(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Late last week, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) to direct the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) to establish a Temporary Safety Standard for COVID-19, a top priority of the National AFL-CIO. Then he followed that up by taking action on a top priority for Federal Unions: Repealing more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The galloping spread of the Coronavirus plague took its toll on U.S. Unions in 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported. But in a paradox, while Union Membership declined in its annual report, Union Density rose by 0.5%, to 10.8% in 2020. That’s because as the economy tanked to try to prevent the disease’s more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The United Steelworkers (USW) are praising President Joe Biden’s decision to tap Workplace Safety Advocates James Frederick and Joseph Hughes, Jr. for leadership positions within the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Frederick, who will serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - President Joe Biden fired Peter Robb, the Trump-appointed General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after Robb refused a request from the new administration to resign. The White House notified Robb of his dismissal by letter - sent minutes after Biden was sworn in Wednesday (January 20th) which specified he had more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Go to incoming Democratic President Joe Biden’s “Building Back Better” agenda on his website and read through it - the word “Union,” the phrase “right to organize” and especially the word “Worker” run through it like a constant thread. No wonder National AFL-CIO President Richard more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Organizers of the National AFL-CIO’s annual Martin Luther King Conference pledged to use it to “build on past victories,” but they also can’t escape the shadow of past events - especially the Radical Rightist and White Nationalist invasion of and insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, marshaled by more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - One of the country’s most powerful Labor Unions is urging the incoming Biden Administration to quickly fire the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a potentially precedent-setting move that Labor Groups argue is necessary to protect Worker Rights. Peter Robb, who was appointed by Republican President more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Several major Labor Unions this week urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat-California) and incoming Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (Democrat-New York) to provide $1 trillion in emergency funding for states, cities, towns and schools. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest more»

Our Constitution says that after a Presidential Election, Congress shall meet on January 6th to count the electoral votes cast for the President and Vice President. It is a solemn ritual of Democracy. But it is only that - a ritual. This ceremonial custom is not how our President and Vice President are chosen. They are chosen by us, the people. Of more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – A ratification vote has begun on a on a new 44-month National Labor Agreement that was reached late last year between the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which covers 205,000 active City Letter Carriers across the United States. The agreement emerged in November after several more»

In the early months of this pandemic, as businesses and feel good news stories hailed America’s Workers as the heroes of our time, I submitted an open letter to America’s Corporate Leaders, imploring them to live up to their ad campaigns and invest in the Workers who make their businesses successful. I wrote: If you truly believe that Workers more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden said his Labor Secretary nominee, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, understands Unions built the American Middle Class and will encourage Unionization. “Marty ‘understands, like I do, that the Middle Class built this country and Unions built the Middle Class,’” Biden said. “He more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) have announced a $100,000 reward for the arrest of suspects involved in the murder of a Police Officer during riots incited by Republican President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol last week. NABTU’s Governing Board of Presidents are issuing a $100,000 reward for information more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - President-elect Joe Biden has picked Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a former top Union Leader, to serve as his Labor Secretary. Before Walsh was elected Mayor of Boston, he was a Union Leader himself, coming out of Laborers Local 223, which he joined when he was just 21 years old. Walsh later became the Local’s President and was more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is publicly condemning Republican President Donald Trump’s supporters for storming the U.S. Capitol, calling it “one of the greatest assaults on our Democracy since the Civil War.” Trumka largely blamed the president for instigating the actions. “Today’s attempted more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The $900 billion Stimulus Law Congress passed and bitter GOP Oval Office occupant Donald Trump reluctantly signed has both good news and bad news for Workers and their families whose lives have been physically and financially smashed by the Coronavirus Pandemic and subsequent shutdowns and economic depression used to fight it. And more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Starting January 1st, employers will no longer have to give Workers with COVID-19, or those taking care of someone with the virus, two weeks of paid leave. Congress let the Coronavirus Paid Leave Guarantee expire at the end of the December without an extension. The $900 billion relief package Congress last week does extend tax credits more»

Although Republican Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump will (hopefully) be leav­ing the White House, Progres­sives must reck­on with the fact that 74 mil­lion peo­ple - almost a third of whom came from house­holds mak­ing under $50,000 - vot­ed for him. It is alarm­ing that so many Work­ing Class more»

A lot of things hap­pened to Work­ing Peo­ple this year and most of them were bad. But even in a year as deranged as 2020, the broad­er themes that afflict and ener­gize the Labor Move­ment have car­ried on. If you are read­ing this, Con­grat­u­la­tions! And, there is still time for you to do some­thing more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The U.S. Labor Department (USDOL) has quietly updated policies on Construction Wage Standards, delivering industry groups a lobbying victory and taking a possible swipe at Building Unions in Republican President Donald Trump’s final weeks in office. Posted deep inside a Federal Government website, the USDOL’s Wage and Hour more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - A Worker died every 99 minutes from fatal occupational injuries in 2019, the U.S. Labor Department revealed in its recently-released annual report on the prior year’s data - and that wasn’t the only dubious job safety record set last year. The report, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), said 5,333 Workers died from more»

When Joe Biden was finally declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election, many in the Labor Movement breathed a sigh of relief. Biden won in no small part due to the efforts of hundreds of thousands of Union Members, particularly those in UNITE HERE - 98% of whom lost their hospitality and service industry jobs thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Tipped Workers at restaurants will have to pay their Co-Workers more under a rule proposed by the Trump Administration’s Department of Labor. The rule is scheduled to take effect in 60 days, but because Joe Biden will have taken over as President by then, his administration will have the opportunity to undo this rule before it more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Directors have called for voting by mail in all 30 decisions that applied the framework the NLRB established in its November 9th ruling in Aspirus Keweenaw, which created a six-factor test to guide when virus-related conditions necessitate mail balloting. Those results signal Union more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - President-Elect Joe Biden's administration may have difficulty getting the Congressional votes needed to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, legal experts say, but Democrats are likely to eventually gain control of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) - as such, a Democrat-controlled Board might overturn a host of more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – American Federation of State, County & Municipal Workers (AFSCME) President Lee Saunders says while the Public Service Worker Union would not oppose passage of the negotiated Congressional COVID relief package as is - because it includes some positive proposals, it is nonetheless “a slap in the face to Front Line Public more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Too many of America’s Workers are being killed on the job and face dangerous working conditions - according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, which also shows Workers of Color are especially at high risk. In 2019, 5,333 Workers died on the job, the more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - President-Elect Joe Biden made history on Wednesday (December 16th) when he announced that former South Bend Indiana Mayor and his one-time Presidential rival Pete Buttigieg would be his choice for Transportation Secretary. If confirmed, Buttigieg would be the first LGBTQ person to be a Senate approved Cabinet Member - Republican more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has released the following message to the more than 14 million Members of Union across the U.S.: We know this will be a holiday season like no other. Many of us will be breaking with our long-standing tradition, staying home in order to keep our families and communities safe. Essential more»

On Monday, December 14th, the Electoral College met to officially vote on the 2020 Presidential Election. According to the Constitution, the National Election in November determines which slate of electors your state will send to the Electoral College. For example, voters in New York voted to send the Democratic slate, while voters in Florida voted to more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell’s (Republican-Kentucky) ban on lawsuits through 2024 against firms that don’t protect Workers and consumers from the Coronavirus is even worse than advertised, the National Council on Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) reports - and an inspection of the measure’s underlying text more»

(THE STATE OF GEORGIA) - Here’s a crucial reason for Working People to do all they can to help Jon Ossoff and the Reverend Raphael Warnock win the Georgia Senate Run-Off Elections in January - Federal aid to states, cities, towns and schools. If Ossoff and Warnock prevail, there will be a Pro-Worker majority in the U.S. Senate. Vice President-Elect more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The U.S. Labor Department, under outgoing Republican President Donald Trump, has gutted LGBTQ Workplace Protections. With less than two months remaining in the Trump Administration, the Department of Labor went through with making a rule final last week that would grant religious institutions a broader exemption under former President more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Federal Employee Unions are counting on President-Elect Joe Biden to quickly repeal a trio of 2018 Executive Orders signed by Republican President Donald Trump once he takes office in January, but that’s only the first step - simply repealing them isn’t enough to undo the damage Federal Unions say they caused. “When more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Republican President Donald Trump may be on his way out, but he is using his last few weeks in office to continue his war on Federal Workers. As negotiations continue over the 2021 pay for Federal Workers, Trump has released a statement backing a Republican proposal that would freeze wages for the next year. The move came as the more»

When news outlets projected Joe Biden would win Arizona’s 11 electoral votes in the 2020 Presidential Election, people were quick to thank Cindy McCain, the widow of the late U.S. Senator John McCain, who endorsed the former Vice President. However, activists quickly pointed out that Latina Grassroots Organizers deserve credit for Biden’s win. more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The Anti-Worker National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund - the lawsuit arm of the Right-To-Work (for less) crowd - has seized upon a Unite Here Organizing Drive at a Boston hotel to try to outlaw company neutrality during any Union Campaign. In two cases filed on December 6th, the defense fund asked the National Labor Relations Board more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - A complaint has been filed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that accuses Google LLC of breaking U.S. Labor Laws. The company is accused of illegally spying on Workers and also questioning them, before firing Staff who were behind protests in 2019. The workers were also trying to form a Union. The complaint names former more»

(BESSEMER, ALABAMA) - The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has rejected Amazon’s bid to delay a hearing on the Union Drive of Alabama Workers into January as the E-Commerce Giant signals its willingness to vigorously battle their Employees efforts to organize. Bessemer Warehouse Workers have notified the NLRB they want to hold an election to more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The United Farm Workers (UFW) Union and the UFW Foundation, represented by Farmworker Justice and the Law Firm WilmerHale, have filed a Federal lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) decision to slash wages under the H-2A Agricultural Guest Worker Program. The case challenges the DOL’s issuance on more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The National AFL-CIO is applauding a decision issued by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to issue a Withhold Release Order (WRO) that prohibits the entry of cotton-made goods that are linked to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC). National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the following more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Four lawyers have emerged as the leading candidates to fill an open Democratic seat on the National Labor Relations Board once President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated, according to people familiar with the discussions. That list includes Union-side lawyers, some of whom also could bring diversity to the all-White Board: Kent Hirozawa, more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Three Front Line Workers whose lives and livelihoods are under constant pressure from the threat of the Coronavirus Pandemic say their employers - a grocery chain and an acute-care facility - first hailed them as “essential” and treated them well, but after an initial burst of recognition, the companies are now more more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The Trump Administration is on pace to finalize 36 major rules in its final three months. For example, six days after Republican President Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified food safety groups that it was proposing a regulatory change to speed up chicken factory processing lines, a more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - National Nurses United (NNU) is gearing up for a new drive to enact Medicare For All, but its organizers realize the campaign may take a while - Not only does the Nurses’ Union face the moneyed opposition of the insurance and hospital lobbies, but it must overcome a “not-that” attitude from Democratic President-elect more»

(ACROSS THE UNITED STATES) - Labor Activists and public officials are making strides at the state level to reduce Workers’ risk of exposure to COVID-19, piecemeal but vital efforts in the absence of a national game plan nine months into the Coronavirus Pandemic. Their actions have led to virus-specific requirements on employers in at least 14 states more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Organized Labor is touting two veterans from within its ranks as potential Biden Administration picks to lead the Federal Government’s Workplace Safety Agency through the Coronavirus Pandemic-induced crisis. Jim Frederick, who retired last year after 24 years as the United Steelworkers’ (USW) Assistant Health and Safety more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Two of the most important Education Union Officials in the country are being considered to take over for U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who’s been in the position since 2017, but will be replaced by the new and incoming Biden Administration. DeVos, who had no education background before taking over, was despised by more»

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The Supreme Court has announced it will hear Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, a case targeting a 45-year-old California regulation that allows Union Organizers to briefly enter agricultural workplaces to speak to Farm Workers - but the case has implications that stretch well beyond Labor Organizing. Among other things, Cedar Point could more»

Common Dreams Editor’s Note: Pictured above are U.S. Congressmen Donald Norcross (Democrat-New Jersey) and Mark Pocan (Democrat-Wisconsin), who have joined together to create a Labor Caucus in Congress. (Photos Courtesy of Donald Norcross For Congress and Representative Mark Pocan Via Facebook) (WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Amid a flurry of new campaigns more»