Labor Union Blog

The success and strength of the union movement derives from the hard work of rank-and-file members whose dedication to improving the lives of America’s workers is manifest in their daily actions and in willingness to go above the call of duty. At the AFL-CIO Heart of the Movement, we recognize some of these heroes of the union movement. Here are four union members we’ve recently profiled. You can click here to read all the stories of these and other Hearts of the Movement.

George Calko

• George Calko, in his late 20s, is part of the future of the union movement. A member of the Steelworkers (USW), he is an organizer in his home state of Ohio for the Blue-Green Alliance, a partnership between the USW and the Sierra Club, which recently launched campaigns for green jobs and joined with Nobel winner Al Gore in the search for a solution to global warming. Calko says the connection between labor and environmentalists makes perfect sense. “We’re going to have green jobs, or we’ll have no jobs at all,” he says. “And we want clean cities and a healthy environment to raise our children.”