AFL-CIO Blog

  • Federal Workers Provide Essential Public Services: What Working People Are Doing This Week
    Federal Workers Provide Essential Public Services: What Working People Are Doing This Week Welcome to our regular feature, a look at what the various AFL-CIO unions and other working family organizations are doing across the country and beyond. The labor movement is big and active—here's a look at the broad range of activities we're engaged in this week. Actors' Equity:
    Stage managers and actors are watching closely. We stand with the Local 802 musicians![image or embed] — Actors' Equity Association (@actorsequity.bsky.social) October 22, 2025 at 10:10 AM
    AFSCME: Alliance for Retired Americans: Amalgamated Transit Union: American Federation of Musicians: American Federation of Teachers: American Postal Workers Union: Association of Flight Attendants-CWA: Boilermakers: Bricklayers: Coalition of Labor Union Women: Communications Workers of America: Department for Professional Employees:
    Congratulations to the stagehands, lighting designers, and sound engineers organizing with @iatse.bsky.social Local 22 and box office employees organizing with IATSE Local 868 at the Anthem, 9:30 Club, Lincoln Theatre, and the Atlantis in D.C! www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...[image or embed] — Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (@dpeaflcio.bsky.social) October 21, 2025 at 1:37 PM
    Electrical Workers: Fire Fighters: International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers: Labor Council for Latin American Advancement: Laborers: Machinists: Major League Baseball Players Association: Maritime Trades Department: National Air Traffic Controllers Association: National Association of Letter Carriers: National Day Laborer Organizing Network: National Domestic Workers Alliance: National Hockey League Players’ Association: National Nurses United: National Taxi Workers Alliance: NFL Players Association: North America's Building Trades Unions: Painters and Allied Trades: Professional Hockey Players’ Association: Pride At Work:
    On October 18, millions of us are rising again to show the world: America has no kings, and the power belongs to the people. Pride At Work is proud to endorse this national protest & encourages our members and all unionists and LGBTQIA+ people to participate! Find an event near you: www.nokings.org[image or embed] — Pride at Work (@prideatwork.org) October 16, 2025 at 5:13 PM
    Professional Aviation Safety Specialists: Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union: Roofers and Waterproofers: SAG-AFTRA: Service Employees International Union: Solidarity Center: Theatrical Stage Employees: Transport Workers Union: Transportation Trades Department: UAW: UNITE HERE: United Food and Commercial Workers: United Steelworkers: Writers Guild of America East:
    Happy Diwali! May the festival of lights illuminate your life with joy and prosperity ✨[image or embed] — Writers Guild of America East (@wgaeast.bsky.social) October 20, 2025 at 6:30 PM
    Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 10/22/2025 - 12:21     — Oct 22
  • Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Staff at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Form Union
    Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Staff at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Form Union Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. Staff at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) joined the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 70, last month after securing voluntary recognition. Workers at the government watchdog nonprofit, as well as management, are enthusiastic about beginning negotiations so they can establish a contract that will help continue CREW’s critical advocacy work. “CREW United is a testament to both our commitment to CREW’s work and our belief in its values. This effort is about building a stronger, fairer workplace where we can bring our best selves to CREW’s critical mission,” said Honora Overby, a member of the CREW United Organizing Committee. “We are grateful for management’s openness and excited to collaborate on building lasting structures that will support our staff and strengthen CREW’s impact.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 10/22/2025 - 09:36 — Oct 22
  • No Kings: In the States Roundup
    No Kings: In the States Roundup It's time once again to take a look at the ways working people are making progress in the states. Click on any of the links to follow the state federations on X. Arizona AFL-CIO: California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO: Colorado AFL-CIO: Florida AFL-CIO: Illinois AFL-CIO: Maine AFL-CIO: Massachusetts AFL-CIO: Michigan State AFL-CIO: Minnesota AFL-CIO: Missouri AFL-CIO: Nevada State AFL-CIO: New York State AFL-CIO: North Carolina State AFL-CIO: Ohio AFL-CIO: Oregon AFL-CIO: Pennsylvania AFL-CIO: Texas AFL-CIO: Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO: Wisconsin State AFL-CIO: Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 10/21/2025 - 10:37 — Oct 21
  • Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Activision Blizzard’s Platform and Technology Workers Join CWA
    Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Activision Blizzard’s Platform and Technology Workers Join CWA Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. In yet another win for video game workers, staff in Activision Blizzard’s Platform and Technology department voted last week to form a union with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The newly recognized union members perform a number of essential roles for the game developer and are represented by CWA locals 9510 and 6215. Their roles include software engineers, project and product managers, and graphic designers for Battle.net, the platform that houses all of Blizzard’s online products and services. Workers within the new bargaining units also work on localization, quality assurance testing and customer support for the company’s other products. “I’ve been at Blizzard for nearly 20 years, and I’ve seen so many incredible colleagues in the industry come and go for preventable reasons—either for better compensation or as a result of layoffs. Our culture is our people, and we can’t afford to lose that,” said organizing committee member and Principal Software Engineer Daniel Weltz in a press release. “We are forming a union to hold leadership accountable and to ensure that we can focus on building amazing experiences for the gaming community.” Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 10/21/2025 - 09:17 — Oct 21
  • People, Not Politicians: The Working People Weekly List
    People, Not Politicians: The Working People Weekly List Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List. More Than 30,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Strike for Better Pay and Staffing: “In the largest strike in its union’s 50-year history, more than 30,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses and health workers on the West Coast walked off the job for a five-day strike, demanding better pay and safer staffing levels.” Labor Unions Sue U.S. Over Monitoring Social Media of Visa Holders: “Labor unions filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Thursday, alleging that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment rights of people who are legally in the United States by searching their social media for specific viewpoints, including criticism of Israel. The complaint is the latest legal challenge to the broad immigration crackdown initiated since President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January, which has seen unprecedented deportations of migrants, including some who had valid visas.” Missouri AFL-CIO Helping Collect Signatures to Put Redistricting Changes on the Ballot: “The unions of the Missouri AFL-CIO are helping collect signatures to put the People Not Politicians referendum on the ballot. House Bill 1, the mid-decade gerrymandered congressional map passed during last month’s special session of the legislature. It targets, and essentially dismantles, Kansas City’s 5th District and redraws the lines of other districts to lock in a 7-1 Republican stranglehold on Missouri’s U.S. House delegation. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the bill into law Sept. 28, but it doesn’t take effect until Dec. 11—just in time for candidate filing in the 2026 elections.” Major Federation of Unions Calls for ‘Worker-Centered AI’ Future: “‘We reject the false choice between American competitiveness on the world stage and respecting workers’ rights and dignity,’ AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler says in the press release. The AFL-CIO’s membership includes 63 unions and nearly 15 million workers, ranging from pro hockey players to nurses to merchant mariners.” Build It All: Rhode Island Unions Champion ‘All-of-the-Above’ Energy Approach: “In the building trades, we don’t take sides in energy politics. We build it all—gas, nuclear, solar, wind—and we do it well. Our members have powered this country for generations, and we’ll keep doing it no matter how the technology evolves. If it’s a project that supports American jobs and keeps energy affordable, we’re all in. With work resuming on Revolution Wind, hundreds of skilled union tradesmen and women across Rhode Island are back at work, building energy infrastructure our region desperately needs. These are local workers, trained in the Ocean State, earning family-supporting wages and building an affordable energy future for our communities. For all our sakes, we hope Revolution Wind remains on track.” Broadway Enters An Anxious Time As Labor Action Threatens To Roil Theaters: “Broadway is a tense place these days after two major labor unions authorized strike action amid ongoing contract negotiations with producers. Actors’ Equity Association—which represents over 51,000 members, including singers, actors, dancers and stage managers—and American Federation of Musicians Local 802—which represents 1,200 musicians—have voted in favor of a strike authorization, a strategic step ahead of any work stoppage. No strike has been called.” Government Shutdown Is Having An Outsized Impact on Black Americans: “Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, noted that Black Americans make up a larger share of the federal government than their total U.S. population at more than 18%. ‘It’s going to disproportionately affect the Black community in so many ways…They’re going to be suffering from, ‘How do I pay my mortgage bill? How do I pay my medical bills if I don’t have a paycheck coming in?’’ Kelley told theGrio.” Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 10/17/2025 - 12:46 — Oct 17

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Log in