AFL-CIO

  • Anger over Health Care Bill Creates Uncertain Future
    by Jane Slaughter
    Jan 20 2010 - 3:24pm

    A Massachusetts local union president called it early: “I’ve never seen this much anger at the Democrats from union people. It’s worse than NAFTA," said Jeff Crosby, from a General Electric factory near Boston.

  • Health Care Victory—or Pretzel?

    Yesterday Rich Trumka announced a deal with the White House: high-cost union health care plans won’t be subject to an excise tax till 2018—five years later than almost everyone else. Trumka made clear that the intent of the changes the unions brokered is to make so many groups exempt from the tax that in practice it will almost never be applied. But why build a pretzel around the right thing?

  • Guatemala: A Dangerous Place To Be a Union Member

    The Guatemalan labor movement is facing a sharp upsurge in assassinations and violence against trade unionists. Six unionists were murdered in 2009, believably for their union activities.

  • Should Single-Payer Activists Back Down?

    Despite many expressions of support and much advocacy for a single-payer health plan, it hasn't captivated the country in the lengthy health care debate nor moved a bill through Congress. The onus is on single-payer supporters to “take a step back," an AFL staffer argued.

  • Building Delusions at the Carpenters

    Carpenters President Douglas McCarron is delusional indeed. He’s dismissed the AFL-CIO’s newly chartered carpenters organizing committee and placed faith in his “corporate unionism” approach and a repressive, self-serving regime that destroys the democratic rights of rank and file members.

  • Andy Stern's BFF

    Who loves Andy Stern? Pictures don't lie...

  • AFL-CIO Convention: Free Choice Confusion, Invisible to Delegates

    Stewart Acuff, coordinator of the AFL-CIO's Employee Free Choice Act campaign, told Labor Notes that a deal on EFCA has been made: it’s the same three provisions as the original bill except that we’ll get expedited elections—seven days—instead of card check. (The other two are heavier penalties for labor law violations during organizing drives and some form of arbitration of first contracts.)

  • AFL-CIO Convention: Two Health Care Resolutions; Everybody's Happy

    After President Obama speaks later today, the AFL-CIO convention will consider two health care resolutions, but won't vote them against each other.

    Both are expected to pass unanimously.

  • AFL-CIO Convention: Having Some Fun with Capitalism

    Michael Moore’s new film “Capitalism: A Love Story” premiered to a rowdy—and wholly appreciative—labor audience at the AFL-CIO convention. The event, following a noisy march from the convention center to a theater down the street, was organized by the California Nurses Association and the Labor Campaign for Single Payer among others. It offered a refreshing contrast to an otherwise staid and scripted convention.

  • AFL-CIO Convention: Reform? We'll take it!

    Asked whether the AFL-CIO would stick to earlier statements that the federation will not support a health care reform bill without a government-insurance “public option,” incoming federation President Rich Trumka ducked this morning.