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KS AFL-CIO 2020 COPE ENDORSEMENTS

KS AFL-CIO COPE CONVENTION DELEGATES MAKE ENDORSEMENTS  The KANSAS AFL-CIO has taken action this July to Endorse 2020 Candidates for Political Office.

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Joe Biden and Richard Trumka: Put power back in workers' hands

Fifty-five years ago, in a speech to the convention of the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. laid out with characteristic moral clarity the essential role of unions in American life. “The labor movement,” he explained, “was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress … [When] the wave of union organization crested over the nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society. Civilization began to grow in the economic life of man, and a decent life with a sense of security and dignity became a reality rather than a distant dream.”

U.S. Accused of Violating International Labor Laws, Forced-Labor Protections in New Complaint

The complaint is another sign of the frustration over the treatment of workers under the Trump administration, and it places the United States in the realm of potential wrongdoing typically occupied by less-developed and less-democratic countries. “Covid has laid bare what we already knew,” Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO said in an interview. “It has demonstrated that not only is the U.S. violating workers’ rights, but those violations are resulting in people dying. It became so outrageous that we wanted to file a complaint.”

Chief Justice Roberts: America’s Chief Guardian of Corporate Power

When the Supreme Court’s new term opens today, public attention will be focused on the furious and hypocritical effort of President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to ram through Judge Amy Coney Barrett as a replacement for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the voters remove both Trump and McConnell from power.

Workers Will Not Tolerate Trump Trashing the Constitution

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued a strong warning to Donald Trump Friday that the nation’s workers are ready to stop any attempt by the administration to trash the U.S. constitution.

He was reacting to announcements by Trump that he considers the mail-in voting process unacceptable and that he will not commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election. Trump has said, essentially, that only an election he wins would be one he would recognize.

Steelworkers Had Hope; Then Trump Broke His Promises

Members of the United Steelworkers (USW) at a steel factory in Columbus, Ohio, had hope when the Trump administration promised to protect their jobs. Fred Silvia, president of USW Local 9309, said: “Initially, we felt the tariffs were going to help us. Unfortunately, there was still steel coming in from overseas and our business just started dropping off.” Production at the steel factory where USW members worked was indefinitely halted in June. “The tariffs were a short-term fix to a long-term problem that we still currently have today.

Faith and Labor Movements Are Bridging Trump’s Racial Divide With Hope and Love

This election year, America faces interlocking crises—a global health crisis, economic collapse, and systemic racism. Even as we live in fear of disease and economic ruin, we have had to watch the on-camera murders of unarmed Black people by officers who have sworn to protect and serve us. So many of us have stood outside nursing homes and hospitals as our loved ones died inside, alone. In response, we are struggling with despair and asking, Dare we hope for profound change in our public life?

Faith and labor partnership launched on Birmingham bombing anniversary

Rev. William Barber, who heads the nonprofit Repairers of the Breach and the Poor People’s Campaign, joined Richard Trumka, president of the country’s largest federation of unions, at the church to announce a formal partnership to work for social, racial and economic justice. Trumka said the labor movement honors the bombing’s four young victims: Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise McNair. “But our debt to this community is greater than that,” he said.

Watch: NFLPA Video on Racial Justice

As the new professional football season begins, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) released the first in a series of videos of members speaking out on racial justice. The video focuses on NFLPA members’ activism and their participation in the Black Lives Matter movement. The members shared their perspectives on kneeling and what using their platform looks like this football season. “I had that mindset of I’m going to kneel this year as well.

Kamala Harris and Liz Shuler: Unions can help America build back better after COVID-19

This Labor Day, America’s working families are facing unprecedented challenges.

COVID-19 continues to ravage our communities, with thousands falling ill and hundreds dying every day. More than 27 million people are receiving some form of unemployment assistance in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with job losses hitting women and workers of color hardest of all.