Union members in Swampscott, Mass., this week showed just how grassroots democracy works when a coalition of unions from the North Shore Labor Council mobilized to turn back an attack on public employees’ health care and retirement security.
When Bill Brockmiller, president of the Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO , was asked why he and several dozen union and community members and local officials in La Crosse were taking part in Workers Memorial Day ceremonies Sunday, he told WXOW-TV :
You have a right to go to work and earn your daily bread, support your family and come back home at night. So when that doesn't happen, when you lose your life in the pursuit of a paycheck, I think we owe it to those people, and to their family, those they leave behind, to honor that sacrifice.
With the federal minimum wage stuck at $7.25 an hour and an increase facing stiff opposition from congressional Republicans, coalitions of union, community, faith and other groups are mobilizing to win increases in state and local minimum wage levels. Here’s a look at some recent wins and campaigns where AFL-CIO state federations and central labor councils are playing big roles.
Berry Craig, recording secretary for the Paducah-based Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council and a professor of history at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, is a former daily newspaper and Associated Press columnist and currently a member of AFT Local 1360. Craig sends us this.
Retired Kentucky United Steelworkers ( USW ) member Jim Pence is doing his bit to help retire Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “Social media is the way to go,” said Pence, who lives in Glendale, Ky., and belonged to USW Local 423 in Louisville. Pence has opened a pair of Facebook pages: Ditch Mitch and 1,000,000 Strong Against Senator Mitch McConnell in 2014 .
For the past six years, the Erie-Crawford Central Labor Council’s Community Services Committee has helped sponsor an annual “Back to School Free Haircut Day” in conjunction with Michael Hooks of Michael’s Hair Salon in Erie, Pa. In 2006, only 30 or 40 people showed up to the event. This year, it was more than 700.
This year, AFL-CIO Community Services liaison Ron Oliver says more than 700 children took part and, on top of the free haircuts from Hooks and a team of volunteer stylists, each child received a backpack of school supplies and a children’s book.
From San Antonio, Texas, on Thursday to New York City on Sept. 8 , working families in hundreds of towns and cities will honor workers and the work they do that connects us all in Labor Day celebrations organized by local unions , central labor councils and state federations.
Here’s a look at a few events from traditional parades and picnics to political actions. Follow the links for information on each event and find a Labor Day event near you .
Last night in Springfield, Mo., while more than 300 Republican insiders were paying up to $25,000 a head to hear a stump speech by Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, more than 100 union and community activists were outside letting passersby know about Ryan’s and Mitt Romney’s plans to cut taxes for the wealthy and gut Medicare. Activists included members of the Springfield Central Labor Council, Missouri Pro-Vote, Communications Workers of America (CWA) Locals 6312 and 6355, Carpenters Local 978, Electrical Workers (IBEW) Locals 453 and 753, Letter carriers (NALC) Local 203, Missouri AFL-CIO, Missouri Alliance for Retired Americans, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood, Teamster Local 245 and United Transportation Union retirees.
If you live in the Marietta, Ga., area and haven’t registered to vote and are a football fan, you have a chance Wednesday to make your voice heard at the ballot box and meet members of the Atlanta Falcons and NFL Players Association ( NFLPA ). The players are pitching in with the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council for a voter registration event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches at 801 Church St., N.E.
No matter where you live, if you haven’t registered to vote, click here to find out how to register in your state.
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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