News

Now That Government is Funded, Here is What Workers Want to see

Last year, in communities all across the country, millions of Americans mobilized and called for an economy that works for all of us.

Number of Workers Striking in 2018 the Most in Three Decades

More workers were involved in strikes and other labor disputes in 2018 than at any point in the past three decades, fueled by widespread teacher protests last spring, according to data releas

Trump Is Scaling Back Obama's Expansion of Overtime Pay

A four-year fight to expand overtime pay to millions of workers may soon be over. About 1.2 million workers will win and 2.8 million will lose.

The Department of Labor is scaling back an Obama-era rule that would have doubled the maximum salary for a worker to qualify for overtime pay, according to a proposed rule the agency sent to the Office of the Federal Register for public review.

AFL-CIO Leaders Say Unions Have a Role In Saving the Country

In speeches and in press releases over the last year, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has pointed out that unions are uniquely qualified by their very nature to lead the country out of what he has called a “dark period,” a time when hateful speech and vitriol emanate from the White House and are found in abundance everywhere else. Unions, he notes, bring together all kinds of people in a fight that is common to the vast majority, a fight for a better life for oneself and for the next generation.

Black Women in the Labor Movement Have Long Defended American Workers

Black leaders, activists, and organizers formed the backbone of the U.S. labor movement. Even when the forces of structural racism and segregation sought to stifle their contributions, their resolve to fight for workers’ rights alongside the cause of civil rights remained unshakable. Black women, in particular, have played an enormous role in the movement’s legacy and development.

Union Leaders: Keep Protection for TPS and Dreamers Permanent!

Union leaders want Congress to make protections for TPS holders and Dreamers permanent and won’t stop lobbying on their behalf.

More than 30 national unions and labor institutions sent a letter to Washington, D.C., urging Congress to stand by TPSers and Dreamers.

Congress and White House Agree on Infrastructure, But Need a Way to Pay for It

Virtually everyone on Capitol Hill and in the White House seems to agree that the nation’s infrastructure needs immediate federal investment, and on Wednesday the call in the House and Senate was renewed: Figure out how to pay for it....

The Highway Trust Fund is “facing an urgent and dire funding cliff that needs immediate attention,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

“After all the studies outlining this crisis, no meaningful action has been taken to correct decades of chronic underinvestment,” he said.

An Open Letter To Game Developers From America's Largest Labor Organization

If an investor was searching for the country’s most explosively successful commodity, they might look to the ground for natural resources or to Wall Street for some new financial instrument. But, the most meteoric success story can be found virtually all around us—in the booming video game industry. Growing by double digits, U.S. video game sales reached $43 billion in 2018, about 3.6 times greater than the film industry’s record-breaking box office.

Let’s Give Working People the Power to End Government Shutdowns

I understand why it would be insane to spend even a day without controllers, troops, Transportation Security Administration screeners, Coast Guard officers, FBI and Border Patrol agents and a laundry list of other truly essential workers employed by the federal government. What I don’t understand is why we tolerate a system that lets elected officials fail to do their one real job — funding the government — with no consequences for anyone in power.

So Much for the Labor Movement’s Funeral

Something funny happened on the way to the labor movement’s funeral.