AFL-CIO Blog

  • Women's History Month Profiles: Maxine Lachnite-Pelker
    Women's History Month Profiles: Maxine Lachnite-Pelker For Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Maxine Lachnite-Pelker of the Heat and Frost Insulators (HFIU). Maxine Lachnite-Pelker began her insulator career in 1988, working first as a helper and then starting her apprenticeship in early 1989. She worked hard for many years as an insulator and a mother, retiring in September 2021. She is now a project engineer with a signatory insulating contractor. Lachnite-Pelker is a trailblazer in her industry and an inspiration to all women in her local, showing what can be accomplished by working hard and working together.  Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 03/20/2025 - 08:41 Tags: Women's History Month — Mar 20
  • Worker Wins: A Long, Hard-Fought Victory
    Worker Wins: A Long, Hard-Fought Victory Our latest roundup of worker wins includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life. San Joaquin County Nurses Ratify New Contract: Members of the California Nurses Association, an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), who work for the San Joaquin County health system voted overwhelmingly last week to ratify a new three-year contract. Registered nurses (RNs) secured this victory after going on a one-day unfair labor practice strike earlier this year and issuing another notice of a work stoppage that was set to begin March 9. Highlights of the deal include improved safety provisions, stronger nondiscrimination language and competitive wage increases. “This has been a long, hard-fought victory for San Joaquin County nurses,” said Kelly Mertz, an RN in the trauma department, in an NNU press release. “With this contract, San Joaquin County can be a competitive health care employer—meaning it can recruit and retain experienced nurses and avoid staffing crises. Our collective union power, our solidarity, and our commitment to each other and to patient safety brought this monumental contract to reality. We have once again proven that when nurses stand up and fight for what is right, we win.” SAG-AFTRA Reaffirms Commitment to DEI and Accessibility: In the wake of studios rolling back equity pledges under the Trump administration, SAG-AFTRA’s national board passed a resolution this weekend acknowledging the vital role that diversity and accessibility plays in the entertainment industry and reaffirmed the union’s commitment to these principles. In recent weeks, major studios have silently scrubbed their websites of DEI commitments and dropped commitments to equitable hiring and promotion practices as the White House rails against these initiatives in both the federal and private sector. SAG-AFTRA pushed back against this trend and highlighted the union’s historic commitments to the authentic portrayal of the “American Scene,” which references a contract clause that affirmed a nondiscrimination policy across productions. “For decades, SAG-AFTRA has advocated for equal employment opportunity within the entertainment and media industry, including meaningful representation of historically underrepresented communities and holding employers accountable to their commitments,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland in a joint announcement. “That advocacy continues unabated, and is as important now as it has ever been. We will be engaging directly with employers to reaffirm their obligations under the various SAG-AFTRA contracts and that they remain in full compliance with those commitments.” Federal Court Orders Reinstatement of Fired Probationary Federal Employees: On Thursday, a U.S. District Court judge ordered the immediate reinstatement of fired probationary workers at the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, the Interior, Energy, Defense and the Treasury and mandated that these agencies must immediately cease termination of probationary staff. Additionally, the judge also barred the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from giving any guidance to federal agencies on which employees should be terminated. The plaintiffs in this case include AFGE, AFSCME, the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) and multiple advocacy groups. “AFGE is pleased with Judge [William H.] Alsup’s order to immediately reinstate tens of thousands of probationary federal employees who were illegally fired from their jobs by an administration hell-bent on crippling federal agencies and their work on behalf of the American public,” said Everett Kelley, national president of AFGE, in a press release. “We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back.” “Public service workers are the backbone of our communities in every way,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders in a press release. “Today, we are proud to celebrate the court’s decision which orders that fired federal employees must be reinstated and reinforces they cannot be fired without reason.” UFCW Members Ratify Utah’s First Cannabis Union Contract: United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99 members who work at Utah-based dispensary WholesomeCo made history last week when they ratified their contract, becoming the state’s first cannabis industry workers to do so. Workers first organized with UFCW in November 2023 as part of the union’s larger national Cannabis Workers Rising campaign. The history-making deal includes guaranteed wage increases over the contract lifetime, company-provided insurance coverage, paid meal breaks, a ratification bonus and other huge wins. “With the ratification of this historic contract, WholesomeCo will continue to be a great place to work while helping raise the standard of living for employees industry-wide,” said Local 99 President Jim McLaughlin. IATSE Secures Tentative Agreement for Off-Broadway Workers: After a two-month strike, the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Atlantic Theater Company said Monday that they had reached a tentative agreement (TA) covering production workers. The bargaining unit spans nearly 100 workers at the off-Broadway nonprofit theater who will soon vote on whether to accept the TA terms. Stage crew handle vital roles for performances at the New York City venue like audio, videography, hair and makeup, costuming, props, carpentry and lighting. “The proposed agreement includes significant compensation increases including comprehensive benefits that both parties believe reflect the essential contributions of the production crew to Atlantic Theater Company’s success,” said IATSE in a press release. “Ultimately, after extensive discussions and dialogue, the Atlantic Theater Company is poised to become the first not-for-profit theater company producing solely Off-Broadway in history to have a union agreement covering production classifications.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 03/19/2025 - 12:09 Tags: Organizing — Mar 19
  • Women's History Month Profiles: Rachelle Martin
    Women's History Month Profiles: Rachelle Martin For Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Rachelle Martin of AFSCME. Rachelle Martin does so much it’s hard to know where to begin. She’s the single mother of two daughters, the co-chief steward at the Washington State Department of Health, a Washington Federation of State Employees executive board member, as well as the president of a fiscal sponsorship nonprofit, all while attending graduate school for her master’s degree in public administration. Her work as the first woman president of the Thurston-Lewis-Mason Central Labor Council is truly incredible.  Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 03/19/2025 - 10:00 Tags: Women's History Month — Mar 19
  • Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Video Game Workers Launch Industrywide Union with CWA
    Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Video Game Workers Launch Industrywide Union with 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 an historic development, workers across the United States and Canada are launching United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433 (UVW-CWA), a direct-join, industrywide video game union with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in partnership with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM).  UVW-CWA builds off of mobilization following the Game Developers Conference in 2018, which was a launching pad for the start of Game Workers Unite, an international grassroots organization dedicated to labor organizing the video game industry. The launch of UVW-CWA also coincides with the fifth anniversary of CODE-CWA, which has helped more than 6,500 tech and video game workers organize to join the union since 2020.  “The creation of this union was not done in isolation; it’s a cumulative effort by the thousands of video game workers who have been fighting for years to redefine what it means to stand together and reclaim power in one of the largest and highest-grossing industries on the globe,” said Tom Smith, CWA’s senior director of organizing. “These workers are taking a bold stand, joining together to build power for the workers behind the games we all know and love.” “Our mission is to take back our lives, our labor, and our passion from those who treat us like replaceable cogs; to empower our fellow workers; to link up arms with the laid off, with the freelancer, with the disillusioned contractor, with the disenfranchised and the marginalized, with the workers laboring invisibly to keep this industry afloat,” reads UVW-CWA’s mission statement. “We are going to create a game industry that works for us, one that nourishes its talent and invests in its future, rather than constantly seeking short-term profits. We are the ones that make the games, so we must be the ones that set the terms of how we work.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 03/19/2025 - 09:50 — Mar 19
  • Defend the Public Postal Service: In the States Roundup
    Defend the Public Postal Service: 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. Alaska AFL-CIO: Arizona AFL-CIO: California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO: Colorado AFL-CIO: Connecticut AFL-CIO: Illinois AFL-CIO: Maine AFL-CIO: Massachusetts AFL-CIO: Michigan State AFL-CIO: Minnesota AFL-CIO: Missouri AFL-CIO: Nebraska State AFL-CIO: New York State AFL-CIO: North Carolina State AFL-CIO: Oregon AFL-CIO: ' Pennsylvania AFL-CIO: Texas AFL-CIO: Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO: Wisconsin State AFL-CIO: Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 03/18/2025 - 10:07 — Mar 18