(Tula Connell published this Blog post today on AFL-CIO-NOW) ย Despite waking up with the flu one morning this week, Bonnie Holter headed out to take part in a 6 a.m. vigil outside the home of a member of the American Crystal Sugar Co. board of directors in East Grand Forks, Minn. Tired and ready to head back to bed after returning home, she still exuded the resolve that, despite having retired from American Crystal Sugar this...
AFL-CIO - The vast majority of America's workers have largely been shut out of the nationโs economic growth over the past three decades, reports the 12th edition of The State of Working America from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Released today and available online, the report finds that the typical American family has added hundreds of extra hours of work each year, while also earning better education credentials, yet is still struggling to keep up. The State...
(This is a cross post from BoldProgressives.org: http://boldprogressives.org/chicagos-teachers-just-went-on-strike-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-why/) Today the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) went on strike, its first action of the sort in 25 years. Why are these 29,000 teachers and school workers going on strike in the nation's third-largest public school district? Because they want what all workers want: fair pay and decent working conditions. They also want what all teachers want to serve their students to their best of their abilities. Here's a few...
Kalamazoo, MI. โ On June 28, three months after the majority of bakers employed at Panera Bread Cafรฉโs in the I-94 corridor division of Michigan voted to become union members, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Federal Complaint against the company for violating worker rights. The Panera bakers voted on March 23 to be represented by Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 70. Following the union representation election, both...
Approximately one-third of working Americans do not earn enough money to meet their basic needs. Wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of housing, healthcare, and education and currently, 40 million Americans are working in low-paying jobs without basic health and retirement benefits. For families walking a financial tightrope, unable to save for college, a home, or retirement, United Way is here to help. "The relentless jobs crisis, combined with an historic number of...
ย Jackie Tortura, AFL-CIO - America needs good jobs and shared prosperity, AFL-CIO President Richardย Trumka told delegates at the Democratic National Convention tonight. Itโs abundantly clear the Romney-Ryan ticket is only offering prosperity for the richย and an economic nightmare for everyone else, whether it's cutting Medicare and Social Security, giving the rich more tax breaks orย outsourcing America's jobs. โProsperity requires democracyโstarting with the essential right of everyone in this great country to a voice, both in...
American Rights at Work -ย What do โCovert Affairsโ star Christopher Gorham, Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, and the Cleveland Brownsโ Benjamin Watson have in common?ย Theyโre all proud union members and theyโre all participating in our third annual Labor Day Tweet-a-Thon. Each year, our goal is simple: Take over Twitter during the holiday weekend, using the #unionmember hashtag to spread a positive message about the value of unions. Last year, American Rights at Work and...
On August 30, 2012, the BCTGM International Union and Local 218 (Kansas City, MO) won an organizing campaign at White Energy Gluten Mill in Russell, Kan. Gluten is one of the most critical ingredients in the manufacturing of most bakery and confectionery products. White Energy's customers include a number of BCTGM-represented baking and confectionery companies like Bimbo, Sara Lee, and Hershey. The workers in the newly organized unit produce wheat gluten. The facility also produces ethanol,...
AFL-CIO - Michael Frank headed over to a rally in East Grand Forks, Minn., last night, one of many heโs taken part in over the past year. Frank, along with 1,300 other workers, was locked out of the American Crystal Sugar factory a year ago, and last nightโs event was part of the workersโ ongoing efforts to urge the sugar beet processing company return to the bargaining table. โThey donโt...
"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." --Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, October 2010 It has been said that the first casualty of war is the truth. Much the same can be said about political campaigns, especially a presidential race. Between now and Election Day, the American people will be inundated with hundreds of millions of dollars of political television and radio ads designed to...
ย After many years of struggle, Hyatt workers and allies launched a global boycott of Hyatt on July 23, 2012. Leaders from the AFL-CIO, the NFL Players Association, the National Organization of Women (NOW), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Netroots Nation, Interfaith Worker Justice, and more joined Hyatt housekeepers for the launch, which marks the largest escalation to date in an ongoing campaign for basic worker rights. Hyatt has singled itself out as the worst...
Audio available at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12103381/7-25press%20conference.mp3 (St. Paul, Minn., July 25) โ Today AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined 1300 workers with the Bakery, Confectionery Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), who have been locked out of five processing facilities and other facilities of American Crystal Sugar, in announcing that the AFL-CIO and BCTGM are escalating their campaign for fairness and justice at the company. The lockout, which began on August 1, 2011, came in the...
CLC president Ken Georgetti published a letter in the Ottawa Citizen on July 18, 2012 in response to an opinion piece carried in the paper. In that article, Jonathan McLeod repeated the claim that is common in some business and political quarters that the imposition of so-called right-to-work legislation creates higher rates of growth in American states that use it. Georgetti challenged McLeodโs research. In his opinion piece, Jonathan McLeod says bringing Southern U.S. state labour...
Kalamazoo, MI. โ On June 28, 2012, three months after the majority of Bakers employed at Panera Bread Cafรฉs in the I-94 Corridor Division voted Union yes, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a federal complaint against the company.ย After Panera Bakers voted yes to be represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union Local 70, both the company and the union filed unfair labor practice charges against one...
AFL-CIO If anyone thinks U.S. manufacturing isnโt relevant to our lives today, they should consider this report from the Alliance for American Manufacturersย pointing to theย battle against raging wildfires in the western states: The Associated Press is reporting that the sole U.S. manufacturer of a device to spray airborne fire retardant is no longer in business. This means that while Air National Guard units currently possess Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems (MAFFS), new MAFFS systems are no longer being...