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Protective Equipment, Sanitized Workplace is Every Worker’s Right

Working people are being infected at work and dying from COVID-19 in every sector.

Joe Biden and Richard Trumka: Put power back in workers' hands

Fifty-five years ago, in a speech to the convention of the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. laid out with characteristic moral clarity the essential role of unions in American life. “The labor movement,” he explained, “was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress … [When] the wave of union organization crested over the nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society. Civilization began to grow in the economic life of man, and a decent life with a sense of security and dignity became a reality rather than a distant dream.”

WI AFL-CIO Statement on Kenosha Police Shooting

Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, released the following statement:

Virtual 2020 WI AFL-CIO Convention

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Joe Biden Visits Union Facility in Manitowoc

(MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2020,  2:15 p.m.) -- Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, released the following statement on Joe Biden’s visit to Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in Manitowoc. The United Steelworkers Local 125 and Local 301, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 516 represent workers at the facility.

Faith and Labor Movements Are Bridging Trump’s Racial Divide With Hope and Love

This election year, America faces interlocking crises—a global health crisis, economic collapse, and systemic racism. Even as we live in fear of disease and economic ruin, we have had to watch the on-camera murders of unarmed Black people by officers who have sworn to protect and serve us. So many of us have stood outside nursing homes and hospitals as our loved ones died inside, alone. In response, we are struggling with despair and asking, Dare we hope for profound change in our public life?

Faith and labor partnership launched on Birmingham bombing anniversary

Rev. William Barber, who heads the nonprofit Repairers of the Breach and the Poor People’s Campaign, joined Richard Trumka, president of the country’s largest federation of unions, at the church to announce a formal partnership to work for social, racial and economic justice. Trumka said the labor movement honors the bombing’s four young victims: Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise McNair. “But our debt to this community is greater than that,” he said.

Watch: NFLPA Video on Racial Justice

As the new professional football season begins, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) released the first in a series of videos of members speaking out on racial justice. The video focuses on NFLPA members’ activism and their participation in the Black Lives Matter movement. The members shared their perspectives on kneeling and what using their platform looks like this football season. “I had that mindset of I’m going to kneel this year as well.

Statement by Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Bloomingdale on VP Candidate Kamala Harris Visit

(MILWAUKEE, September 7, 2020) – Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale issued the following statement regarding VP candidate Kamala Harris visit to the IBEW Local 494 Milwaukee Electrical JATC:

Kamala Harris and Liz Shuler: Unions can help America build back better after COVID-19

This Labor Day, America’s working families are facing unprecedented challenges.

COVID-19 continues to ravage our communities, with thousands falling ill and hundreds dying every day. More than 27 million people are receiving some form of unemployment assistance in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with job losses hitting women and workers of color hardest of all.