AFL-CIO Blog

  • Service & Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW Members at National Grid Approve Contract with 4% Annual Wage Increase
    Service & Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW Members at National Grid Approve Contract with 4% Annual Wage Increase Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. Some 1,200 National Grid employees, members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1049, who work in Long Island’s natural gas and power plants, voted 590–90 to approve a new contract. The successful vote ends a monthslong contract negotiation period during which workers were on the verge of a strike multiple times. The new four-year contract includes a 4% yearly wage increase across the length of the contract, a reduction in out-of-pocket health care costs, and improvements in 401(k) and life insurance policies. “This is an agreement that I have been able to endorse. The negotiating committee as a whole has endorsed this new agreement,” said Pat Guidice, the union’s business manager. “It’s a good agreement.” “From the moment negotiations started, our membership’s well-being was our foremost priority,” Guidice said. “We’re pleased to see that our membership voted in favor of the new deal.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 04/23/2025 - 08:59 — Apr 23
  • Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers in Georgia and North Carolina Speak Out at DPWL Public Hearings
    Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers in Georgia and North Carolina Speak Out at DPWL Public Hearings Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. As part of a nationwide series of Department of People Who Work for a Living (DPWL) events taking place this month, the Georgia State AFL-CIO and North Carolina State AFL-CIO held public hearings last week to discuss how cuts to federal funding and jobs have impacted local residents. Workers in Warner Robins, Georgia, and Asheville, North Carolina, bravely spoke out about how attacks on federal agencies by Elon Musk’s DOGE are threatening their local economy, jeopardizing critical funding for important social services we all rely on, and putting the most vulnerable in danger. Local lawmakers and union leaders attended the events to hear this powerful testimony and speak about what we can do to fight back. Rep. Austin Scott (Ga.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) were both invited to listen to the concerns of constituents from their respective states, but both failed to make an appearance. “Those patients that I get up and take care of every day, that's what's important to me,” said Lori Hedrick, a nurse at Mission Hospital in Asheville. “These Medicaid cuts that are being proposed [are] going to be devastating to so many of them. We're just going to experience an overload, a much worse staffing crisis. Emergency room wait times, that's going to become even worse.” “It’s not a political job that I do,” said Abby Tighe, a former probationary worker at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who spoke at the Warner Robins hearing. “It’s not a political job that anyone at the CDC does. We are here to serve the American people, and we should be supported by the executive branch and by the legislative branch to do that work.” Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 04/22/2025 - 09:59 — Apr 22
  • Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Amalgamated Transit Union
    Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Amalgamated Transit Union This is the next post in our series that will take a deeper look at each of our affiliates. The series will run weekly until we've covered all 63 of our affiliates. Next up is the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). Name of Union: Amalgamated Transit Union Mission: To fight for the rights of transit workers and promote mass transit. Current Leadership of Union: John A. Costa is the current international president of ATU. After the tragic death of ATU International President Larry Hanley in May 2019, Costa was elected by the ATU General Executive Board. He was elected international president in 2019 and re-elected in 2022 by delegates at the ATU International Convention. He had served as an international vice president since 2010. Previously he was chair of the ATU New Jersey State Council from 2008–2010. A native of Newark, New Jersey, Costa launched his career in organized labor at NJ Transit in 1981, joining ATU Local 819. In 2001, after serving his local in various capacities, he was elected president—a position he held for three consecutive terms before moving on to become chair of the ATU New Jersey State Council and then ultimately ATU international vice president. He also previously served as vice president of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO and vice president of the Essex-West Hudson Labor Council. He lives in Monmouth County, New Jersey, with his wife and has two daughters and three grandchildren. Yvette Trujillo serves as international executive vice president, and Kenneth R. Kirk serves as international secretary-treasurer. Current Number of Members: Over 200,000. Members Work as: Metropolitan, interstate and school bus drivers; paratransit, light rail, subway, streetcar and ferry boat operators; mechanics and other maintenance workers; clerks, baggage handlers, municipal employees and other occupations. Industries Represented: Transit and allied workers in the United States and Canada. History: As industrialization advanced in the United States in the late 1800s, more and more workers needed transportation and workers to run that transportation. Mass transit workers in the early days largely worked with horses that pulled streetcars. The drivers often worked 18-hour days while the horses worked four hours a day or less. The harsh treatment, lack of benefits and low pay planted the seeds for the rise of ATU. Early on, there were numerous attempts to form a union of transit workers, but efforts had little success until 1888, when Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, led efforts to organize the streetcar workers. In 1892, the first convention of what would become ATU was held in Indianapolis.  Although the year after the first convention was challenging, the union became a beacon of hope for transit workers. Within that first year, 28 local divisions were formed and the first Canadian local was chartered in 1893. Seven years later, membership had reached 8,000. In the years that followed, ATU continued to expand rapidly amid an era of strikes and violence. The stronger the organization became, the more impact it had. ATU not only pushed for labor reforms such as the six-day workweek and the eight-hour day, but championed technology and rules that made mass transit safer for both workers and riders. Current Campaigns: The ATU-COPE political action committee is the voice of transit workers, school bus employees and over-the-road bus workers at all levels of government. The Government Affairs Department is dedicated to protecting the jobs and working conditions of all ATU members; it monitors legislation impacting transit, school bus and intercity bus transportation at the federal and state levels.  Community Efforts: In pursuit of its values and mission, ATU has community partnerships with a wide variety of organizations, including the AFL-CIO; BlueGreen Alliance; Coalition for Smarter Growth; Good Jobs First; Industrial Areas Foundation; International Transportation Learning Center; Jobs to Move America; Jobs With Justice; People’s Action; PowerSwitch Action; Sierra Club; Transportation Equity Network/Gamaliel; Transportation for America; Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Transit Riders for Public Transit; Transit Workforce Center; U.S. PIRG; and Working America. The Black Caucus is dedicated to the empowerment of all working men and women within ATU. The Women’s Caucus takes on the issues that women face daily, finding collective solutions. The Latino Caucus upholds the rights of Latinos and others to fully develop their cultural traditions. The International PRIDE Caucus serves as a gathering place for members who identify as LGBTQIA+ and allies, providing networking and team building across different properties, roles, levels, races, abilities and ethnic backgrounds. ATU publishes a blog, the ATU Dispatch member newsletter, and In Transit, a quarterly magazine covering labor and transit news from the United States and Canada, the activities of the international union, and feature stories about local unions and members. ATU provides training and education for members. The ATU Disaster Relief Fund helps members affected by tragedies. ATU sells merchandise in its online store. Learn More: Website, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, Bluesky, Threads Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 04/21/2025 - 12:00 — Apr 21
  • You Made This Possible: The Working People Weekly List
    You Made This Possible: 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 the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List. Unions Form Pro Bono Legal Network for Federal Workers Targeted by Trump: “‘We are still operating as though there is a rule of law,’ Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said of the network’s intent to bring individual cases through the administrative board process. ‘We are suing when things go awry, but we are watching closely to see that the rule of law holds.’” AFL-CIO Plans Nearly 400 Events to Protest Government Overhaul: “The AFL-CIO will launch nearly 400 events nationwide over the next two weeks in an effort to push back on the administration’s changes to the federal government. The events are organized under the AFL-CIO’s Department of People Who Work for a Living campaign—a shot at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Some of the events, beginning during this two-week congressional recess and going until April 28, will be rallies outside federal agencies and protests outside lawmakers' offices. But the centerpiece will be 19 ‘field hearings,’ according to Eddie Vale, who is consulting with the AFL-CIO. Workers from across different unions and sectors will be able to share their stories and solutions to the Trump administration's cuts.” ‘You Made This Possible’: Labor Organizers Submit Twice the Signatures Needed to Put Bargaining Ban to Voters: “Labor groups submitted some 320,000 signatures Wednesday, more than double the number required, in their effort to repeal an anti-union bill passed by the Republican-led Legislature this year. The overwhelming number makes the union’s Protect Utah Workers campaign the largest signature-gathering campaign in state history. Union members lined up Wednesday morning to unload and deliver about 20 bankers boxes of signature packets to the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office before gathering outside and singing ‘Solidarity Forever,’ a popular anthem of trade unions.” U.S. Labor Groups Sue Over ‘Ignorant’ Cuts of Programs Fighting Child Labor Abroad: “Shawna Bader-Blau, the executive director of the Solidarity Center, a non-profit working in more than 90 countries to improve worker standards and conditions, said the cuts reduced the organization’s budget by 20%, in addition to 30% cuts through USAID cuts. ‘It’s a devastating, huge impact. The Solidarity Center is very often in countries where they are the only external support for trade union organizing and the advancement of worker rights. If we have to leave, we’re not replaced,’ said Bader-Blau. ‘It’s critical to the American economy that American workers not be forced to compete with extremely exploited workers in other countries, up to and including forced and child labor in supply chains.’” Unions Sue to Reverse Trump’s Dismantling of Labor Mediation Agency: “The AFL-CIO, the United Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Government Employees and nearly a dozen other unions joined in the suit, saying cuts to the agency endanger both workers and the economy. The cuts stem from a March 14 executive order that calls for a near-elimination of the agency and six others in the interest of the president’s government-slashing agenda led by the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).” SMART Union Demands Return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Worker Illegally Deported by Trump: “The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART) is calling on Americans to contact their representatives and senators to demand the Trump administration facilitate the immediate return of a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national legally living in the U.S. with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE agents in Baltimore last month on accusations of being an MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia, who hasn’t been charged or convicted of any crime, has since been detained at the Center for Terrorism Confinement, a maximum-security prison accused by human rights groups of torture and due process violations.” Chicago Teachers Reach Contract Deal for First Time in More Than Decade Without Strike: “For the first time in over a decade, Chicago’s public school teachers have a new contract without a strike or threat of a walkout. The four-year agreement includes pay hikes, hiring more teachers and class size limits. While negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and the district didn’t escalate this time, there was unprecedented turmoil surrounding the unusual yearlong talks. The drama included the school superintendent’s firing, the entire board resigning and historic elections that tested the union’s power.” Commercial Actors Union Reaches Agreement on New Labor Contract: “The labor union representing around 133,000 commercial actors and singers reached a tentative agreement with advertisers and advertising agencies for a new collective bargaining agreement. SAG-AFTRA and the Joint Police Committee announced their tentative deal April 12 after the union extended its contract deadline several times. SAG-AFTRA said in its statement that the agreement would go up to the union’s national board for review and then to a ratification vote for members.” Over 200 Hennepin County Physicians Certified as First to Unionize in Minnesota: “Around 250 doctors at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) have been certified as the first unionized resident and fellow physicians in Minnesota, according to union officials. The physicians are represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local of the Service Employees International Union (CIR/SEIU), who said the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services made the certification on April 3.” Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 04/21/2025 - 11:41 — Apr 21
  • Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Nurses at Hawaii’s Wilcox Medical Center Ratify New Contract that Raises Pay, Includes Safer Staffing Levels
    Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Nurses at Hawaii’s Wilcox Medical Center Ratify New Contract that Raises Pay, Includes Safer Staffing Levels Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. After nearly a year of negotiations and a three-day strike in January, nurses who work at Wilcox Medical Center in Hawaii voted to approve a new three-year contract that went into effect this week. The new agreement covers about 160 Wilcox nurses, members of the Hawaii Nurses’ Association (HNA), and increases pay and improves staffing levels at the medical center. HNA is affiliated with Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 50. Negotiations began May 6, 2024, and the nurses have worked since August without a contract. In February, the Kauai County Council unanimously passed a resolution urging the state legislature to implement safe nurse-to-patient ratios at hospitals. “It has been a relentless battle for almost a year,” said HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu. “After countless hours of organizing over 35 bargaining sessions, a three-day strike, and a Kauai County resolution, we are finally seeing a breakthrough.” The agreement includes pay increases that provide a 6% pay increase this year and 4% each in the second and third years of the contract. It also includes longevity pay increases. Staffing guidelines have been set up that align with national professional nursing organizations. The agreement also features a new Staffing Council made up of Wilcox nurses and nurse leaders who will meet regularly about staffing issues and needs. Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 04/21/2025 - 08:54 — Apr 21