AFL-CIO Blog

  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: UVC Celebrates PACT Act Signing, Commits to Help Veterans Receive Support
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: UVC Celebrates PACT Act Signing, Commits to Help Veterans Receive Support Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. The Union Veterans Council, AFL-CIO, (UVC) applauded President Biden on Wednesday for signing the SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act, a historic law to expand health care coverage for military veterans who were exposed to toxins and burn pits during their service. After it was temporarily filibustered by a minority of anti-worker senators two weeks ago, the UVC made a nationwide appeal to its members and some 1,300 union veterans called their senators to demand that they pass the bill immediately. This legislation has been a major priority for the UVC since it was formed in 2009. The Honoring Our PACT Act will have an enormous impact on America’s veterans by finally providing them the health care they deserve after suffering for years or decades from diseases that resulted from their exposure to toxic chemicals. The UVC said it will work in the coming months to ensure all union veterans, both active and retired, understand these benefits and how to navigate the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive the support they have earned. Visit VA.gov/PACT to learn more about how this new law helps veterans and their families. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 08/12/2022 - 09:53 — Aug 12
  • Every Worker Deserves a Union: In the States Roundup
    Every Worker Deserves a Union: 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 Twitter. Alabama AFL-CIO: Alaska AFL-CIO: Arizona AFL-CIO: California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO: Georgia State AFL-CIO: Indiana State AFL-CIO: Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO: Kansas AFL-CIO: Maine AFL-CIO: Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO: Massachusetts AFL-CIO: Minnesota AFL-CIO: Missouri AFL-CIO: Nevada State AFL-CIO: New Hampshire AFL-CIO: New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO: New York State AFL-CIO: North Carolina State AFL-CIO: Ohio AFL-CIO: Oregon AFL-CIO: Pennsylvania AFL-CIO: Rhode Island AFL-CIO: Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council: Texas AFL-CIO: Virginia AFL-CIO: West Virginia AFL-CIO: Wisconsin State AFL-CIO: Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 08/11/2022 - 11:55 — Aug 11
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond Rallies Union Members at Canvass Kickoff in Las Vegas
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond Rallies Union Members at Canvass Kickoff in Las Vegas Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond was in Las Vegas, where he rallied workers at an election canvass kickoff on Tuesday. He also met with leaders of the Nevada State AFL-CIO, took a tour of Culinary Union-UNITE HERE Local 226’s training facility and visited with workers on the job. “Nevada is a key battleground state this election, with solid pro-labor candidates running in tight races up and down the ballot. I’m very proud to see what union members are doing in Las Vegas—and around the country—to drive the union message outward,” Redmond said. “It’s amazing to see: Worker strength is growing by the day at our workplaces and in our communities. We need to keep it up because what we’re doing is delivering big results.” Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 08/11/2022 - 09:50 — Aug 11
  • The Inflation Reduction Act Is a Victory for Working People
    The Inflation Reduction Act Is a Victory for Working People On Sunday, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act. There will be a House vote on this bill Friday, and it is expected to pass. Then it goes to President Biden for his signature. Once the process is completed, the legislation will represent a significant victory for working families. About the act, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said:
    The effects of this legislation will improve the lives of millions of Americans struggling to afford health care, seniors trying to pay for their prescriptions and future generations who will be able to see the impacts of drastically reduced carbon emissions. 
    Specifically, the act will: Allow for the negotiation of lower drug prices for seniors: Medicare will begin negotiating lower drug prices for seniors and people with disabilities. Drug price negotiation will focus on the highest expenditure drugs that have been on the market for nine to 13 years. Negotiation also will save the Medicare program $99 billion, which will bolster the program financially. Create inflation caps for Medicare prescription drugs: The bill caps increases in prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients to the rate of inflation, putting a much-needed limit on how much manufacturers can raise costs for people who rely on prescriptions to manage their health. Improve Medicare prescription benefits: Seniors’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs covered by Medicare Part D will be capped at $2,000 a year, benefiting 1.4 million enrollees annually. In addition, cost sharing for vaccines will be reduced to $0. This cap will take an incredible weight off of the shoulders of older adults who are often living on a fixed income. Prevent a premium spike for ACA enrollees: The bill prevents premium increases for 13 million people for the next three years by extending the enhanced premium tax credits for people with marketplace Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage. The enhanced credits provided by the American Rescue Plan Act significantly reduce premiums for marketplace enrollees with low and middle incomes and cap premiums at 8.5% of income for all enrollees; without this new bill, the policy will expire at the end of 2022. Invest $80 billion in IRS to strengthen enforcement: This is expected to increase collections by $203 billion and will not increase taxes on those with taxable incomes below $400,000. Impose a 15% minimum corporate tax on corporations with profits exceeding $1 billion: This is expected to raise $222 billion. Reduce climate pollution by 40%: Keeping President Biden’s promise to make the United States a global leader in the fight against climate change. These incentives will spur the economic transformation we need to address the climate crisis, make clean energy more accessible and affordable, and direct investments to underserved communities. Provide tens of billions in energy investment and production tax credits for a wide range of clean sources of energy and energy storage, with strong wage and apprenticeship conditions and new domestic content incentives that can reshape clean energy deployment. Include tens of billions in manufacturing tax credits to grow U.S. manufacturing of solar, wind, battery components and critical minerals production, and investments to retool and expand manufacturing plants to build clean energy and vehicles, and to upgrade and transform industrial facilities. Support electric vehicle purchases by the postal service, and other major government investments to create domestic markets for made-in-America clean products. Make major investments in communities and environmental justice, including innovative transportation investments, while additional provisions encourage clean energy and manufacturing reinvestment in energy and automotive, communities where jobs have been lost, and in disadvantaged communities.  Fund the Department of Energy to make hundreds of billions of dollars of loans to upgrade energy and grid infrastructure and to support innovative energy technology projects. Enact clean energy tax incentives with prevailing wage, apprenticeship, and domestic content requirements that will create good-paying jobs in construction and manufacturing right here in the United States. Create jobs and economic growth concentrated in clean energy. Analysis by AFL-CIO’s Labor Energy Partnership found the bill will add nearly 1.5 million jobs, and increase per capita personal income by nearly $4,000, all while transforming our economy to meet the climate crisis. Shuler added, “While this bill represents an incredible step forward, we know the fight for climate and economic justice is not over.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 08/10/2022 - 10:45     — Aug 10
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: CHIPS Act Includes Critical ‘Worker Voice’ Provisions
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: CHIPS Act Includes Critical ‘Worker Voice’ Provisions Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law today by President Biden, not only boosts domestic manufacturing jobs in critical technology sectors but also mandates for the first time that unions and our members be at the table as the federal government invests billions in innovation research and economic development. “The science title of this bill boosts critical research funding for the National Science Foundation and other agencies, and directs the foundation to incorporate labor organizations into its ‘programmatic work’ as stakeholders,” said Amanda Ballantyne, the director of the AFL-CIO Technology Institute. “With these changes in law, we will see a different paradigm emerge in the federal research enterprise—one that invites workers and unions into the innovation process and incentivizes federal grant applicants to collaborate with labor and workforce training organizations.” The Technology Institute, launched in 2021 as a recommendation of the AFL-CIO Commission on the Future of Work and Unions, is a hub for development of new strategies, including policy reforms around technology and the future of work. The institute has advocated for a change in how the federal government directs research and economic development investments, Ballantyne said, “with a focus on securing unions as official stakeholders, enhancing good job creation requirements, and using these federal programs to advance critical racial and economic justice objectives.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 08/10/2022 - 09:21 — Aug 10