Pride Month Profiles: Shane James

For Pride Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ+ workers who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today's profile is Shane James of the Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU).

Shane James says Pride Month is a time to “be bold in our truth and unashamed in our history.” As an OPEIU Local 30 steward at San Diego Pride, they said being a union member means “being able to have a support system, stability and assuredness in a time where our community is constantly in a state of fear, caution and instability at the hands of systems that do not care for us.”

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 06/11/2026 - 10:55

Tags: Pride

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Shuler: ‘How Do We…Fight for the Safety and Dignity of Every Worker on the Job?’

Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

The third day of AFL-CIO's 30th Constitutional Convention concluded with a conversation about workplace health and safety featuring AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Actors’ Equity Association (Equity) President Brooke Shields. Union members from across sectors shared their fights for health and safety protections and highlighted the ongoing work that unions are doing to address workplace violence, extreme heat and other job-related hazards.

“Whoever you are, whatever your job—you deserve to walk into your workplace knowing you'll be safe and can go back home at night,” Shuler said. “That's an idea our workers have died for. And it's one that is under attack at this very moment from the Trump administration. They’re rolling back hard-won protections. They’re gutting agencies. They’re giving corporations free rein—letting companies know they won't be held accountable. So in that landscape, how do we fight for safety in our own workplaces? How do we use our power to fight for the safety and dignity of every worker on the job?”

Read Convention Resolution 8: We Want Healthy Lives and Safe Workplaces

Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 06/11/2026 - 09:34