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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.

AFL-CIO and Others Announce Filing of First USMCA ‘Rapid Response Mechanism’ Labor Case

The AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajadores de Industrias y de Servicios Movimiento 20/32 (SNITIS) and Public Citizen announced Monday that they have filed the first complaint under the Rapid Response Mechanism of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) against Tridonex, an auto parts factory located in Matamoros in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Trumka: A major infrastructure investment is needed

As President Biden addressed a joint session of Congress recently, he highlighted a fundamental truth about his American Jobs Plan.

For once, our leaders aren’t pushing another tax break for the elite, bailing out the ultra-wealthy or preaching the false gospel of trickle-down economics. As the president put it, this is “a once-in-a-generation investment in America itself.”

Shuler: Musk Hosting SNL Is a Very Bad Joke

Billionaire Elon Musk is slated to host Saturday Night Live this weekend, and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler (IBEW) is calling his infamous labor practices and anti-union tactics anything but funny. “Musk has used his social-media megaphone to spread misinformation about COVID-19, endanger employees’ health and violate their organizing rights.

Sports Unions Come Together to Fight for the PRO Act

The PRO Act is about as important a piece of labor legislation as we’ve seen in some time. It holds the potential to open the door for workers and organizers to step up and reverse 40 years of losses for organized labor. The law, whose initials stand for Protecting the Right to Organize, aims to do just that: protect workers from being harassed or fired if they try to organize a union or if they try to help their already existing union become more active in their workplace. This is seen as the number one legislative priority for organized labor.

Elon Musk Hosting SNL: A Very Bad Joke on Working People

Before we even find out if Elon Musk can do comedy, we know this: Letting him host “Saturday Night Live” is a joke.

AFL-CIO Releases Annual Report on Workplace Fatalities

In 2019, 5,333 working people were killed on the job and an estimated 95,000 died from occupational diseases, according to the 30th edition of Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect report released today. That means every day, on average, 275 U.S. workers die from hazardous working conditions. And this was before the devastating COVID-19 pandemic that has been responsible for far too many worker infections and deaths in our country.

Human Rights and Labor Organizations Release Report on the PRO Act

The U.S. Senate should pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, five human rights and labor groups said today in releasing a question-and-answer document about the issue. The groups—including Human Rights Watch, the AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, the Economic Policy Institute and the National Employment Law Project—called on senators to seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle rampant economic inequality by empowering workers and building a more just and human rights-based economy.

Biden: 'I'm a Union President'

Few presidents in America’s history have demonstrated a higher commitment to the labor movement than President Biden. “The truth is I’m a union president, and I make no bones about that,” he said on Saturday. “I’m committed to strengthening our unions and rebuilding the backbone of this country—the middle class.” Biden sat down with a UAW local president and talked about his administration’s policies to promote American manufacturing.