I am a long-time blogger, campaign staffer and political activist. Before joining the AFL-CIO in 2012, I worked as labor reporter for the blog Crooks and Liars. Previous experience includes Communications Director for the Darcy Burner for Congress Campaign and New Media Director for the Kendrick Meek for Senate Campaign, founding and serving as the primary author for the influential state blog Florida Progressive Coalition and more than 10 years as a college instructor teaching political science and American History. My writings have also appeared on Daily Kos, Alternet, the Guardian Online, Media Matters for America, Think Progress, Campaign for America's Future and elsewhere. I am the proud father of three future progressive activists, an accomplished rapper and karaoke enthusiast.
In a ruling last week , the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2011 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that said people in unions can organize smaller units of workers, rejecting Specialty Healthcare's claim that the NLRB overstepped its bounds. The company originally attempted to prevent a group of nursing assistants from forming a union without also including other, nonprofessional employees.
A group of working families advocates, led by labor unions and community and faith groups, visited the office of Rep. Rodney Davis (R) in Champaign, Ill., delivering a letter that asked him to support a comprehensive immigration policy with a road map to citizenship. Davis was not present. While a Davis spokesperson said he has an open mind on immigration, he has repeatedly put forth issue stances on immigration that are punitive and regressive and said that bill that passed the Senate was "dead on arrival."
A packed schedule at the upcoming AFL-CIO National Convention will feature appearances by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez. The quadrennial convention will take place in Los Angeles from Sept. 8–11. The AFL-CIO's 27th convention will focus on the changing face of labor and chart out new directions for the labor movement in the coming years. It also will include a series of breakout action sessions that will lay out strategies for the future and will elect the union's officers.
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that wages for the vast majority of America's working families have stagnated or declined over the past decade and that raising wages is the key challenge facing the country in terms of growing the economy and recovering from the Great Recession. In A Decade of Flat Wages: The Key Barrier to Shared Prosperity and a Rising Middle Class, authors Lawrence Mishel and Heidi Shierholz note that while productivity and corporate profits are on the rise, that prosperity is not being shared with workers. They also point out that the only notable growth in wages is concentrated on corporate executives and in the finance sector, meaning the bulk of wage growth has gone to the upper 1% of the workforce.
Community service isn't always the first thing that comes to mind when people think of unions, but it should be close to the top of the list. Union members are community-minded by their very nature and they prove this every day through the many different service projects they create and participate in, on and off the clock.
The latest video from the Electrical Workers ( IBEW ) takes a look at the fast-growing solar panel business and how IBEW members are working hand in hand with management at Sharp Electronics to manufacture a quality product. Business is booming at the Memphis, Tenn., plant and that owes a lot to the skill and training of the IBEW members who work there.
A Superior Court judge ruled on Monday against Anchorage, Alaska, Mayor Dan Sullivan who sought to block a proposed referendum to repeal an anti-working families law he signed in March. A coalition of municipal unions and their allies filed the paperwork to launch a petition drive to get the repeal on the ballot, but the city rejected the application.
The unions sued and the court found the city was wrong to conclude that the matter was ineligible for a referendum.
The coalition announced on Twitter that they will begin gathering petitions on Thursday.
While business is booming in the Maine lobster industry, significant concerns have driven the men and women who catch the delicacy organizing the industry's first union . This past Sunday, the new organization—the Maine Lobstering Union—held its first official meeting, nominated officers and members paid their first dues.
The impact of a child owning a book cannot be overstated, which is why on July 25, the Cleveland Teachers Union ( CTU ) partnered with community group Esperanza to donate more than 6,000 books to Latino families in the area. The event was held in conjunction with the First Book National Book Bank and was part of a community fair that included face painting, hot dogs and other activities organized and staffed by CTU members.
The latest post in the Workonomics series at Upworthy asks the question, "How Did We Get to a Point Where a Child Is Saying Sorry to Her Mom for Costing Her Money?" The video is an excerpt from the HBO documentary "American Winter," which follows eight families struggling in the aftermath of the Great Recession. This clip shows how income inequality and cuts to social services have real consequences for families.
It’s been four years since low-wage workers got a raise. Sign the petition to tell Congress it’s time to raise the minimum wage.
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