Tag Archives: Working class

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AFL – CIO

07/09/2012 Nativegrl77

Before you hit the beach, parade or barbeque today, take a minute to watch this inspiring video celebrating the military veterans who are rebuilding the World Trade Center. They received training through the Helmets to Hardhats program, which led to good careers for them as union members in the building and construction trades.

Click on the image below to watch the video and share on Facebook and Twitter.

The brave veterans featured in this video speak to the values of a strong work ethic, ingenuity and working together as a team—values shared by both the military and unions.These vets are why I am so optimistic about the future of this country. Though we have hard work ahead, I believe we can invest and rebuild our country through the sacrifice and spirit of working families, union and nonunion, all across this nation.

Working people built this country and it is working people who will make it strong again.

We need to take the lead and show our politicians and business leaders that they can do the right thing to create and keep good jobs here in the United States—by ending the policies that ship production, jobs and innovation overseas.

Made in America is alive as long as we have the strength, pride and will to make it happen, as the veterans in this video show through their work every day. The labor movement is committed to these values because they bring us together and will make America strong again.

Get in the spirit of the holiday, please watch and share this video by clicking here.

Thank you for all you do for working families every day—and have a safe and happy July 4.In Solidarity,Richard L. Trumka

President, AFL-CIOP.S. The Senate is expected in the coming weeks to take up the Bring Jobs Home Act, a bill that would eliminate the tax deduction for companies that move jobs overseas and get the ball rolling on much-needed reforms to keep and create U.S. jobs. Please call 1-888-659-9401 to leave a message for your senators that you want them to support this bill when it comes up for a vote.

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Labor: The Original Social Network

04/13/2012 Nativegrl77

For too long, our political process has been dominated by too much money and too much power concentrated in the hands of too few.That’s why Workers’ Voice was created: to build an independent voice for the working and middle class. That voice will be fighting for the 99%—working people joining together to recognize the value of hard work and call for good jobs, a fair economy and to build a strong middle class.

As megamillionaires like Mitt Romney, the Koch brothers and large corporations plan to try and buy the 2012 elections, Workers’ Voice—powered by cutting-edge technology and old-fashioned energy—will activate and energize networks of working families, both online and offline, to come together to organize their friends, family, co-workers and neighbors, and make their voices heard.

As Theresa Brown, a worker from Cooper Tire in Ohio, said this morning at a press conference to launch Workers’ Voice, “It doesn’t matter if you’re in a union or not because we’re all fighting corporate greed and it’s time that we stood up and took this country back because we’re tired of it.”

Susan Baskett, who is from Michigan and unemployed, said, “Politicians aren’t paying attention to, or doing enough, to put people like me back to work. Workers’ Voice will let us connect with other people in similar situations so we can work together to organize our neighborhoods and communities.”

Check out Workers’ Voice and sign up here.

Workers’ Voice represents and fights for all working families—union and nonunion—around political campaigns, legislative issues and holding elected officials accountable. And we hope you’ll be a part of it.

Thanks for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

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the AFL-CIO’s General Board voted unanimously to endorse … Barack Obama

03/15/2012 Nativegrl77

We’re rolling up our sleeves and getting to work for working families. Will you join us?Pledge to get to work for working people by supporting President Obama and other working family candidates.

This afternoon, the AFL-CIO’s General Board voted unanimously to endorse President Obama for re-election.

For many reasons, we are pledging to work with President Obama throughout the elections and in a second term. The bottom line is this: As president, Barack Obama has placed his faith in America’s working men and women to lead our country to economic recovery and our full potential. So we’re putting our faith in him.

Please join us in pledging to get to work for working people by supporting President Obama and other working family candidates.

Although the labor movement has sometimes differed with the president and often pushed his administration to do more—and do it faster—we have never doubted his commitment to a strong future for working families. With our endorsement today, we affirm our faith in the president. We pledge to work with him through the election and his second term to restore fairness, security and shared prosperity.

Brothers and sisters, the coming election is a choice about values. President Obama honors the values of hard work, mutual respect and of solving problems together—not every person for himself or herself. Each of the Republican presidential candidates, on the other hand, has pledged to uphold the special privileges of Wall Street and the 1%—privileges that have produced historic economic inequality and drowned out the voices of working people in America.

Please join us in pledging to get to work for working people by supporting President Obama and all working family candidates.

Working people are the Davids standing up to Goliath in today’s politics. Our strength is in our numbers, our values and plain, hard work. When we come together, we are formidable. And for this election, we are coming together like never before.

Thank you for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

P.S. Here are some key reasons we support the president’s re-election:

He took America from the brink of a second Great Depression by pressing Congress to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which saved or created 3.6 million jobs.
He championed comprehensive health insurance reform, which—while far from perfect—set the nation on a path toward the health security that had eluded our country for nearly 100 years.
He insisted upon Wall Street reform—passed over the objection of almost every Republican. Now, we can finally begin to reverse decades of financial deregulation that put our entire economy at risk.

For these reasons—and many more—President Obama has earned the support of working people for a second term. We hope you’ll join us today in pledging to support his re-election. You can read more about why we’re supporting the president here.

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AFL – CIO new website

03/12/2012 Nativegrl77

The AFL-CIO’s new website showcases our commitment to reaching and engaging all working people. We hope you’ll take a look—and come back often.

Visit the AFL-CIO’s new website.

Since becoming secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, I have been committed to reaching and engaging the broadest range of working people inside and outside of unions.

I believe that—to be relevant and part of the conversation in this day and age—we need to do things differently.

It’s critical that we embrace constant innovation to build on what we do best. And we’ve got to commit to a culture of openness—building an inclusive movement that puts the voices of workers front and center and encourages all working families to get involved.

Innovation and openness are what we had in mind as we redesigned our website from the bottom up. We put the stories of working people front and center, and created a community space to share information, take action and showcase the work of the unions and the people we are proud to represent.

Please take a moment to visit the AFL-CIO’s new website and get more involved by visiting our blog and action center.

The AFL-CIO’s investment in cutting-edge communications and technologies isn’t just limited to a new website. In fact,our commitment to innovation starts at the top.

President Richard Trumka sent his first tweet last week. You can now follow President Trumka on Twitter (@RichardTrumka). And you can also follow me on Twitter here (@LizShuler).

We’ve also made a big commitment to building new tools and a new team that will empower our members and activists to leverage the power of the Internet to mobilize their friends, neighbors and families.

Over the coming months and beyond, we’ll take what the labor movement has always done well offline, bring it online and open up our movement in more ways to more people. We’ll be mobilizing harder and smarter than ever before.

Soon, we’ll ask you to use some of these new tools to do more of what the labor movement does best. Things like conversations in our workplaces, phone banking and reaching out to the people you know. We’ll invite everyone who cares about the future of working families to get involved.

Lots of exciting things are coming, and I can’t wait to tell you more soon. But today, the best way to see the new direction we’re headed in is to visit the AFL-CIO’s new website, blog and action center.

With your help, we’re building an increasingly innovative, active, open and effective movement for all working people—including young people, Latinos and working men and women who don’t have the benefits of a union voice on the job. Our new website reflects that. Thank you for being a part of it—and for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Liz Shuler
Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO

P.S. Here are four things you can do this week that you couldn’t do last week:
1. Visit our redesigned website, then share it on Facebook and Twitter.
2. Check out the revamped AFL-CIO Now Blog.
3. Visit our new action center.
4. Follow President Trumka on Twitter. (You can also follow me.)

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AFL – CIO

10/11/2011 Nativegrl77

This week already is shaping up to be huge, with actions everywhere
demanding good jobs for working families, paid for with fair taxes for
millionaires and Wall Street.Occupy Wall Street protests, which really took off over the weekend, will continue in cities from coast to coast. And the AFL-CIO America Wants to Work national week of action starts today.This is a not-to-be-missed moment to get out and attend an event in your community.We’re sponsoring a wide variety of activities, from vigils to teach-ins
on college campuses, demonstrations outside job-outsourcing corporations
and press events. In many places, we’ll join the Occupy Wall Street
protests that have sprung up and are growing, from Hawaii to Washington, D.C.Working people will come together in hundreds of events through Oct. 16 to demand action from Congress to promote a real jobs creation agenda and real shared sacrifice from Wall Street and the rich. Find an event near you.And college students across the country will gather on Wednesday, Oct. 12, for a live national teach-in with events on campuses from 7–8:30 p.m. EDT. Find a teach-in location near you here. Or, watch it live Wednesday night at: http://go.aflcio.org/teachin.Whatever you do this week, don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of something big. Here are some ways to get involved:

Find an America Wants to Work event near you here. To share our week of action on Facebook, click here.
Find an Oct. 12 America Wants to Work teach-in location near you here. Or watch it live from 7–8:30 p.m. here.
Find an Occupy Wall Street event near you here. You can share Occupy Wall Street events on Facebook here.