Leading up to the AFL-CIO convention in September 2013, the AFL-CIO is hosting a crucial conversation about the future of working people and of unions—in union halls and online at www.aflcio2013.org.

Rana Plaza, the Bangladesh factory that collapsed three weeks ago, killed more than 1,100 workers, many of them young women. This tragedy adds to the more than 1500 Bangladeshi workers killed in preventable fires and building collapses since 2005. Documents found at the factory show that the workers produced for big names in global retail revealing the link between poor workers in Bangladesh and major retail brands.Obviously, the government must improve local laws and their enforcement to stop these tragedies, but brands must also take responsibility for their supply chains. They must be held accountable to the tragedy that happened in their supply chain. Read more >>>

Marcus Hedger will have to wait even longer to get his job back if Senate Republicans continue to block President Obama’s bipartisan nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Call your senators toll free at 1-888-264-6154 and tell them to confirm the board nominations now. Hedger was illegally fired in 2010 from his pressman’s job at an Illinois printing company for his union activities on behalf of his fellow union members in the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters. Last September, the full NLRB—two Democrats and one Republican, at the time—ruled he should get his job back with back pay. Read more >>>

Most voters agree that big corporations and the wealthy should start paying their fair share in taxes. But, of course, big corporations and the wealthy don’t want to do that. They want to pay less, and they are used to getting their way. So what do you do? Some people in Washington think the answer is a “grand bargain.” In a “grand bargain,” Republicans agree to stop protecting millionaires from having to pay a single penny more in taxes. In return, Democrats agree to cut Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Read more >>>

Denver—Yesterday, the Keep Jobs in Colorado Act was passed by the General Assembly and is now headed to Governor John Hickenlooper’s desk. Recently the AFL-CIO released a video of the "Harlem Shake" dance in the capitol rotunda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJA5WqXriJI??

The bill sponsors included Representatives Pete Lee (D), Dan Pabon (D), Senators Andy Kerr (D), Jeanne Nicholson (D) and cosponsors included every Democratic member of the House and Senate.

Click the title to read the full press release.
 

On Monday, April 8th the Colorado AFL-CIO released this video to coincide with the Keep Jobs in Colorado Act - House Bill 1292. This bill promotes local hiring, domestic manufacturing, expansion of "best value" employment metrics and procurement reforms that curb taxpayer-funded outsourcing of jobs overseas.

The partition that separates diners from the inner workings of the restaurant industry toppled for Saru Jayaraman shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Fekkak Mamdouh, one of the headwaiters of the restaurant housed on the top floor of the World Trade Center, approached Jayaraman seven months after the attacks. His former boss deemed him and his former crew “not experienced enough” to work in his new Times Square restaurant. Jayaraman, a 27-year-old organizer of immigrant women, took up the case to advocate for the displaced workers, organized protests and won—most of the workers were awarded the good jobs their former boss promised.

Jayaraman and Mamdouh formed Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United in April 2002 and were flooded with stories of workplace atrocities in New York City and, eventually, across the country. We spoke with Jayaraman earlier this month about her new book on the ills of the restaurant industry, Behind the Kitchen Door.

DENVER- Results from a statewide survey released today by Myers Research reveals strong voter support (86%) for ensuring collective bargaining rights for Colorado fire fighters. (See attached memo.) The timely results of this survey are arriving just as a firefighter collective bargaining bill, Senate Bill 13-025, passed the Senate on Tuesday, February 6, 2013, and moves to the House.

“This survey demonstrates overwhelming support for fire fighters and to ensure that we have a seat at the table to negotiate as a group,” said Mike Rogers, President of the Colorado chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters. “86% of voters supporting collective bargaining rights for firefighters sends a strong message to our elected officials at all level about the priorities of voters.”

Andrew Myers, president of Myers Research | Strategic Services, said, “It is rare to see such a high level of support for an issue like this. Public sentiment is clearly with firefighters on collective bargaining rights and legislators should be wary of being on the wrong side of this issue.”

The survey of over 600 voters in Colorado in late January has a margin of error of +/- 4.0. (See attached memo.) Respondents were asked the question:

And as it relates to firefighters in Colorado, do you favor or oppose allowing firefighters to negotiate with local governments over issues like better safety equipment, ensuring safe staffing levels, and health care and survivorship benefits if they are killed in the line of duty?

The bill would ensure firefighters a voice in community discussions of resources and compensation. Several fire departments already collectively bargain in Denver and Aurora. These current collective bargaining entities allow fire fighters and their employers to discuss daily service delivery, wild land operations, and acquisition of necessary first responder equipment.

“The Colorado Professional Fire Fighters represent 3,800 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics in the state. More information is available at www.cpff.org.

 

For Lapronda Eason and the other building service workers at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the link to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--who died in Memphis in 1968 advocating for the rights of city sanitation workers to form a union--is as real as the job they do every day.

 

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The time for immigration reform is now, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. This will be a focus for labor in 2013 as the country needs to create a common-sense immigration process with a road map to citizenship. Read more >>>