While working families, civil rights groups and people from all over gathered in cities across the United States yesterday to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, AFL-CIO affiliate unions, constituency groups and allies also expressed their shock over the verdict. 

AFSCME President Lee Saunders said in the fight for justice, it's time to stand our ground.

With the world closely watching for news on the health of former South African president and legendary anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, this year’s July 18 Mandela Day ceremonies take on special significance.

The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists  (CBTU), TransAfrica and the South African Embassy will host a Mandela Day celebration at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church at 1518 M St., N.W., in Washington, D.C., from 7 to 9 p.m. EDT.

On Wednesday, top leaders of Brazil's largest trade union federation, Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), including President Vagner Freitas, João Felicio and Artur Henrique, met with U.S. union leaders at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., to discuss strategies for joint action, priorities and partnerships moving forward.

Organizations representing flight attendants, air marshals and other concerned groups protested a new policy, announced by the Transportation Security Administration, that would allow small knives and other potentially dangerous items to be carried on to commercial flights. Labor and community groups say that allowing these items on planes breaks down one of the integral layers keeping the U.S. aviation system secure.

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) President Veda Shook said:

Flight Attendants will not stand silently by as knives are re-introduced to the aircraft cabin. Flight Attendants serve as the last line of defense in aviation security, and we are responsible for ensuring the safety, health and security of everyone on board.

Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts and nine other union members were arrested in front of Peabody Energy’s corporate headquarters in St. Louis yesterday, as more than 750 members and retirees sang Amazing Grace and held signs calling for fairness. Several of those arrested had oxygen tanks, and many in the crowd were brought to tears as the arrested protesters were peacefully loaded into the sheriff’s van while Which Side Are You On played on the loudspeakers. The protesters arrived at Peabody after marching from federal bankruptcy court, where Patriot Coal’s lawyers were inside. Those arrested were released later in the day, according to the St. Louis City Division of Corrections. 

Dwight Kirk sends us this update following the recent Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) convention in St. Louis. A new era has dawned with the election of Terrence (Terry) L. Melvin as the new president chosen to lead the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU). Melvin, who is also the secretary-treasurer of the powerful New York State AFL-CIO, succeeds William (Bill) Lucy, the iconic labor leader who had held the position since he co-founded CBTU in 1972. Melvin was elected unanimously over the past weekend by delegates who attended CBTU’s international convention in St. Louis.

Dwight Kirk sent us this from the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) convention in St. Louis. With more than 50 CBTU chapters across the United States and Canada, CBTU includes 2.1 million black workers represented by unions.

The parents of slain Trayvon Martin got a big union hug and a standing ovation yesterday in a ballroom packed with members of CBTU, who attended the opening session of CBTU’s 41st international convention in St. Louis. The 17-year-old Trayvon was murdered during an encounter with George Zimmerman, who followed the teenager just because he fitted a negative racial profile.

William (Bill) Lucy, president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), is stepping down from the post he has held since he co-founded the CBTU in 1972. He says:

It’s time for a new leader to step into these shoes and connect with young workers who need to see their generation out front in more leadership roles, trying new approaches to empower black trade unionists and achieve social justice at home and abroad.

Marvin Bing, a member of the AFL-CIO Special Committee on Labor-Community Partnerships, sends us this report on a meeting of AFL-CIO constituency groups in Phoenix.

AFL-CIO constituency groups kicked off the “We Are One Moving America Forward” symposium late last week with a series of great speeches by William Lucy, Ben Jealous, George Gresham, Danny Ortega and Judith Browne-Dianis. A resounding theme: “We can’t let the 1 percent trick us into believing we are different—We are the 99 percent, we are one and if we don’t work together on issues that bring us together, we will fall together.” We are the people who fight for working families, we are the people who fight to protect our students, children, seniors and families. We are the labor movement and together with the community we are unbeatable.

Brenda Loya in AFL-CIO Media Affairs sends us this from Alabama, where she will report on the delegation of African American labor and civil rights leaders as they investigate Alabama’s recently passed anti-immigrant law. Follow the delegation here.

With the passage of H.B. 56, Alabama has taken a huge step backward, into the 1950s. Today, an African American delegation of labor and civil rights leaders traveled to Birmingham, Ala., to help shed a light on what is seen as one of the harshest immigration laws in the country and how it invokes inhumanity reminiscent of the Jim Crow South.