman first met Smith following his testimony to the Democratic Platform Committee on June 9. Stay...
25 July, 2016
Video: Nabisco Workers Fight Corporate Greed
“Irene has made over $20 million dollars a year, for the last nine years. That is roughly 300 times that of the average Mondelez employee.” “For a CEO to make that much and refuse to leave our jobs in Chicago, to send them to Mexico, that’s a slap in our face. Irene Rosenfeld – you should be ashamed!” In the second video in the BCTGM’s “Nabisco 600” series, Chicago Mondelez bakery workers highlight the exorbitant corporate greed...
12 July, 2016
Made in America: Make Your Fourth of July Barbecue Union Made
Re-Posted from the AFL-CIO BLOG It's Made in America week and we'll be spotlighting a different product area every day so that working families can show their solidarity for their sisters and brothers. First up, we know many of you will be planning barbecues for the Fourth of July. Our lists are courtesy of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's website Labor 411; Union Plus; the BCTGM; and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Beer Budweiser Coors Miller Pabst Sam Adams See more beers...
01 July, 2016
Trump: A Complete Fraud On Trade
In a new video, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka calls out Donald Trump for his complete hypocrisy on trade. While Trump makes grand promises on trade, his history tells us a different story. ...
30 June, 2016
Put High-Quality Child Care and Pre-K Within Reach for Working Families
"In the United States, our child care system is failing and this has hidden costs for working families. The typical annual cost for child care for a family with two children (an infant and a four-year-old) is nearly $18,000. That averages to about 30% of the typical working family's paycheck. This cost is so high that many can't afford it and leave the workforce altogether, with 75% of mothers and 50% of fathers in a...
27 June, 2016
The Fight for Latino Workers’ Lives on the Job
Too many Latino workers face disease, major injury and death while laboring in dangerous jobs with inadequate safeguards. In 2014, 804 Latino workers died on the job, with 64% of these fatalities being Latino workers born outside of the United States. Latino worker deaths recently have decreased even though more Latinos are working in the construction industry than ever before: Nearly 70% of new construction jobs between 2012 and 2015 were filled by Latino workers. The...
22 June, 2016
Alberta Labour movement urging NDP government to keep minimum wage promise
(CBC News/ June 17) The Alberta Federation of Labour wants the NDP to keep its promise to raise Alberta's minimum wage to $15 by 2018 despite backlash from the business sector. On Friday, the group launched the "15 is Fair" campaign in Edmonton at the Local Omnivore, a restaurant and deli. "During the last election campaign, the NDP won in part because Albertans overwhelmingly supported their promise to raise the minimum wage," AFL president Gil McGowan said in a press release. "While there...
18 June, 2016