Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Tens of Thousands of Union Members Participate in Nationwide No Kings Rallies

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.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of union members participated in No Kings rallies across the nation. Americans rallied in opposition to the radical pages of Project 2025 and the fever dreams of America’s corporate billionaires, which have come to life with a relentless assault on America’s workers.

“No Kings is about standing up to the guy in the White House,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, who attended the event in Minnesota with labor leaders and thousands of union members. “But No Kings also means tearing down an economy by and for the billionaires—and instead, building it for working people. More money in our pockets—because no one in the richest country on Earth should struggle to get by. More time off—to spend with our friends and family and kids and loved ones. Equal pay for Black and Latina women—who make 58 cents on the dollar—because opportunity in this country should not depend on the color of your skin. And you know where it all starts? With a good union job for every worker in this country—because we all know, it's better in a union!”

Many labor leaders and members spoke at events across the country. AFT President Randi Weingarten and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President April Verrett joined President Shuler to speak at the Minnesota rally, which also featured Bruce Springsteen, Sen. Bernie Sanders and others. AFSCME President Lee Saunders spoke at the event in Washington, D.C., while IAM Union International President Brian Bryant addressed the rally in Savannah, Georgia.

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 03/31/2026 - 09:59

Women's History Month Profiles: Amber Glennon

For Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Amber Glennon of the Laborers (LIUNA).

Amber Glennon has risen through the ranks at LIUNA, first working in the field as a construction laborer, becoming a journey worker in 2021 and most recently being brought on as a staff member at her regional office. She has served as a leader on Local 252’s women’s committee, where she helped to create an inclusive and supportive environment for other women in the construction industry.

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 03/31/2026 - 10:12

Tags: Women's History Month

Women's History Month Profiles: Martina Taite

For Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Martina Taite of the Boilermakers (IBB).

Martina Taite is the first African American and first woman to be elected as president of the Pascagoula Metal Trades Council, and she is president of IBB Local 693, which represents 1,700 boilermakers at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She is a shrewd negotiator and keen advocate for shipyard workers, her local lodge and her union sisters across the labor movement. Taite commands a room when she stands up for working people.

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 03/31/2026 - 10:12

Tags: Women's History Month

Women's History Month Profiles: Teesha Foreman

For Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Teesha Foreman of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

Teesha Foreman has been a civil servant with the New York City Housing Authority since 2000. From shop steward to staff representative, supervisor, executive board member and now second vice president, Foreman’s journey has been rooted in ensuring that women—especially women of color—have a strong voice at every decision-making table. She serves on the CWA National Human Rights/Civil Rights and Equity Committee and as a trustee for Local 1180’s benefit funds.

Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 03/31/2026 - 10:12

Tags: Women's History Month

Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Transport Workers

This is the next post in our series that will take a deeper look at each of our affiliates. The series will run weekly until we’ve covered all 65 of our affiliates. Next up is the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

Name of Union: Transport Workers Union of America

Mission: Moving the American economy forward, keeping the traveling public safe and offering working people a voice on the job.

Current Leadership of Union: John Samuelsen serves as international president. He was sworn in as TWU’s 10th international president in 2017, and was reelected in 2021 and 2025. He is also the former president of TWU Local 100 in New York. A Brooklyn native, Samuelsen was hired by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) in 1993 and was assigned to a track gang in Brooklyn, where he and his fellow union members worked under difficult and unsafe conditions. Managers ignored safety regulations, disciplined workers who spoke up, and had no respect for the workers or their union. Samuelsen was still in his probationary period when his co-workers elected him shop steward, and he fought vigorously for a safer subway workplace. From 2001–2006, Samuelsen served as chair of the Track Safety Committee and chair of the Track Division. From 2002–2005, he was acting vice president of the Maintenance of Way Department. During that time, he also served as lead negotiator for all safety-related issues during contract bargaining between Local 100 and NYCTA, and authored the comprehensive track safety bill passed by the New York Legislature. He was elected president of Local 100 in 2009, and was reelected overwhelmingly in 2012 and 2015. He served as Local 100 president until 2017.

Alex Garcia serves as international executive vice president, Jerome Lafragola serves as international secretary-treasurer, and Curtis Tate and Mike Mayes serve as international administrative vice presidents.

Current Number of Members: 165,000

Members Work As: Mechanics, car cleaners, baggage handlers, disease control inspectors, bus operators, ramp agents, flight attendants and more.

Industries Represented: The airline, railroad, transit, university, utility and service industries.

History: TWU’s founding president, Michael J. Quill, formed the union in New York in 1934. It was the height of the Great Depression, and through his active, militant approach to organizing, Quill brought together thousands of the city’s transit workers to fight back against the greedy companies taking advantage of them and of the nation’s dire economic situation. The workers—underpaid, overworked and mistreated—were being hired and fired at will; several previous attempts to organize a union had failed.

With Quill at the helm, the union led strikes and sit-ins that brought the city to its knees, demonstrating once and for all that without transit workers, New York—and the entire American economy—wouldn’t move. The TWU won that battle, and they have been winning ever since.

Expanding its reach outside of New York, TWU began to organize transit and railroad workers in cities across the country in the 1940s. Later, as the nation’s fledgling aviation industry took off, TWU was right there, organizing flight attendants, baggage handlers, grounds crews and dispatchers. Soon after, public utilities providing energy to transit companies came under TWU’s protection, as did maintenance workers at colleges and universities, and civilian employees on military bases.

Looking beyond transit, health department employees and museum curators are just some of the many dynamic workers across the country who know the benefits of TWU representation. In a new century, new transportation models have begun to emerge, and TWU has brought workplace rights to bikeshare workers in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C.

At every step of the way, TWU fought for equality in the workplace, and has spoken out against discrimination based on race, job title and ethnicity ever since its founding. The TWU’s record on civil rights is unparalleled. Two of the union’s proudest moments were when Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the TWU convention in 1961 and when members marched with King in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.

From Quill’s fight to open up trades and job titles to minorities in the 1930s to the contractual guarantee of maternity leave in the 1980s, the TWU has always recognized that discrimination for any reason has no business in the workplace.

Current Campaigns: TWU has a committee on political education (COPE), and has campaigns focused on toxic cabin air, fleet electrification, Amtrak reforms, assault protections for transit workers, transit operation funding, reshoring aircraft maintenance jobs and railcar safety. TWU reports on victories and provides opportunities to take action.

Community Efforts: TWU fights for civil and human rights. The Future Leaders Organizing Committee gives the next generation of union workers the tools, resources and relationships that will prepare them to take action and further workers’ rights. TWU has a Veteran’s Committee, a Working Women’s Committee and resources for retirees. TWU sponsors state conferences and a national legislative and COPE conference. TWU’s print magazine, the TWU Express, publishes four times per year. TWU provides resources for health and safety.

Learn More: Website, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X

Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 03/30/2026 - 16:26

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: New Jersey State AFL-CIO Celebrates New Laws Protecting Immigrant Workers

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 New Jersey State AFL-CIO is applauding Gov. Mikie Sherrill for signing into law three pieces of legislation that will protect the rights and safety of immigrant workers in the state.

In response to unidentified federal agents swarming neighborhoods around the country to conduct immigration raids, the Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act will ban all law enforcement officers from wearing masks when conducting official duties and require them to provide identification prior to arresting or detaining a civilian. The Privacy Protection Act limits data sharing by government and health care facilities to ensure residents are not discouraged from seeking necessary services out of fear that their documentation status would be disclosed. Similarly, the third bill—the Immigrant Trust Directive—codifies the attorney general’s 2018 directive that limits the voluntary assistance New Jersey law enforcement may provide to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to prevent immigrant residents from feeling unable to seek out help from local law enforcement.

“New Jersey has one of the highest populations of immigrants in the nation and we were proud to support these important pieces of legislation,” the New Jersey State AFL-CIO said. “[We] will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity with immigrant workers to ensure they are treated with respect and dignity and are not fearful to reside in our communities.”

Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 03/30/2026 - 09:49

Women's History Month Profiles: Bobbye Hall

For Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Bobbye Hall of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM).

Bobbye Hall’s rhythms have been a driving force behind dozens of Billboard Top 10 songs across soul, rock and pop. A current member of AFM Local 47, Hall established her reputation in Detroit’s legendary Motown scene and has since built a career spanning over five decades of landmark musical achievements. “On my 15th birthday, I was handed my union card, and that’s when I truly became a professional. I was so proud to be a young percussionist making my way,” Hall said.

Kenneth Quinnell Sat, 03/28/2026 - 09:49

Tags: Women's History Month

Women's History Month Profiles: Lisa Cuales

For Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Lisa Cuales of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS).

Lisa Cuales joined PASS when she arrived at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2023. She hit the ground running as a union activist and has never looked back, committing herself to service, advocacy and leadership. She is president of the PASS New Mexico chapter and the local PASS representative at the Albuquerque air traffic control tower. During the government shutdown, while on furlough, Cuales delivered meals to employees working without pay at local FAA facilities.

Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 03/30/2026 - 09:53

Tags: Women's History Month

Women's History Month Profiles: Marie Hathaway

For Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Marie Hathaway of SAG-AFTRA.

After two decades as a first responder, working as a wildland firefighter, a paramedic supervisor and an emergency medical services trainer, Marie Hathaway brings a wealth of healing, therapeutic and lifesaving expertise. She initially served as a production supervisor at a Bay Area television station, and now she wears multiple hats in the industry, including SAG-AFTRA Hawaii Local secretary, and executive producer, actor and crew member in local independent films.

Kenneth Quinnell Sun, 03/29/2026 - 09:49

Tags: Women's History Month

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: NYU Faculty Reach a Tentative Agreement to End Work Stoppage

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.

Contract Faculty United-UAW (CFU-UAW) members reached a tentative agreement with New York University (NYU) administrators on Wednesday after two days on strike.

The union represents approximately 950 full-time, nontenure track faculty at the institution. While the agreement is still pending ratification, it includes wins like substantial salary increases, 3.5% annual raises starting next year, a new family care benefit fund, professional development resources, comprehensive health and welfare benefits, and more.

“We fought, and won,” said Brendan Hogan, an NYU philosophy professor. “Everyone in our union will get a minimum raise of $14,000 by the start of the next academic year.”

Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 03/27/2026 - 09:39