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.
Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) International President Matthew D. Loeb was re-elected unanimously this morning to serve another four-year term in the position he has held since 2008. The vote came during the last session of IATSE’s 67th Quadrennial Convention being held in Boston for the past week at the Boston Sheraton Hotel.
Today the AFL-CIO Executive Council released a statement in response to the tragic shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on its commitment to social and economic justice for communities of color. The council also pledged to take action around these issues at the AFL-CIO Convention in September.
Read the text of the statement after the jump.
The deadline for the 2013 Berger-Marks Foundation Edna Award is Aug. 16. The award recognizes a young woman who has made an extraordinary contribution to social justice and to improving the lives of working women and men.
Fill out the nomination form here , and read more about the Edna Award here .
More than four in 10 private-sector workers and 80% of low-wage workers do not have paid sick days. This means people, especially women who are more likely to work in low-wage jobs , constantly have to choose between their health and a paycheck.
The Pulitzer Center is hosting a discussion next Monday by Journalist Stephen Franklin on his project Death Stalks Colombia's Unions .
Space is limited, so RSVP to rsvp@pulitzercenter.org —specify in subject line: July 22 event.
The Detroit Free Press just reported an Ingham County judge threw a wrench in Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's (R) Detroit bankruptcy filing, saying it violates the Michigan Constitution and must be withdrawn.
A McDonald's worker fainted today at New York City's 181st Street and Broadway location after working in the kitchen without air conditioning for several hours. The woman felt ill and asked to leave but says her boss wouldn't allow her to go home because there was no backup. Tweets and photos (see after the jump) surfaced of the woman leaving with paramedics. Outraged by the working conditions, fellow workers walked off the job in protest.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) authorized a bankruptcy filing yesterday for the city of Detroit based on recommendations from financial manager Kevyn Orr, making it the largest city in the United States to ever take that step. AFSCME members and other public-sector workers were not consulted for input before the filing.
You may have heard by now about the McDonald's budgeting tool that assumes people only pay $20 for health insurance and doesn't account for food, gas or other living expenses.
Trade union leaders from G20 countries are meeting this week at the Labor 20 (L20) Summit in Moscow to tackle the world's biggest problems, including rising unemployment, alarming levels of youth unemployment and the overall lack of jobs.
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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