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How to Form a Union 101

"How to Form a Union 101." Part One is Friday, Apr 22nd from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm at Rabble-Rouser. Part Two is Saturday, Apr 23rd from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm at Rabble-Rouser.

VT AFL-CIO Stands with Black Communities in Resistance

-Self Determination For Black People In The U.S.; -Free All Black Political Prisoners; -The Murders Must Be Stopped; -Black Lives Matter. Vermont AFL-CIO Position Statement On The Fight Against Racism: Now Is The Time For Unity & Action! June 28, 2020, Montpelier, VT - Black Lives Matter. The Vermont AFL-CIO understands and recognizes that the United States of America is a nation which has long been governed by a ruling class whose power (social and economic) is rooted in slavery, racism, inequity, and oppression. We further see with clear eyes that Black people, whose ancestors were brought to this country in chains, have suffered (and continue to suffer) oppression on a massive and inexcusable scale. Such facts are made plain by not only looking at history, but also by looking at contemporary unemployment figures, poverty rates, average household income, incarceration rates, and through policing data. People who are Black are also murdered by American police officers with sickening regularity. George Floyd was not an exception. He, like Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Terence Crutcher, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray (to name but a few), was one of the latest in a long line of martyrs going back hundreds of years (and accounting for thousands of taken lives). We must not become numb to these murders. We cannot accept that Black families must educate their children on how to not become the target of unprovoked police violence. We cannot allow systematic racism and police violence against Black people to continue as the regularity that it has always been. Rather, we must resist.

Retiring UAW President Williams: Union Stronger Than Four Years Ago

With growing membership, a budget back in the black and a strike fund that is rising by the year, the Auto Workers are much stronger than they were four years ago, retiring union President Dennis Williams says.

And if you really want a comparison, Williams added one bombshell at the end of his keynote address to the union’s convention, which opened June 11 in Detroit: “We have looked death in the eyes during the Great Recession.”

Why the Salary Question is Bad for Women and People of Color

A federal court in Philadelphia struck down a new city law that barred employers from asking job candidates about their salary history. The ruling has serious ramifications for the fight to narrow the gender wage gap.

Everything You Need To Know About Graduate Student Unions

Graduate student unions are in the news again, with campuses across the US deciding to allow--and not to allow--graduate students to unionize. 

In October 2016, we reported that National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would require private universities to bargain with graduate student labor unions on compensation and working conditions. 

At This Company, the CEO Makes 6,000 Times a Typical Worker's Pay

It's no secret that the financial divide between CEOs and average worker in the U.S. has been growing. But in one case, the pay gap between corporate chiefs and employees has reached almost 6,000-to-1: Weight Watchers, where CEO Mindy Grossman earned 5,908 times what the median worker took home last year.

Executive Paywatch: The Gap Between CEO and Worker Compensation Continues to Grow

CEO pay for major companies in the United States rose nearly 6% in the past year, as income inequality and the outsourcing of good-paying American jobs have increased. According to the new AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch, the average CEO of an S&P 500 Index company made $13.94 million in 2017—361 times more money than the average U.S. rank-and-file worker.

Supreme Court Rules Companies Can Require Workers to Accept Individual Arbitration

An ideologically divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that companies may require workers to settle employment disputes through individual arbitration rather than joining to press their complaints, a decision affecting as many as 25 million workers.

The court's conservative majority said that the 5-to-4 ruling was a logical reading of federal law, and Congress' preference for using arbitration to avoid costly and time-consuming litigation.

Let’s Deliver the Mail, Not Myths

President Trump’s attention of late has been focused in part on the United States Postal Service and Amazon, resulting in a new executive order calling for an evaluation of USPS finances. This is a good opportunity to underscore some important facts regarding the Postal Service, a national treasure belonging to all the people of the United States.

Rebuilding Schools, Bridges—and Lives

It only takes a moment talking to Emily Galvin, an apprentice with Ironworkers Local 7 in Boston, to grasp how her first year learning the skilled trades has transformed her life. For one, she has a fresh understanding of the anatomy of a city—of roads, bridges and buildings. She’s taking classes in structural steel, tension, rebar and labor history. “I love how we use mats of rebar,” Ms. Galvin says, “to make reinforced concrete for floors or knee-walls, like for a parking garage.”