I'm the blog editor and social media manager at the AFL-CIO. Interviewing union musicians was my introduction to the labor movement. My first job after graduating college was in Syracuse, New York, where I wrote and edited the International Musician, the monthly magazine for the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). Protecting Social Security and Medicare from benefit cuts brought me to Washington, D.C., where I spent two years as a new media coordinator at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. I came to the AFL-CIO in the summer of 2012, just in time to re-elect President Barack Obama. When I'm not tweeting about America's unions, it's likely I'm watching Syracuse basketball and football.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is inviting supporters to become “citizen cosponsors” of the Job Preservation and Sequester Replacement Act, which would repeal the sequester’s across-the-board spending cuts and ask the wealthiest 2% and corporations to pay their fair share. Warren is cosponsoring the legislation with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's (D-R.I.).
Sign the petition from Warren to stop the job-killing sequester here.
Washington Nationals wunderkind outfielder Bryce Harper works hard.
Where does he get that work ethic? His father, a union ironworker from Las Vegas, who installs rebar on construction sites in sometimes extreme conditions.
Check out this clip from ESPN's "Bryce Begins." The entire special aired Tuesday night.
Will Fischer, who leads AFL-CIO Community Services, sends us this update welcoming the new class of AFL-CIO Community Services Liaisons:
AFL-CIO Community Services is halfway through wrapping up its annual new staff training. New AFL-CIO Community Services Liaisons and community services representatives from around the country came to Washington, D.C., to receive training that provides them with skills necessary to be more effective in their jobs.
Staff are familiarized with the national AFL-CIO Community Services Network and how Community Services connects to other grassroots work of the AFL-CIO.
Jackie Tortora and Kenneth Quinnell | Political Action/Legislation
Do you care about keeping post offices open, ensuring Saturday delivery for years to come and stopping proposals to lay off postal workers?
Please sign a petition to support a bill that would end the requirement that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) pre-fund 75 years of retiree health care benefits.
We need to talk—about the future of workers and the union movement.
We've all seen the numbers: People are working harder (and have longer hours) and still can't get ahead. Staggering inequality is on the rise and fewer workers have a voice on the job.
It's been a good few years for taxi drivers gaining a voice on the job. Today in Austin, Texas, the National Taxi Workers Alliance (NTWA) granted its first local chapter charter since it joined the AFL-CIO. The NTWA was chartered by the AFL-CIO in 2011, with New York City and Philadelphia locals as the founding members.
The United States is the wealthiest large economy in the world. Yet, for some reason, we can't seem to find a way to invest in our nation's children.
A new UNICEF paper, Child Well-Being in Rich Countries, looks at how wealthy countries are raising their children. It examines "children’s well-being in terms of material conditions (related to household-income levels); health and safety; education; risky behavior (such as excessive alcohol consumption); and physical environment, including housing conditions."
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) issued a statement today, responding to the sale of the iconic Twinkies brand.
In response to Metropoulos & Co. CEO C. Dean Metropoulos' statement to The Wall Street Journal that the company will not hire union workers when reopening four former Hostess Brands bakeries, BCTGM International President David B. Durkee issued the following statement on behalf of all BCTGM members:
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Daily Kos are taking action to stop the measure to cut Social Security benefits known as "chained" CPI.
Wall Street wrecked the economy, and banks are still refusing to work with people who are trying to stay in their homes. The Campaign for a Fair Settlement, along with other partners, is calling on President Obama to champion an agenda that would:
1. Hold bankers accountable for their crimes.
2. Keep people in their homes by resetting their mortgages.
Sign the pledge to fight for a common-sense immigration process that creates a road map to citizenship for aspiring Americans.
Click here »
Tell us about the good stuff happening where you live and work.
