AFL-CIO Blog

  • Shuler Joins Graduate Teachers Seeking Recognition of Their Union at Yale's Commencement
    Shuler Joins Graduate Teachers Seeking Recognition of Their Union at Yale's Commencement Liz ShulerLiz Shuler joins graduate teachers who voted for a union with UNITE HERE Local 33 at Yale's commencement. Thousands of supporters rallied today at Yale University's commencement in solidarity with the graduate teachers who formed a union with UNITE HERE Local 33. The university has refused to recognize the union and come to the negotiating table.  Eight union members who were on a hunger strike broke their fast today.  AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler joined the graduate professionals and delivered remarks from the rally. 
    Let me read you a bit of Yale’s mission statement. Yale is committed to improving the world today and for future generations....We carry out this mission through the free exchange of ideas in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community of faculty, staff, students, and alumni. So my question is this: How are you improving the world by denying student-workers a voice on the job? How are you fostering a free exchange of ideas by refusing to bargain? Do you really want Yale to be the Walmart of the Ivy League?
    Do you really want Yale to be the Walmart of the Ivy League? Liz Shuler
    Shuler reminded the university that under the law, graduate teachers are employees. Some have speculated that Yale's stalling tactics are because it hopes a newly engineered National Labor Relations Board put in place by the Trump administration could roll back gains won by graduate teachers.  Shuler said:
    Yale teaching assistants meet the common law definition of employees. They also meet the common sense definition. They work. For pay. And they voted democratically to form a union. It is time for Yale to acknowledge what is right in front of them. Brave, proud union members who decided to make this campus their home. When these student-workers look at that Yale degree on the office wall of whatever amazing job they do next, will they remember a university that did right by them? Or will they remember just another employer that made their lives harder for power and greed? Yale, you can fix this today. If you need someone to beat, stick to Harvard.
    Jackie Tortora Mon, 05/22/2017 - 13:41 Tags: graduate     — May 22
  • Trumpcare in Trump Country: The Working People Weekly List
    Trumpcare in Trump Country: The Working People Weekly List Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s this week’s Working People Weekly List. Trumpcare Is Already Hurting Trump Country: "The mere threat that Obamacare will be dismantled or radically changed—either by Congress or by President Trump himself—has persuaded several big insurance companies to stop selling policies or significantly raise premiums." More Protests, Tough Questions at Shareholder Meeting of Oreo-Maker Mondelez: "It was deja vu all over again at the annual shareholder meeting Wednesday for Mondelēz International, a global snack food company known for brands like Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers." Why I’m Fasting with Other Graduate Students at Yale: "Our intention is not to starve Yale out or close down discussion by inflicting violence upon ourselves. Quite the contrary: We are fasting to draw attention to Yale’s continued refusal to sit down and have a conversation with us about our union, our issues, and our contracts. This is why I joined the fast." Offshoring of Oreo-Maker Jobs Dominates Mondelēz Shareholder Meeting: "Mondelēz International’s offshoring of jobs and the company’s relentless cost-cutting came under repeated criticism at the Mondelēz annual shareholder meeting on May 17 in Lincolnshire, Ill. Outside the shareholder meeting, members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and other unions protested the company’s 2016 decision to move 600 Nabisco factory workers’ jobs from the Southside of Chicago to Salinas, Mexico." Yale: Negotiate with Your Graduate Teachers: "In February, the graduate teachers voted to be represented by UNITE HERE. But Yale University has refused to negotiate with them. If they stall long enough, more appointees by President Donald Trump will be seated at the National Labor Relations Board. How quickly do you think those appointees would vote to roll back the rights of graduate workers?" Celebrating AAPI Resistance in the Labor Movement: "As we look back at the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance’s first action at the founding convention to march for justice after the beating of Rodney King 25 years ago, we’re proud of our deep roots of solidarity and resistance. Today, with millions of people mobilizing in marches and protests across the nation, from the Women’s March to the People’s Climate March, we are living in a time where we cannot stand silent when Muslim, immigrant, refugee, women and LGBTQ communities are constantly under attack. As a refugee from Ethiopia and an immigrant from the Philippines—and both as parents—we take these attacks personal and are concerned about the type of world our own children are growing up in." Fellow Workers: "John Sayles—who will appear at the May 16 DC LaborFest screening of "Matewan"—is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for "Passion Fish" and "Lone Star." The screening is Tuesday, May 16, 7 p.m. at AFI Silver Theatre; tickets here. Sayles will receive the LaborFest’s Tony Mazzocchi Labor Arts Award and do a Q&A after the film." Kenneth Quinnell Sun, 05/21/2017 - 07:07 — May 21
  • Stand with Striking AT&T Workers This Weekend
    Stand with Striking AT&T Workers This Weekend CWA This afternoon, 40,000 working people at AT&T announced they were going on strike. After months at the bargaining table, the employees haven't been able to win a fair union contract. AT&T's leaders seem dead set on lining their own pockets at the expense of workers making them billions. The strike includes 21,000 retail and call center workers employed by AT&T Wireless across the country (in 36 states and Washington, D.C.), and 19,000 AT&T West and DIRECTV employees in California, Nevada and Connecticut. This is the first time AT&T wireless workers have gone on strike, which could result in closed retail stores this weekend, and may be the largest strike of retail workers at a national company is U.S. history. The workers plan to return to work on Monday. Show your support for the striking workers at an AT&T retail store this weekend. Find a location near you and RSVP. If you can't join a picket line, send an email to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson saying you stand with working people fighting for good jobs. Follow the striking workers on Twitter @UnityAtMobility or Facebook.   Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 05/19/2017 - 15:40 — May 19
  • Trumka Delivers Petitions to Angela Merkel on Behalf of Working People at T-Mobile and Volkswagen
    Trumka Delivers Petitions to Angela Merkel on Behalf of Working People at T-Mobile and Volkswagen AFL-CIO AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka attended the Labour 20 conference last week in Germany, where he hand-delivered petition signatures to Chancellor Angela Merkel on behalf of workers at T-Mobile and Volkswagen, seeking justice for the working people employed by the German companies in the United States. Skilled trades workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant voted in 2015 to join a union, but the company refuses to negotiate with them. Among other complaints, T-Mobile was ordered last month by a federal administrative judge to shut down an illegal union set up by management. The Labour 20 brought together unions from G-20 countries to working to advocate pro-worker positions to their labor ministers. The assembled countries made commitments to clean up global supply chains, provide decent work, ensure living wages, and integrate migrants, women, refugees and young people into their workplaces. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 05/19/2017 - 14:54 — May 19
  • Offshoring of Oreo-Maker Jobs Dominates Mondelēz Shareholder Meeting
    Offshoring of Oreo-Maker Jobs Dominates Mondelēz Shareholder Meeting BCTGM Mondelēz International’s offshoring of jobs and the company’s relentless cost-cutting came under repeated criticism at the Mondelēz annual shareholder meeting on May 17 in Lincolnshire, Ill. Outside the shareholder meeting, members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and other unions protested the company’s 2016 decision to move 600 Nabisco factory workers’ jobs from the Southside of Chicago to Salinas, Mexico. Inside the meeting, BCTGM Vice President Jethro Head introduced an AFL-CIO shareholder proposal that urges the company to form a labor-management committee to seek alternatives to plant closings. Head highlighted the impact of recent plant closings, explaining that "these communities are the poster child for economic insecurity that is plaguing so many American cities and towns." UFCW Vice President Mark Lauritsen spoke in favor of the shareholder proposal on behalf of the International Union of Food Workers (IUF), a world-wide federation of trade unions: "Mondelēz workers around the world are demoralized and worried about the future direction of the company," he said, adding that "Mondelēz should be investing for the future rather than endlessly cutting costs." BCTGM Secretary-Treasurer Steve Bertelli questioned Mondelēz CEO Irene Rosenfeld’s $16.7 million total compensation package that she received in 2016. He contrasted her lavish pay to the company’s low manufacturing worker wages in Salinas and asked, "Shouldn’t our company’s CEO pay be reasonable relative to all company employees?" Anthony Jackson, a former Mondelēz employee whose job was offshored from Chicago to Mexico, challenged Rosenfeld’s business plan for the company: "Rather than improve revenue growth, the company has cut costs to increase its profits," Jackson said. "Why not treat your workers fairly and improve the company’s reputation in the communities it operates?" Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 05/18/2017 - 13:30 — May 18