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John J. Sweeney (1934-2021), AFL-CIO President Emeritus

John Sweeney, who led an era of transformative change in America’s labor movement, passed away Feb. 1 at the age of 86.

Trumka: 'Biden is committed' to strengthening unions

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka discusses why America needs a strong labor movement and how the Biden administration is committed to strengthening unions.

Biden must pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act

So America today needs more than anything solidarity and human dignity — the church's core teachings.

AFL-CIO Praises Biden Trade Pick Tai as 'Worker Champion'

“Katherine Tai’s nomination signals a stark departure from the failed practices of the past.”

Tai played a key role in shaping the United States Mexico Canada Agreement — which the AFL-CIO endorsed — as the top trade counsel for the House Ways and Means committee, and previously headed the USTR legal team on China issues.

IAFF Member Puts Union Plus Scholarship Toward Mental Health Degree

Tony Lein, a member of the Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 95 in Chicago, is among the 2020 Union Plus Scholarship award winners. He is a firefighter/paramedic and peer fitness trainer with the Oak Park [Illinois] Fire Department, where he has worked since 2015. He also teaches American Heart Association CPR classes with Save-A-Life. Lein was awarded a $4,000 scholarship as he pursues a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling.

A Blueprint to Safely Open Schools

The United States has the sad distinction of having the most confirmed coronavirus cases and death in the world, which has kept many schools shuttered for instruction in person. Parents and educators know that our children do best at schools, where they can get support, and they worry that the lack of learning in person has hurt students in need.

Larry Willis, head of federation of Transportation Workers, Dies in Bike Accident

Larry Willis’s colleagues liked to joke that he kept a copy of the Railway Labor Act, passed a few years before the Great Depression, under his pillow.

“He loved the wonk,” said his wife, Amy York. “He could explain things in a way that normal people could understand.”

Millions of workers poised to lose access to paid leave as virus spikes

“It’s absolutely essential,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in an interview. “If you tell a worker, ‘Don’t come to work when you’re sick so you don’t spread Covid, but you’re not going to get paid and your family’s not going to eat and you’re not going to pay your rent,’ you’re asking too much of them.”

Read the full article in Politico.

California Adopts Emergency Workplace Safety Rules for COVID-19

California has become the fourth and largest state to adopt emergency workplace protections for COVID-19. Nearly 20 million workers in California will be protected by the new mandate, which includes requirements for face masks, physical distancing and reporting of outbreaks in the workplace. Rebecca Reindel, director of occupational safety and health at the AFL-CIO, said the federal government should follow the lead of states like California. “The virus doesn’t know boundaries,” she said.

Organized Labor Helped Boost Biden In Critical Battlegrounds

Trece Andrews spent the last three months phone-banking and sometimes canvassing for Joe Biden in Michigan. The nursing home worker focused her efforts on Detroit residents and fellow members of the Service Employees International Union, telling them a Biden administration would protect their health care and do more to raise their wages.

AFL-CIO Head Richard Trumka Says Union Support for Biden Was Strong

Democrat Joe Biden gained more of the vote from members of the AFL-CIO than Hillary Clinton did four years ago, its president said, crediting laborers for the party’s wins in key states.

"Simply put, we got out the vote," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters Thursday. "In Wisconsin, in Michigan, in Pennsylvania, Joe Biden's firewall was union made. And the labor movement is expanding the map--look at Arizona, look at Georgia."

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