By Heather Lothrop Currently, only New York State has legislation that requires domestic workers to be given meal breaks, paid for overtime, paid rest days, and protection against racial and sexual harassment. While these rights are expected in most professions, domestic workers often do not receive these protections from their employers. The employers are not … Continue reading
By Eileen Lohmann On February 28, 2013, union leaders and elected officials in Miami Gardens, Florida, called for comprehensive immigration reform, expressing their support of the AFL-CIO’s immigration reform campaign. Chair of the AFL-CIO’s Immigration Committee and executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, María Elena Durazo explained the union movement’s immigration … Continue reading
By Joanna Solloway In the midst of the presidential elections, AFL-CIO announced that workers at First Transit Region 3 overwhelmingly voted to form their own union with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757. The honorable objective of this new union is to give a stronger voice to Region 3 in efforts to promote collective … Continue reading
Maybe this election year will finally put a stake through the heart of efforts by corporations and extremist right-wing millionaires to silence the voice of California’s working families in the political arena. This year, it’s called Prop. 32 and it’s a near-clone of 2005’s Prop. 75 and 1998’s Prop. 226, which voters defeated by 53% to 47%. Both times, huge mobilizations by … Continue reading
This afternoon a federal judge in Wisconsin struck down two parts of Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 anti-worker law that eliminated collective bargaining rights for public workers. U.S. District Court Judge William Conley ruled against the provision that eliminated payroll deduction for public-sector workers’ union dues. He also ruled against the section that required unions to win 51 … Continue reading
Let’s say you’re earning the $7.25-an-hour minimum wage. How many hours would you have to work to equal what a year of college costs? How about a year of family health insurance premiums? The Center for Economic and Policy Research has crunched the numbers and they’re not pretty. In 2010, a minimum wage worker would have … Continue reading
AFL-CIO Blog: March 25 was 101st anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City, which killed 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women. Many of them jumped to their deaths from the 10-story factory to escape the fire because they were locked inside. While the Triangle fire is a prominent part of labor history, not … Continue reading
The red-carpet glamor and prestige of the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards last night put the pre-Oscar spotlight on the cast of “The Help” in the theatrical motion picture category, with actors themselves choosing the best of the best. “The Help” cast also was recognized with Viola Davis taking the award for best … Continue reading
