News

The House Must Stand Up for Labor

Support for the labor movement is the highest in nearly half a century, yet only one in 10 workers are members of unions today. How can both be true?

Ivanka Trump's Future of Work Isn't for Workers

Ivanka Trump took the stage at CES on Tuesday to muted reception. Forty minutes later, she left to robust applause.

USMCA Is a Huge Win for Working People

After a quarter century of suffering under the failed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and 18 months of hard-fought negotiations, the American Federation of Labor and

Trump's Trade Deal with China Won't Give Many U.S. Companies Relief, As Most Tariffs Will Remain

From the Rust Belt to the Pacific Northwest and from the Gulf Coast to Niagara Falls, the outlook could not have been brighter for American chemical companies. Then President Trump nearly two years ago launched his trade war with China. On Wednesday, Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are scheduled to sign a partial trade deal, calling a truce in a conflict that has shaken the global economy. Yet as the chemical industry’s experience shows, many of the trade war’s casualties have been left on the battlefield.

CES: What Mattered to Hollywood

Deepfakes, artificial intelligence, de-aging technology and their impact on actors and the workforce was discussed and debated at SAG-AFTRA and AFL-CIO’s 2nd annual Labor Innovation and Technology Summit, held on the opening day of CES. “Our work is being dramatically changed by technology,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris in her opening remarks. “But of all the people talking about it, who is really looking out for the working people?” Topics included the advantages and potential pitfalls of new technology.

Two Years After Trump Tax Cuts, Middle-Class Americans Are Falling Behind

Income for middle-class Americans is growing more slowly than for both top earners and the poor, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The analysis comes two years after President Donald Trump enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a major overhaul in the nation's tax laws billed by the White House as a boon for the middle class.

Trump Appointed NLRB Appointees Are Making It Harder for Workers, Labor Fights Back

Several recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board would make it harder for workers to unionize. However, labor unions refused to take these decisions lying down.

Read the full article on New York Amsterdam News

NPR: AFL-CIO President Touts Labor's Role In Improving New Trade Deal

A top national labor leader is touting a new multilateral trade deal, and says his union side much improved the Trump administration's initial proposal.

The comments from Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, came Wednesday, just before the House overwhelmingly approved the pact called the USMCA.

The new deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada, which now heads to the Senate, would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

Get the full story at NPR

How a Gig Worker Revolt Begins

Until last week, Li Zilles was one of the many nameless and faceless contractors toiling in the bowels of the internet, providing online services that might have been mistaken for the work of artificial intelligence.

The job: to transcribe audio files for the start-up Rev.com, churning out texts without clients ever knowing the name of the transcriber.

This was a lonely existence, and not an easy one. The pay, even though the work was full-time, was little enough that food stamps became necessary.

Workers Deserve a Say in Automation

When the global economy shifted in the late 19th century, working people were the first to adapt. They moved to cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio, and worked long hours in unsafe factories. They drove the Industrial Revolution and changed the nature of work forever. When it became clear that employers were exploiting their productivity, the labor movement formed to protest abuses like sweatshops, child labor, and poverty wages.

How Workers Are Fighting Back Against Big Tech

On September 13 more than a hundred activists participated in a bicoastal protest at Palantir’s two headquarters, in New York City and in Palo Alto, California. The intent of the protest was to bring awareness to the tech company’s involvement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which Palantir provides with data-mining software that’s been used to screen undocumented immigrants and plan raids.

Capital District Area Labor Federation
302 Centre Drive
Albany, NY 12203

© AFL-CIO. All rights reserved.
 Photographs and illustrations, as well as text, cannot be used without permission from the AFL-CIO.

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Log In