(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Labor Leaders and Workers rallied at National AFL-CIO Headquarters this week to launch Labor’s nationwide It’s Better in a Union: Fighting for Freedom, Fairness and Security Bus Tour.

While big corporations profit off the backs of Working People and politicians continue to raise costs and cut essential life-saving services, the Labor Movement will travel the country providing voice to and building power with Workers in the lead up to Labor Day. 

National AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said: “Working People are the backbone of this country. We do the things our communities count on - at our schools and hospitals, factories and construction sites, small and big businesses - yet still too many families can’t keep food on the table, pay the rent, afford childcare. The answer is not more of this same broken status quo. The answer is a good Union job. The answer is Working People in our communities - no matter who you are, how you voted - joining together and standing up for our freedom, fairness and security.”

At the rally, Labor Leaders demanded “freedom, fairness and security” to launch the Summer of action that will engage Workers across the country about the issues facing their communities, their fights to organize workplaces and win fair contracts, and the impact of reckless policies on their lives.

The tour will visit 26 states to join picket lines, support organizing campaigns, visit Veterans Affairs and Medicaid-funded facilities and hospitals gutted by the Federal Government, and speak directly with Workers whose jobs have been ripped away by unnecessary cuts driven by the Trump Administration. 

National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said: “Working People have been betrayed by this Administration - by the elected leaders who sold out the Working Class to the billionaire class. And we’re going to let them know. We are going to crisscross the country and talk to Workers. We’re getting on this bus to make sure they know who sold us out - who is taking our jobs, our health care, our paychecks. To make sure every Working Person knows there’s a place for them on this bus.”

Additional rally speakers included: Lee Saunders, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Evelyn DeJesus, Executive Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Claude Cummings Jr., President of the Communications Workers of America (CWA); Matthew Biggs, President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); Jimmy Williams Jr., General President of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT); Eric Dean, General President of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (Ironworkers); Nick Daniels, President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA); Tyler Turner, President of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU); April Verrett, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Gwen Mills, International President of UNITE HERE; and David McCall, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW). 

After the kickoff rally, the Better in a Union bus joined UNITE HERE Local 23 for a rally to protect food service jobs at the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bus will next head to join the USW on Saturday (July 12) in Newport News, Virginia.

The event will highlight the negative impact of Trump Administration cuts to veterans’ jobs and services.

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National AFL-CIO Photo.