Outdated labor laws have hampered our fundamental right to join together and negotiate for better wages, benefits and working conditions. That's why we need the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which will empower America's workers and strengthen our democracy.
NYT: How did you get your start in the labor movement?
Liz Shuler: I came up through the IBEW [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers]. My father was a union member and worked for PGE [an Oregon utility]. Clerical workers were not in a union, and my mother and I were organizing them. PGE was a study in the difference a union can make: Power linemen were respected and made good wages, and nonunion clerical workers were not listened to and didn’t have a voice.
Workers at companies like Kellogg’s, Nabisco and John Deere have hit the picket lines in recent weeks hoping to get a better deal from their employers. A new survey suggests the public by and large supports them.
The AFL-CIO labor federation commissioned the progressive pollster Data for Progress to take the public’s temperature on the strikes that have made headlines this summer and fall. The online survey of nearly 1,300 likely voters asked if they “approve or disapprove of employees going on strike in support of better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”
Marcial Reyes could have just quit his job. Frustrated with chronic understaffing at the Kaiser Permanente hospital where he works in Southern California, he knows he has options in a region desperate for nurses.
And many of them are either hitting the picket lines or quitting their jobs as a result.
The changing dynamics of the US labor market, which has put employees rather than employers in the driver's seat in a way not seen for decades, is allowing unions to flex their muscle.
The Northern Nevada Central Labor Council once again stands in solidarity with our brothers and sisters at Teamsters Local 533. We need the community's support now more than ever to ensure that our region's bus drivers, mechanics, dispatchers, and supervisors are treated fairly by their employer, Keolis Corporation.
Unfortunately, Keolis Corporation’s disregard for the well-being of our regional transit operators and support staff continues unabated.
Twenty years ago today, on a Sunday afternoon in Brookwood, Alabama, 32 coal miners descended 2,000 feet below the ground into the Jim Walter Resources Blue Creek No. 5 Mine for a routine maintenance check.
Flying into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport recently, I spotted the ramp workers on the tarmac, busily unloading bags and doing safety checks on the plane in 115 degree heat. Most passengers were anxious to deplane, ready to head to baggage claim, not giving a second thought to the work happening all around them to make their journey happen.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler discussed the economy and jobs with the Christian Science Monitor. She also reflected on becoming the first woman to lead the union. The organization’s previous president, Richard Trumka, passed away in August 2021. Other topics discussed included workers' rights legislation and the upcoming midterm elections.
