AFL-CIO Blog

  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Maine’s Labor Movement Celebrates 20 Years of Food and Medicine
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Maine’s Labor Movement Celebrates 20 Years of Food and Medicine 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 labor movement in Maine is celebrating 20 years of Food and Medicine (FAM) with a new video about the union-backed organization. FAM started in 2001 when a series of companies outsourced jobs and left some 3,000 Mainers jobless. “Food and Medicine was founded with the idea that nobody should be forced to choose [between] food, medicine and other basic necessities,” said FAM Director Jack McKay (not pictured). “That was a moral position that we had in the beginning.” Over the years, FAM has launched a series of programs to improve the lives of working people in Maine, including Solidarity Harvest, which has taken place every Thanksgiving since 2003. FAM purchases large quantities of fresh food from local farmers and gives meal baskets to unions, churches and nonprofit organizations to distribute to laid-off workers and families in need. Solidarity Harvest is sponsored by the eastern, southern and western Maine labor councils. Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 12/13/2021 - 09:44 — Dec 13
  • Economy Gains 210,000 Jobs in November; Unemployment Down to 4.2%
    Economy Gains 210,000 Jobs in November; Unemployment Down to 4.2% The U.S. economy gained 210,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate declined to 4.2%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In response to the November job numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted: Last month’s biggest job gains were in professional and business services (+90,000), transportation and warehousing (+50,000), construction (+31,000), manufacturing (+31,000), leisure and hospitality (+23,000) and financial activities (+13,000). The only industry to see losses over the month was retail trade (-20,000). In November, employment showed little change in other major industries, including health care, information, mining, other services, public and private education and wholesale trade. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates fell in November for Black Americans (6.7%), Hispanics (5.2%), adult men (4.0%), adult women (4.0%) and White Americans (3.7%). The jobless rates for teenagers (11.2%) and Asian Americans (3.8%) showed little change over the month. The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) showed little change in November and accounted for 32.1% of the total unemployed. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 12/03/2021 - 10:54 — Dec 3
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: IFPTE Members Help Secure Settlement for DoorDash Workers in San Francisco
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: IFPTE Members Help Secure Settlement for DoorDash Workers in San Francisco 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. DoorDash workers in San Francisco will receive restitution from a $5.3-million-dollar settlement over the food delivery company’s violations of local labor laws. The settlement, which benefits at least 4,000 delivery workers, stems from an investigation initiated by the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, which employs government workers represented by International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21. Local 21 Vice President Bianca Polovina, responsible for the local’s membership recruitment and organizing, commented, “As a union member and public sector worker, I can’t be more proud that this settlement will compensate these gig workers, who unfortunately do not enjoy the same worker protections as most of us. Our local applauds this decision.” Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 12/03/2021 - 10:18 — Dec 3
  • ‘State of the Unions’ Podcast: Her First 100 Days
    ‘State of the Unions’ Podcast: Her First 100 Days AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler sits down with Emily's List President Laphonza Butler to talk about life as newly elected women leaders as Shuler celebrates her first 100 days. They lay out their plans to build more inclusive labor and political movements, respectively. They also discuss how their lives have changed since becoming new leaders of their organizations. “State of the Unions” is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and anywhere else you can find podcasts. Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 12/02/2021 - 11:22 Tags: Podcast — Dec 2
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: ALPA Launches Public Awareness Campaign Ahead of Holiday Travel Season
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: ALPA Launches Public Awareness Campaign Ahead of Holiday Travel Season 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. As many people return to air travel this holiday season, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has launched a campaign to inform the public that pilots are more than ready to get them to their destinations safely. ALPA touts the skill of North American pilots, including the 3.2 million hours ALPA pilots spent training in 2020 to prepare to return passengers to the skies. As part of the campaign, ALPA also advocates the need to have at least two trained, experienced professional pilots on every flight deck. While there are some who think the industry could save money by having only one pilot on a flight without jeopardizing safety, ALPA maintains that safety would indeed be compromised. The union’s “More Than Ready” campaign makes clear to decision-makers, passengers and cargo shippers that reducing the number of pilots on the flight deck is a safety risk nobody should want to take. ALPA said: “As we continue to face many threats to our jobs—and to the safety and security of the skies—we stand More Than Ready to respond, adjusting our advocacy efforts in the United States and Canada to advance our pilot-partisan agenda and protect the hard-fought gains ALPA pilots have made over nine decades.” Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 12/02/2021 - 09:35 — Dec 2