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 International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Yardmasters and BNSF Railway reached a tentative, five-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement covers more than 320 yardmasters and provides a 3.5% average wage increase per year over the next five years, more vacation time earlier in yardmasters’ careers and improved health care benefits.

“This tentative agreement provides paid sick leave, rest days for the extra board, improvements to healthcare, and a compensation package,” said Yardmasters General Chairman Matthew Burkart. “This is the first time the yardmaster craft has seen significant quality of life advancements since 1997.”

This latest tentative agreement follows the recently announced national tentative agreement with the Machinists (IAM).

Federal workers all across the country are under attack.

Tens of thousands of hardworking people who run the programs and services that working families rely on have been mistreated or abruptly fired by Elon Musk and the DOGE. 

People are rising up—but the federal workers who are being targeted need help. That’s why we’re proud to announce Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network.

Learn More.

We’ve organized this new network with federal worker unions and groups like We the Action and Democracy Forward, among others, to connect federal workers to a network of thousands of lawyers helping to get workers the free legal support they need.

Here’s how you can help:

• Are you a current or former federal worker who needs legal help? Fill out our confidential form to get connected with our network of lawyers.
• Are you a lawyer who can help our federal workers? Get trained and join the Federal Workers Legal Defense Network to provide free legal support to federal workers and help them understand their rights. (Our first webinar explaining how you can help is tonight—RSVP here.)
• Can you tell your friends, family and networks about this new resource? Share this email so as many people as possible can find out about our work.
• Can you chip in $25—or anything you can afford—to support the network’s work? Your donation will help federal workers across the country get connected to the free legal help they need.  

Federal workers power critical programs like Medicare and Social Security, run our national parks, inspect our food and medicine, and keep us safe from accidents and disasters. 

As taxpayers and Americans, we must demand justice for these workers. Thank you for helping us rise up. 

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.

Approximately 3,400 members of IAM Local Lodge 2003 ratified a robust new agreement with M1 Support Services and its subcontractors at Fort Novosel, Alabama.

The five-year agreement covers workers performing aircraft maintenance and flight support. Highlights include annual general wage increases of 4%, 3.5%, 3.5% and 3%; improvements to overtime polling/scheduling; recognition of Juneteenth as an additional holiday; enhanced vacation scheduling; maintenance of leading medical coverage while managing costs; preservation of the current IAM pension along with increased contributions to 401(k) plans; and successful efforts to fend off several job descriptions that threatened to undermine seniority rights.

“We are the heart of what keeps Fort Novosel running smoothly,” said Local Lodge 2003 Negotiating Committee Chairman Chris Kelley. “Through hard work, unity, and a commitment to the process, we’ve negotiated a deal that reflects the value our members bring to the table, ensuring our voices were heard and concerns addressed.”

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.

Workers at Equator Coffees in Los Angeles voted to join United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770. The workers are employed as baristas, shift leads and prep cooks.

Workers organized because they were concerned about insufficient pay and scheduling and wanted a voice in the workplace. They look forward to negotiating their first union contract.

“Upon the win of our union election, I’m incredibly grateful for the support of my co-workers as we come together to address our needs for steady hours, work meals, and a livable wage,” said UFCW member Nicole Territo. “This victory is a step toward a stronger, more supportive workplace, and I’m looking forward to working together to make meaningful changes for all of us. Let’s elevate the specialty coffee narrative from social justice buzzwords to bold actions that honor both coffee quality and the fight for justice.”

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 63 of our affiliates. Next up is the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Name of Union: American Federation of Teachers.

Mission: “The AFT is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, health care and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do.”

Current Leadership of Union: President Randi Weingarten has led the AFT through some of the most critical fights in its history—from the COVID-19 pandemic response to resisting political attacks on educators and championing real solutions for kids and communities. She is joined by Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram and Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus, both of whom bring powerful experience in the classroom, advocacy and organizing. Together, they lead a union of 1.8 million members united in purpose. 

Current Number of Members: 1.8 million

Members Work as: Teachers from prekindergarten through 12th grade; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; faculty and professional staff in higher education; nurses, doctors and other health care professionals; early childhood educators; and federal, state and local government employees. 

Industries Represented: Public schools, higher education, health care, and federal, state and local government.

History: Founded in Chicago in 1916 with eight local unions, the AFT rapidly expanded, chartering 174 locals within its first four years. Despite facing membership declines during the post-World War I era due to external pressures, the AFT remained steadfast in advocating for academic freedom and tenure protections. In the 1930s, the union played a pivotal role in supporting civil rights initiatives, including early efforts toward school desegregation.

The 1960s marked a period of significant activism for the AFT, with numerous teacher strikes aimed at securing improved compensation and working conditions, leading to a substantial increase in membership. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the union emerged as a leader in education reform and the professionalization of teaching. By the 2000s, AFT membership surpassed 1 million, reflecting its growing influence. Under the leadership of President Weingarten, the AFT launched initiatives such as the AFT Innovation Fund and Share My Lesson, underscoring its commitment to innovation and collaboration in education. 

AFT members have been at the forefront of collective actions across the United States, achieving significant victories for educators, students and communities nationwide. In recent years, the AFT has led the charge on resisting political extremism in schools, standing up to book bans, defending teaching truth and fighting against the defunding of public services. The union helped win major education funding increases at the federal and state levels, and has grown its member engagement through campaigns like Reading Opens the World, Real Solutions for Kids and Communities, and Protect Our Kids. 

Current Campaigns: Protect Our Kids, a national organizing and advocacy campaign, aims to stop right-wing efforts to defund and dismantle public education, health care and support for kids. The campaign includes town halls, storytelling, paid and earned media, and grassroots mobilization leading up to the 2026 elections. Real Solutions for Kids and Communities is a proactive agenda focused on what students and families really need: safe, welcoming public schools, qualified teachers, mental health supports and strong community partnerships. Code Red mobilizes nurses and health professionals to fight for safe staffing, patient protections and funding for care—not cuts. Reading Opens the World is a literacy and equity campaign distributing free books to kids and families—10 million free books and counting—alongside book events, parent engagement and support for educators. AFTvotes is the AFT’s voter engagement, member mobilization and civic participation initiative for 2024–26, focused on defending democracy, expanding rights and electing leaders who support public education and workers.

Community Efforts: AFT’s Health Hub provides a wealth of information on health and safety topics for members. The AFT publishes American Educator, a journal of educational equity, research and ideas for early childhood through higher education; AFT Health Care, a journal on the health care system and the social, economic and environmental factors that affect individuals’ and communities’ health and well-being; and AFT Voices, a blog on Medium. President Weingarten speaks directly to AFT members with her blog, Randi’s Corner. The AFT discusses current issues in education on the Union Talk podcast.

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

You’ve probably never heard of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH—but this federal agency plays a critical role in keeping America’s workers safe.

And last week, Elon Musk and the DOGE gutted it.

More than one thousand workers in six states and Washington, D.C.—including Washington—have lost their jobs at the federal job safety research agency. Every single NIOSH research center is being closed, and the few staff remaining no longer have the resources to do their jobs. 

Please call your members of Congress by dialing 844-292-9097 or filling out this form and demand they stand up for this critical worker health and safety agency and its workers against DOGE and the Trump administration. 

Congress created NIOSH on a broad, bipartisan basis during the Nixon administration, and workers and employers throughout the world rely on NIOSH’s research and recommendations.

NIOSH conducted key research for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) so that we could have regulations on asbestos, cotton dust, lead, bloodborne pathogens, silica and black lung, which have saved hundreds of thousands of workers’ lives. 

The agency researches worker exposures to heat and wildfire smoke, workplace violence, back injuries and other chronic diseases, and state-of-the-art technologies that keep workers safe in mines. It also approves all respirators and combats fraud from imported counterfeit products. 

This agency even oversees the World Trade Center Health Program to provide 9/11 responders and survivors with medical monitoring and treatment, and a program to compensate energy workers exposed to deadly hazards from manufacturing, testing and cleaning up nuclear weapons.

The DOGE cuts to NIOSH are making workplaces more dangerous. MSHA announced this week it is pausing the implementation of a new rule to protect mineworkers from deadly silica dust exposure because of “the unforeseen NIOSH restructuring.” Make no mistake: the DOGE’s actions will jeopardize the safety of all American workers.  

Our message to Congress is simple: Stop the cuts to NIOSH and reinstate the workers. 

Right now each year, more than 5,000 workers die from job injuries and 135,000 workers die from chronic occupational diseases. Millions more workers are injured. America’s working families need NIOSH to make jobs safer and keep workers healthier. 

Thank you for speaking out for worker safety. 

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 Wednesday, flight dispatchers at Avelo Airlines voted to join the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

With their successful vote, workers at the ultra-low-cost airline based out of Houston, Texas, are joining the ranks of their peers at Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines and other airlines who are already represented by TWU. The newly minted union members are looking forward to negotiating a contract that will address quality-of-life issues and correct pay imbalances.

“Our immediate next step is to win that all-important first contract that will significantly improve the quality of life for Avelo Flight Dispatchers and their families,” said TWU International President John Samuelsen. “The TWU’s strength in organizing new work groups and bargaining game-changing contracts continues to pay off as more workers vote to join the TWU.”

Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.

Labor Leaders Fear Elon Musk and DOGE Could Gain Access to Whistleblower Files: “Liz Shuler, the president of AFL-CIO, claims that a number of Tesla workers have repeatedly alleged to the federation that safety isn’t prioritized at the car company. The AFL-CIO works with the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), but it does not represent employees at Tesla or SpaceX.”

Supreme Court Upholds Order Directing Trump Officials to Return Wrongly Deported Man: “The Supreme Court on Thursday backed a lower-court order requiring the Trump administration to ‘facilitate’ the release from custody of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador last month. Trump officials suspended a veteran Justice Department lawyer last weekend after he confirmed in court that Abrego García’s deportation was an oversight and said he had trouble getting answers himself about why the sheet metal apprentice and father of three was sent overseas. In an unusual filing on Monday, the government disavowed the in court comments of Erez Reuveni saying they ‘did not and do not reflect the position of the United States.’”

Hirono Reintroduces Bill to Protect Union Rights for Federal Workers: “‘Passing this legislation has never been more urgent—especially now, as federal workers face unprecedented attacks on their collective bargaining rights,’ said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. ‘We believe, as most Americans do, that every worker deserves a union—no matter who they work for. This bill is about something fundamental: respect. Respect for the public service workers who’ve devoted their careers to serving their communities. And respect means the freedom to negotiate.’”

'We Keep the Country Running': Federal Workers Rally in Pittsburgh for Union Rights: “The rally comes as unions representing federal workers have sued the Trump administration over a March executive order that seeks to end collective bargaining with federal unions in agencies with national security missions. The order impacts a litany of government agencies, including the Departments of State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Justice, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, as well as the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among others.”

Steelworkers Open Convention with Call for Action Against Trump Cuts: “AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond, the Steelworkers’ former vice president gave a rousing speech to the 3,000 USW delegates assembled here for their convention in which he called for labor to step up and play a leading role in the battle against Trump’s attempt to dismantle so much of what is important to U.S. workers. He said that the battle must involve solidarity across national lines, saying workers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico ‘must unite against corporate greed. Attacks on everything that we stand for have been relentless,’ Redmond said of the GOP Trump regime’s anti-worker anti-union actions. He particularly singled out Musk’s chainsaw attacks, with Trump as his puppet, on federal workers and programs. ‘We are the voice of those who, today, feel hopeless,’ said Redmond.”

Democrats Unveil Legislation Raising Federal Minimum Wage to $17 an Hour: “Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 on Tuesday in both chambers with hopes of increasing the federal minimum wage. The bill would raise the minimum wage to $17 by 2030 according to the Economic Policy Institute. The current federally mandated hourly wage is $7.25 and has not increased since 2009.”

‘Hands Off’: Protesters Deliver a Sweeping Message to Trump and Musk at a D.C. Rally: “The crowd in Washington, D.C.—more than 100,000, per organizers’ estimates—was peaceful and orderly. On a stage behind the Washington Monument, lawmakers like Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and organizers including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler spoke. Attendees around them quietly listened, save for the occasional call-and-response chant, cheers, or boos for the Trump administration. Farther away, a group of protesters marched around the Monument chanting, ‘Hands Off! Dump Trump!’”

Massive Crowds, Estimated at Two Million, Take to Streets vs. MAGA: “AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler led several union presidents to the speaking stage just south of D.C.’s Washington Monument. Other union leaders spoke up at other marches elsewhere. ‘Stripping collective bargaining and union rights from workers across the federal government is the very definition of union busting—and a blatant attempt to silence us. We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being,’ Shuler said.”

‘Everyone Is Angry, Frustrated’: AFL-CIO President Praises ‘Community’ and Energy of ‘Hands Off’ Protests: “In the largest rebuke of the second Trump administration so far, people in cities across the U.S. marched to voice their grievances against President Trump and Elon Musk. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations President Liz Shuler shares her perspective on the rallies and how the Trump administration has inadvertently created new communities.”

Federal Worker Unions Sue to Block Trump from Stripping Bargaining Rights: “Officials at the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal union, which filed the countersuit on Friday, said the president’s move was among the most aggressive they had seen out of the White House so far, one that threatened collective bargaining rights across the work force. The AFGE alone represents 800,000 workers. The lawsuit called the order an act of retaliation against the union for pushing back against ‘both his agenda to decimate the federal work force and his broader agenda to fundamentally restructure the federal government through expansive and unprecedented exercises of executive authority.’”

It's time once again to take a look at the ways working people are making progress in the states. Click on any of the links to follow the state federations on X.

Alabama AFL-CIO:

https://t.co/dWqJcb1Em1

— Alabama AFL-CIO (@AlabamaAFLCIO) April 4, 2025

Alaska AFL-CIO:

We could not be more proud of Alaskans. Thousands of people, from Anchorage to Cordova and everywhere in between, hit the streets to send a clear message to Washington, DC: #HandsOff. This is what democracy looks like! #1u #UnionStrong #akleghttps://t.co/0OeRPS5a3O

— Alaska AFL-CIO (@AKAFLCIO) April 6, 2025

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO:

San Francisco is saying hell no! #HandsOff of our workers’ rights! When we fight, we win! pic.twitter.com/jurSM58Wzt

— California Federation of Labor Unions (@CaliforniaLabor) April 5, 2025

Colorado AFL-CIO:

Trump lost in Colorado by hundreds of thousands of votes. Overwhelmingly, we didn’t vote for his agenda. So why are @SenatorHick and @SenatorBennet voting with him so much? Workers are demanding answers. We need a town hall. pic.twitter.com/WKjMddFQ5r

— Colorado AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIOCO) April 6, 2025

Connecticut AFL-CIO:

Solidarity action with the workers organizing a union at PetSmart in East Hartford! Thanks to everyone who came out, including support from State Representative @TomDelnicki! #1u pic.twitter.com/MM3q7ei6Vs

— Connecticut AFL-CIO (@ConnAFLCIO) April 6, 2025

Illinois AFL-CIO:

Our friends from Time of Day media are coming to town. Join us to learn how you can use paid advertising as a tool to fight back, mobilize workers and win campaigns.

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 Friday, members of the United Faculty of Illinois State University (UFISU), which is affiliated with University Professionals of Illinois (UPI) Local 4100 and the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), reached a tentative agreement and averted a strike.

The union represents tenured and tenure-track faculty at the institution, and this is their first collective bargaining agreement since securing recognition. Members held nearly 50 negotiation sessions with administrators to reach this deal, with details around pay being one of the remaining sticking points ahead of the final round of discussions on Friday.

“This agreement is going to be transformative for the way that our members take on their jobs,” said Keith Pluymers, an associate professor of history at Illinois State University (ISU) and a member of the bargaining team. “We have clarified and solidified a lot of the conditions of work that we have. In places where there was uncertainty, this contract is gonna provide certainty. We’ve worked to address a number of really longstanding issues at ISU. And we think this contract—it’s not gonna take care of everything, but we think this is a great start that’s gonna do a lot to ensure ISU is a great place to work moving forward.”