Labor Union Blog

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• Report on Monday’s Events at the AFL-CIO Convention
  

By Doug Cunningham

[Hilda Solis]: “Fired Up!” Call & Response

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis from the AFL-CIO Pittsburgh convention.

[Solis2]: “Workers are under assault and they need a voice on the job that unions will provide. And that’s why I will work with the White House so that together we make the strongest case possible for the Employee Free Choice Act.”

Outgoing AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on labor’s progress under his leadership.

[Sweeney]: “We brought health care and labor law reform to the top of our national agenda. We seated a pro-working family majority in the United States Congress. We elected a champion of working class families as the first African-American president in the history of our country.Ó

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By Doug Cunningham

[Hilda Solis]: “Fired Up!” Call & Response

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis from the AFL-CIO Pittsburgh convention.

[Solis2]: “Workers are under assault and they need a voice on the job that unions will provide. And that’s why I will work with the White House so that together we make the strongest case possible for the Employee Free Choice Act.”

Outgoing AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on labor’s progress under his leadership.

[Sweeney]: “We brought health care and labor law reform to the top of our national agenda. We seated a pro-working family majority in the United States Congress. We elected a champion of working class families as the first African-American president in the history of our country.Ó

One of the breakout panels at the AFL-CIO Convention this afternoon focused on the critical issue of leadership development among the next generation of union members. Delegates chose from eight breakout panels focusing on issues key to building a stronger union movement, stronger economy and stronger America. Here’s what a few of the participants in the next generation breakout panel had to say:

Liz McLoone of the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Federation said she was interested in the discussion of how more experienced members can reach out to new members.

“I went to the panel on how to recruit and encourage younger people to get involved with the leadership of the labor movement, because that‘s something I’m going to take back to my leadership, because they’re always asking me, how do I get new people involved?

“I want to propose to them that they take on a new member, in their local, because they have that access to them on the job, day by day, and monitor and mentor those people.”

Larry Thomas, a Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) member, said the building trades were once able to do outreach in schools, which is missing now:

I thought the panel was excellent, because that’s exactly what we need, more youth.

What I would like to have seen come up is having programs in the schools, especially high schools, because that’s how the building trades traditionally introduced people to the union.

Peggy Kramer, a Minnesota AFSCME member, is nearing retirement and looking to keep her union strong in the future by getting new employees interested in union leadership:

I’m interested to see how to get those people involved. I think I did learn about some of those ways today.

For Mario Ciardelli, a member of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 683 in Columbus, Ohio, the issue of green jobs is important because it could mean new jobs for workers with skills in electrical work.

Ciardelli was one of the 80 people who attended a breakout forum on “Building a Green Jobs Economy from The Ground Up” at the AFL-CIO’s 26th Constitutional Convention on Monday. One of this afternoon’s eight forums, “Jobs for America: Getting the Economy Back on Track,” was live-streamed by Ustream at our website here.

His union recently launched “Working Green,” a new section on its website featuring the latest news about the union’s role in the green revolution for members, contractors and others looking to break into the new energy economy.

IBEW is aggressively training and preparing its members to help transform the nation’s struggling economy through a range of environmental investments in green technology, energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Ciardelli says the new green jobs are not new jobs to IBEW members—they merely require new equipment and processes.

Four years ago, an anti-worker majority in Congress and the Bush administration were conducting a corporate-funded assault on workers and the programs that supported America. They were implementing policies that steered the economy toward the very wealthiest and leaving everyone else behind. What a difference four years makes. Now in the White House, we have Barack Obama, the first African American president and a supporter of unions and working families and pro-worker majorities in both houses of Congress.

Today, at the AFL-CIO Convention, attendees got a chance to examine the successes of union political mobilization and look forward to continuing the fight to elect pro-worker candidates and passing a pro-worker legislative agenda. Delegates adopted a strong resolution in support of continuing an active political program.

Gerald McEntee, president of AFSCME, counted down some of the successes of the past two election cycles, and introduced some 20 local union activists from across the country who led political mobilization in their home states. In 2008, McEntee noted, more than 250,000 union members volunteered in the election, and more than half of union members got direct contact from these volunteers, who delivered some 29 million fliers, knocked on 14 million doors and made 75 million phone calls to elect Obama and other pro-worker candidates. McEntee said:

This, sisters and brothers, this is why our political program has become so successful—men and women like these across our movement, who stand together, walk together, call together and work together for change.

Fire Fighters (IAFF) President Harold Schaitberger said the union movement must continue to commit to electing pro-worker candidates:

Elections matter, and we have to be ready for a crucial 2010 election cycle.

It’s not good enough just to win elections—union members must hold the politicians we elect to the promises they make. And the politicians who do not support an agenda for working families must be held accountable, at and between elections.

Union members aren’t just voting in elections—they’re winning them. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO has helped train union members to run for office throughout the state and now more than 550 union members have won local and state offices. In California, AFT member Judy Chu became the newest member of Congress this summer, replacing Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis in California’s 32nd District. Speaking to convention delegates, she said she couldn’t have won without the inspiration, enthusiasm and hard work of union members and pledged to be there when workers needed her:

I know when labor faces tough situations, you need your elected officials to stand with you. That’s why I always answer the call.

AFL-CIO affiliates, constituency groups and allies also spent 2008 building voter protection coalitions, educating voters about their rights in the voting booth and how to take action if their rights were threatened, noted John Gage, president of AFGE.

Gage said that these coalitions carried out advocacy at the state and local levels, demanding more resources and more opportunities to vote, including early and absentee voting. The My Vote, My Right campaign featured radio ads, videos and voter education fliers in the days leading up to the election. And on Election Day, union members carried out poll monitoring to make sure voting went smoothly and every vote counted.

Petee Talley, a delegate from Ohio, was one of the many delegates who stood up to support a resolution to sustain and strengthen political mobilization. She pointed to the disenfranchisement of voters in past election cycles as a need to push for strong grassroots political action, especially voter protection.

Throughout the past two election cycles, coalitions like the Union Veterans Council and the Alliance for Retired Americans helped mobilize and educate critical constituencies. Jim Wasser, a leader of the Union Veterans Council, gave a stirring address about the importance of turning out union voters and supporting pro-worker candidates.

Capt. John Prater, the president of the Air Line Pilots (ALPA), who took part in the Union Veterans effort, also stood in support of the resolution, and additionally pledged $25,000 to strengthen Working America.

Because of the efforts of this broad, grassroots movement, we’re closer than ever to passing health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act, but we can’t let up now. Upcoming elections for governor, Congress and the state legislature across the country will shape the future for working families, and we need to make sure we get every member out to vote and elect leaders who will do the right thing.

NDLON Executive Director Pablo Alvarado says the day laborers’ struggle is for all workers.

As long as America’s mostly immigrant day laborer workforce is discriminated against and denied their rights on the job, no workers’ rights are safe, a key organizer told the AFL-CIO Convention.

Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), said day laborers have become the symbol of what critics say is wrong with the nation’s immigration system. In reality, he says, they are the symbols of a drastically changing economy. While the economy depends on their labor, it refuses to allow them to fully participate in the American Dream.

Alvarado says:

Day laborers work in an economy that accepts the fruits of their labor but does not accept their humanity.

In their efforts to feed their loved ones, Alvarado says, day laborers are subjected to wage theft, unsafe conditions and discrimination in the workplace—and now day laborers are organizing to protect their rights. In 2006, NDLON formed a partnership with the AFL-CIO that is paving the way for AFL-CIO central labor councils and state federations and NDLON’s 41 day laborer worker centers to work together on issues ranging from workplace rights to immigration reform to health and safety and other job-related concerns.

Alvarado says all workers will benefit from passage of the Employee Free Choice Act and the NDLON worker centers will use “every resource available” to pass the bill. He adds:

I don’t know what the future will look like. We can be certain that workers are never given anything for free. Workers must be certain that we have each other.

Calling undocumented workers “Americans-in-waiting,” he urged comprehensive immigration reform and he reminded the delegates they also are “union members in waiting.”

The day laborers’ struggle is for all workers, no matter what language they speak or where they live.

As AFL-CIO President John Sweeney noted yesterday, one of the most important developments in the union movement over the past few years is the introduction of Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO that organizes, educates and mobilizes people across the country who don’t have a union at work.

Today at the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention, union members honored Working America and thanked Working America staff for their tireless efforts to reach out and sign up—in less than six years—more than 3 million members, who are getting critical education on the issues that matter.

Working America regional director Jenn Jannon and assistant national field director Tahir Duckett led a delegation of Working America staff onto the convention stage and explained the great successes they’ve had across the country. Said Duckett:

Working America organizers fan out in working class neighborhoods across the country every single night.  And in those neighborhoods, we talk one on one to every household that doesn’t have the benefit of a union on the job, and we give them an alternative point of view on the economy—one that is not shaped by right-wingers or the corporate media.

We knocked on 3 million doors in 2008, and we can tell you without question that Working America is a pro-union America. We deliver an unabashedly pro-labor, populist message, and it works.

Two out of three people that we talk to join the AFL-CIO right there, that night, on their doorstep. And that’s how we’ve grown to 3 million members in just six years. This unique experience on the door changes people through and through.

One way we see that change is how they vote. Working America members, largely moderates and conservatives, vote just like you. And it’s because they have two things they didn’t have before: information provided by Working America and the AFL-CIO, and the sense of power that can only come through strength in numbers.

Jannon noted that Working America members have been a critical source of support for pro-worker legislation and policy:

This year, when the labor movement needed muscle in Arkansas on the Employee Free Choice Act, we were there, knocking on doors across the state, and gathering 12,000 handwritten letters for Blanche Lincoln, letters that said: “I don’t have a union, I’m struggling, and I need the Employee Free Choice Act.”

And when the Town Hall ruckus misrepresented how most working folks feel about health care reform, we sprang to action. We hit the doors in a dozen states, producing 25,000 letters, 10,000 phone messages, and attending over 40 town halls. And legislators heard us—even some Blue Dog leaders thanked us for being in their neighborhoods.

But this isn’t only about building power for our movement—it’s about giving working families a voice. Our members tell us that before we knocked on their door, nobody was talking to them about economic issues. They thank us for our work and tell us they’re ready to keep fighting.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka praised Working America for getting millions of people across 25 states engaged and active.

Christine Trujillo, president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, said Working America’s efforts led to big wins in races and on issues, because working people, even in conservative-leaning areas, were empowered and educated through their membership in Working America:

The New Mexico AFL-CIO stands taller now, with 60,000 new members…but our new strength is not just numbers.

Working America is a fast-growing and vital part of the union movement and a critical factor in turning around the country and empowering working people to improve their own lives.

Caroline Kennedy today challenged delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention to fight for and achieve the causes to which her uncle, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, dedicated his life—health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act.

After thanking union members for their “tremendous outpouring of support following Sen. Kennedy’s death, she said her uncle succeeded because he cared about people and “no one held a dearer place in his heart than the labor movement.

He believed every worker deserved to be treated fairly. Day after day uncle Teddy stood with labor because it was the right thing to do.

Sen. Kennedy and retiring AFL-CIO President John Sweeney worked hard throughout their lives to help working people, and now the next generation must find ways to meet the challenges working people face with the same determination and tenacity displayed by her uncle and Sweeney, she said.

It’s time to build a new economy that puts the needs of working families first, that ensures each and every worker has a voice on the job and pass the Employee Free Choice Act and guarantee quality health care for every man, woman and child.

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker moved the passage of Resolution 60 honoring Sen. Kennedy. The resolution recognizes that Kennedy

embodied our aspiration to fulfill America’s promise—to make our nation more compassionate and more hopeful, to make sure every individual is treated with dignity and respect and equal justice under the law.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said of his longtime friend:

As long as there is a union movement in this country that cherishes a big heart and a generous spirit, that fights for what is just and compassionate and fair, Ted Kennedy will always be our senator.

A video of excerpts of Ted Kennedy’s numerous speeches to union groups drew a two-minute standing ovation. The  poignant clip included Kennedy’s declaration that

I won’t stop until every American has the same quality health care as every member of Congress—Republican and Democrat—and the President of the United States.

He demonstrated his love of working families and their unions with this statement:

We are a stronger and better country because of six simple letters: A-F-L-C-I-O.

Sweeney announced construction will soon begin on a new Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate. Located adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Library on the University of Massachusetts campus, the institute will work to improve civic education in the nation and inspire a new generation of active citizens and legislators.

He said the AFL-CIO is helping raise funds for the institute and urged affiliated unions to help.