AFL-CIO Blog

  • Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profiles: Shwe Aung
    Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profiles: Shwe Aung For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today's profile is Shwe Aung. Shwe Aung has overcome many obstacles as an inspector and member of the Seafarers (SIU) to bring about change to the treatment of vulnerable workers on ships. His story is one of perseverance and proves that standing up for those you work with can make a difference in the world. Aung worked as a Burmese merchant mariner before coming to the United States as a refugee. Once here, Aung became an American citizen, a labor activist and a highly effective international labor leader. Watch this video to learn more about Shwe Aung, Burmese cowboy: Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 05/17/2021 - 09:43 — May 17
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Texas AFL-CIO Continues to Fight Against Voter Suppression
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Texas AFL-CIO Continues to Fight Against Voter Suppression Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. The Texas House last week passed S.B. 7, the dominant voter suppression bill in a legislative session in which monkeying with elections became a top leadership priority despite near-universal agreement that the November election was clean from top to bottom. The House’s version differs from the Senate’s, creating the possibility of a House-Senate conference committee adopting the worst of both bills because one political party is making the decisions. Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy (CWA) issued this statement on the 78-64 vote:
    S.B. 7 gives new momentum to an ugly legacy of Texas voter suppression, making voting harder, especially for Texans who are Black, Latino, Asian American, immigrants or persons with disabilities. The bill will cost working families jobs, now and in the future, and it will suppress votes, not protect them. S.B. 7 is yet another illustration of how this Legislature has chosen to divide, rather than unite, and to put a purely partisan political playbook ahead of the people of Texas.
    Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 05/17/2021 - 08:33 Tags: COVID-19, Community Service     — May 17
  • Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profiles: Michael Carandang
    Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profiles: Michael Carandang For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today's profile is Michael Carandang. Michael Carandang is one of 30 Federal Aviation Administration employees who work in Guam to support the U.S. aviation system. He is an active member of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) and a union representative for his fellow employees, most of whom are also PASS members. He is proud of his Pacific Islander heritage and is a dedicated federal employee, serving his country since 1982. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 05/14/2021 - 09:30 — May 14
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: BAC Joins Forces with Indian Union to Demand Justice for Construction Workers in New Jersey
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: BAC Joins Forces with Indian Union to Demand Justice for Construction Workers in New Jersey Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. The Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) and Indian labor union Pathar Gadhai Mazdoor Suraksha Sangh (PGMSS) are joining forces to raise the alarm about forced labor allegedly taking place at a construction site in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The unions are fighting for the more than 200 Indian immigrant workers there who are being exploited in the construction of a new Hindu temple. In their legal filing on Tuesday, the workers allege shocking levels of wage theft, coercion and fraud by an employer who lied to them and to the U.S. government, claiming that they were religious volunteers who did not seek or expect pay in return for their skilled labor. “The shocking levels of exploitation alleged in this case are a stark reminder that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We applaud the BAC and PGMSS for their work to support these brave temple stone workers, and America’s unions will stand proudly with them in their fight,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA). “To fix the systems that have failed working families, we must be united across borders. Only then can we rewrite the rules of the economy and ensure that workers are no longer treated like disposable commodities in our global supply chains. The labor movement will remain steadfast in this struggle until all people, regardless of where we were born, are able to live and work safely and with dignity.” Click here to read more. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 05/14/2021 - 08:30 Tags: COVID-19, Community Service, India — May 14
  • 15 Ways the American Families Plan Will Help Working People
    15 Ways the American Families Plan Will Help Working People President Biden recently announced the American Families Plan, legislation that is designed to invest in children, families and our economic future. Here are 15 provisions from the proposal that will help working people:
    1. Invests in education from early childhood to postsecondary so that young people can learn, grow and gain skills they need to succeed.
    2. Provides universal, high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-olds, which not only helps prepare those children to be lifelong learners, it lessens the stress on working parents.
    3. Provides Americans two free years of community college, including to Dreamers.
    4. Investments in making college more affordable for low- and middle-income students, including providing assistance to colleges that serve communities that have been historically marginalized, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), institutions such as Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs).
    5. Invests in teacher training and support.
    6. Provides direct support to families to insure that we spend no more than 7% of our income on child care and to ensure that this child care is of high quality. 
    7. Creates a national paid family and medical leave program that will bring us in line with similar countries.
    8. Reduces childhood hunger by providing nutrition assistance to families in need.
    9. Extends key tax cuts that benefit lower- and middle-income working families, including the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.
    10. Extends expanded health insurance tax credits, which would help 9 million people maintain health insurance and allow 4 million more to gain it.
    11. Expansion of Pell Grants for students seeking a certificate, two- or four-year degree.
    12. Modernize the unemployment insurance system to make access more equitable while continuing to prevent fraud.
    13. Lowers prescription drug costs by letting Medicare negotiate prices. 
    14. Extends health care tax credits and invests in various health care programs so that millions of Americans will gain health insurance.
    15. Reforms the tax code, which will result in fewer loopholes for the wealthy and create more opportunity for working families.
    Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 05/13/2021 - 11:56     — May 13