News

President Edwards with IATSE Local 487 member, Lorenzo Millan holding his EMMY for Best Sound Mixing

Kudos to Lorenzo Millan, affiliate union member, IATSE Local 487 who received a creative arts EMMY award for Best Sound Mixing on the tv series, House of Cards. 

Luke Strong: Unity and Hope

Verso Luke Mill Video

Luke Strong:  Unity and Hope

The power of unity and solidarity.  Video courtesy of affiliate union, USW District 8.

The House Must Stand Up for Labor

Support for the labor movement is the highest in nearly half a century, yet only one in 10 workers are members of unions today. How can both be true?

CES: What Mattered to Hollywood

Deepfakes, artificial intelligence, de-aging technology and their impact on actors and the workforce was discussed and debated at SAG-AFTRA and AFL-CIO’s 2nd annual Labor Innovation and Technology Summit, held on the opening day of CES. “Our work is being dramatically changed by technology,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris in her opening remarks. “But of all the people talking about it, who is really looking out for the working people?” Topics included the advantages and potential pitfalls of new technology.

Ivanka Trump's Future of Work Isn't for Workers

Ivanka Trump took the stage at CES on Tuesday to muted reception. Forty minutes later, she left to robust applause. No surprise, maybe, given the uncontroversial theme: The US needs to prepare workers for the future. At a technology-focused show, that’s not exactly a hard sell. But a closer look at the Trump administration’s attitude toward work—and workers—belies her pitch and invites a question: Whose future is it we’re preparing for?

Real the full article in Wired

Two Years After Trump Tax Cuts, Middle-Class Americans Are Falling Behind

Income for middle-class Americans is growing more slowly than for both top earners and the poor, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The analysis comes two years after President Donald Trump enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a major overhaul in the nation's tax laws billed by the White House as a boon for the middle class.

Trump Appointed NLRB Appointees Are Making It Harder for Workers, Labor Fights Back

Several recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board would make it harder for workers to unionize. However, labor unions refused to take these decisions lying down.

Read the full article on New York Amsterdam News

USMCA Is a Huge Win for Working People

After a quarter century of suffering under the failed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and 18 months of hard-fought negotiations, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is now proud to endorse a better deal for working people: the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USCMA), which passed with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives on Thursday, while the Senate is expected to hold a vote on the bill in the new year.

NPR: AFL-CIO President Touts Labor's Role In Improving New Trade Deal

A top national labor leader is touting a new multilateral trade deal, and says his union side much improved the Trump administration's initial proposal.

The comments from Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, came Wednesday, just before the House overwhelmingly approved the pact called the USMCA.

The new deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada, which now heads to the Senate, would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

Get the full story at NPR

How a Gig Worker Revolt Begins

Until last week, Li Zilles was one of the many nameless and faceless contractors toiling in the bowels of the internet, providing online services that might have been mistaken for the work of artificial intelligence.

The job: to transcribe audio files for the start-up Rev.com, churning out texts without clients ever knowing the name of the transcriber.

This was a lonely existence, and not an easy one. The pay, even though the work was full-time, was little enough that food stamps became necessary.

Workers Deserve a Say in Automation

When the global economy shifted in the late 19th century, working people were the first to adapt. They moved to cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio, and worked long hours in unsafe factories. They drove the Industrial Revolution and changed the nature of work forever. When it became clear that employers were exploiting their productivity, the labor movement formed to protest abuses like sweatshops, child labor, and poverty wages.