Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council

 

Broken Promises, a Botched Response and a Better Way Forward

Working families deserve a leader who will focus on “we, the people,” not just on the person they see in the mirror. Only Vice President Joe Biden can be that president. I’ve known Joe for 40 years. He loves his family, loves working people and loves our country. His “Made in America” plan will revitalize America's manufacturing in a way Trump never could. Biden doesn’t only have the best plan to beat the virus and help workers recover financially—he is the only candidate for president with a plan at all. And with a Biden administration, we’ll finally pass the PRO Act, allowing workers to join a union freely and fairly.

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.”

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Pass the HEROES Act

Demand COVID-19 Relief

Working people deserve real relief from COVID-19, which has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and left millions unemployed through no fault of their own. Tell your senators now is the time for the HEROES Act.

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Make Sure the Needs of Working People Are Met During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The labor movement is working nonstop to ensure workers devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic receive the protections and support needed during this challenging time. Get involved and make sure the needs of working people are heard.

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Recent News

Wegmann Elected to Lead the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council

Wegmann Elected to Lead the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council

A Blueprint to Safely Open Schools

The United States has the sad distinction of having the most confirmed coronavirus cases and death in the world, which has kept many schools shuttered for instruction in person. Parents and educators know that our children do best at schools, where they can get support, and they worry that the lack of learning in person has hurt students in need.

Larry Willis, head of federation of Transportation Workers, Dies in Bike Accident

Larry Willis’s colleagues liked to joke that he kept a copy of the Railway Labor Act, passed a few years before the Great Depression, under his pillow.

“He loved the wonk,” said his wife, Amy York. “He could explain things in a way that normal people could understand.”

California Adopts Emergency Workplace Safety Rules for COVID-19

California has become the fourth and largest state to adopt emergency workplace protections for COVID-19. Nearly 20 million workers in California will be protected by the new mandate, which includes requirements for face masks, physical distancing and reporting of outbreaks in the workplace. Rebecca Reindel, director of occupational safety and health at the AFL-CIO, said the federal government should follow the lead of states like California. “The virus doesn’t know boundaries,” she said.

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AFL-CIO Blog

AM I SAFE AT WORK?

Help workers demand safer workplaces.

Executive Paywatch

High Paid CEOs and the Low Wage Economy

Mortgages for Union Families

Union Plus Mortgage Company is owned by the AFL-CIO Union Privilege and a group of unions.

Read the Report

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2020