Throughout Native American Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Native Americans have made to the labor movement and toward expanding the rights of working people. Today's profile features Richard Reynolds of LIUNA.

"I enjoy being a part of the Laborers union, not only as a source of income for myself and family, but it's also helped me over the years learn so many different skill sets," said LIUNA member Richard Reynolds. "Along with using many different hand tools to equipment, I've gotten the chance to work with many companies and learn their trade, including road work, dirt work, pipe laying, scaffolding, and bridge work. I've gained lifelong friendships and skill sets in this workforce, and it helped me be a better worker every day."

Working people across the United States have stepped 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.

After 11 weeks on strike, the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) reached a tentative agreement on Tuesday with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network (BCN). The contract includes the reduction of wage progression from 22 years to five, significant general wage increases, a $6,500 ratification bonus for Blue Cross Blue Shield workers, a $5,000 ratification bonus for BCN workers, inflation protection bonuses of $1,000 each year of the contract and protections against outsourcing. Members will remain on strike during the ratification process.

“Our members have proven that when workers stick together, they can achieve historical gains at the bargaining table,” said UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock, who also serves as the director of the union’s Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Department. “There were difficult times during this strike, especially with the cold weather, but our members never gave up hope and they continued to stand with one another for as long as it took to enable our bargaining team to win an equitable contract that our members deserve.”

Working people across the United States have stepped 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 in Arlington County, Virginia, and the city of Alexandria, Virginia, ratified their first contracts. They unionized last year with AFSCME, and the two units represent more than 500 workers who work on essential public services such as water treatment, traffic enforcement, and parks and recreation. The Arlington contract includes 12.25% across-the-board wage increases over the course of the three-year agreement, 6% increases to all starting and maximum salaries for every position, a new grievance procedure and other gains. In Alexandria, the three-year contract guarantees an 8% raise over three years, plus a $1,000 bonus in 2024. 

“With inflation and this ‘silent recession’ that no one wants to talk about, having those raises be automatic is definitely going to make me feel a lot more at ease,” said Jaleesa Morris, a parking enforcement officer with the city of Alexandria for more than six years.

Working people across the United States have stepped 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.

After weeks of negotiations, members from Machinists (IAM) Local 1490, in collaboration with 20 millwrights from Millwrights Local 1121 and 38 oilers and steam and water plant operators from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 330-3, have accepted the latest offer from Woodland Pulp, ending the strike that commenced on Oct. 14. The contract includes job classification improvements, wage increases, improved vacation benefits, paid sick leave and other benefits.

“I appreciate the Baileyville community, SEIU, Millwrights, Maine AFL-CIO and our IAM members and staff for their support,” said IAM District 4 Business Representative Danny Loudermilk. “I am grateful to the Food AND Medicine organization for providing groceries and turkeys for the 86 members and their families during this strike. Their donation was greatly appreciated."

Working people across the United States have stepped 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.

Show performers and stable hands at Medieval Times in Buena Park, California, ended their nine-month strike and returned to work Wednesday morning without a contract agreement, said the union representing the workers, the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA). The union made an “unconditional offer to return to work.”

“We felt that it was in our best interest to continue to try to work toward the collective bargaining agreement while returning to work,” said Erin Zapcic, who plays a queen at the Buena Park castle and serves as a union steward. “Our fight’s not over, and just because we’re going back to work doesn’t mean we’re not 1000% committed to getting a collective bargaining agreement that makes Medieval Times as safe and equitable as it possibly can be.”

It has been a monumental month for American labor.

UAW ratified powerful new contracts with each of America’s Big Three automakers: Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.

SAG-AFTRA reached an industry-defining tentative agreement with the television and film industry studios.

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 (UNITE HERE) reached its best tentative agreements ever with three Las Vegas titans: Caesars, MGM and Wynn.

And just last week, the Detroit Casino Council reached a terrific tentative agreement for thousands of casino workers in Michigan.

This is all incredible news with deals that will provide life-changing gains for America’s workers. And it was made possible by the unwavering strength of union members standing united for a better future, with all of our union family and people across the country standing in solidarity with them.

This moment is even bigger than these huge victories. This is about a labor movement. We’ve seen more than 300 strikes so far this year, involving more than 450,000 workers. Every industry. Every state.

Working people are reclaiming their power, taking on the companies that have given them the short end of the stick for too long:

• Look at WGA, who won an extraordinary deal for Hollywood writers with the major film and television companies.
   
• Look at OPEIU, IFPTE, and SEIU, who won a groundbreaking deal for health care workers with Kaiser Permanente.
   
• Look at the Teamsters, who won a historic deal for delivery and warehouse workers with UPS.
   
• Look at Starbucks stores all over this country. Two years ago, there were zero unions. Today, we have more than 360. And last week, the Red Cup Rebellion was the largest strike in Starbucks history.

And we’re not done. Workers are still holding the line and standing in solidarity as one labor movement so that every worker gets the fair contract they deserve. And we are growing our movement to bring in more working people, to elect more pro-labor leaders and to lead in the future of work on key issues like artificial intelligence (AI) and green energy jobs.

We can’t remember a moment when our movement had this kind of momentum. This is the story of how workers win.

So this Thanksgiving, we couldn’t be more grateful for workers and activists across the country and for every single person like you who has joined the fight. It truly is better in a union. THANK YOU.

As companies increasingly incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) technology into their workflow, they introduce a variety of significant social policy concerns. The AI dehumanization of the American workforce threatens the very framework of the nation’s economy and endangers the existence of the already dwindling middle class while introducing the potential for discrimination in employment decisions. Other perils include sudden mass layoffs due to job automation, the misuse of customer and employee private data and the creation of “deepfake” media content that may be used to disseminate false information.

The AFL-CIO Equity Index Funds are submitting innovative new shareholder proposals on AI technology to various entertainment companies, including Apple, Comcast, Disney, Netflix and Warner Brothers Discovery. The shareholder proposal urges the entertainment companies to publish an AI transparency report on whether they have adopted any ethical guidelines to protect workers, customers and the public from harms related to the use of AI.

As shown by the AFL-CIO’s 2023 Executive Paywatch website, large corporations are rushing to adopt AI technology. In the entertainment industry, this technology can be used to create literary material and replace human performances. The shareholder proposal notes that “issuing an AI transparency report is particularly important for companies such as ours in the entertainment industry that create artistic works that are the basis for our shared culture.”

The need to provide AI protections for entertainment industry writers and performers has been a major issue in the Hollywood strikes this year. Through their strike, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has won important new worker protections for use of AI by entertainment companies. However, SAG-AFTRA performers are still on strike for a fair contract to require informed consent and fair compensation when AI is used to create or modify a performance.

The AFL-CIO Equity Index Funds are a collective investment trust for union members’ pension plans that have more than $12 billion in assets under management. Each year, the AFL-CIO Equity Index Funds submit shareholder proposals to encourage the adoption of a variety of responsible business practices. The AI transparency report shareholder proposals are expected to go to a vote at each entertainment company’s annual shareholder meeting next year.

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Joe Lopez of the Mine Workers (UMWA).

Joe Lopez is the longest-tenured Hispanic miner and union member in the Mine Workers (UMWA). Lopez said: "Hola, amigos! My name is Joe Lopez and I’ve been mining for 34 years. I’ve been a proud union member and a member of UMWA Local 3106, located at a mine in Socorro, New Mexico, since the year 2001. I am proud of all our union members."

Working people across the United States have stepped 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.

Service and maintenance and tech health care workers at PeaceHealth Southwest and lab professionals at PeaceHealth St. John voted to authorize a strike at both hospitals by 95%, with 93% of members participating in the vote. These health care workers, who are members of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, AFT Local 5017, have been in negotiations over their next union contract for months. They say they were pushed to authorize a strike because management refused to bargain in good faith, put reasonable offers on the table, or address the issues that affect both staff and patients.

Working people across the United States have stepped 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.

Nearly 113 years after the tragedy, the long-awaited public memorial to the victims and legacy of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was dedicated at the site of the historic fire in New York City. The event was co-sponsored by the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition and the New York City Central Labor Council. The Triangle Fire Memorial will be a permanent element on the very building that housed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place in Greenwich Village. This fire took the lives of 146 mostly young, immigrant women workers, and outrage over the incident was the impetus for changes in labor and fire safety laws that continue to protect us today. The Triangle Fire Memorial tells the story of the fire in the languages spoken by the victims—English, Yiddish and Italian.

“I’m grateful to the [Remember the] Triangle Fire Coalition for bringing us together today to honor the important legacy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire,” said acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su. “Over a century later, the impact of the Triangle fire still reverberates—not only due to the measure of its tragedy, but also because of its powerful role in galvanizing the American labor movement, and inspiring workers to stand up and demand the right to have their voices heard. As we honor all those who lost their lives on that day, we here at the Labor Department and across the country also recommit ourselves to the never-ending fight for workers’ rights.”