AFL-CIO Blog

  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Profiles: Arlene Inouye
    Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Profiles: Arlene Inouye UTLA For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our next profile is Arlene Inouye. Arlene Inouye was born and raised in Los Angeles and has spent her life working for the students and teachers of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Her grandparents immigrated from Japan, and they and her mother were placed in internment camps during World War II. Inouye went on to earn a bachelor's and a master's degree from Long Beach State University and she has been a Spanish bilingual speech and language specialist for 18 years. She has also worked as an adult education teacher, master teacher, mentor, multicultural and human relations trainer, school reform trainer, and financial manager. After she began working in education, Inouye quickly got in her union. She ascended to leadership roles, including treasurer for the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), as well as various positions with the AFT, the National Education Association and their affiliates. She also serves on the executive board of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. Most recently, Inouye served as the lead negotiator in the contract talks between UTLA and the LAUSD during the January 2019 teachers strike. Inouye has a history of activism. In the 1990s, she was working on building peace-based organizations and helping refugees when she launched the Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools. Unions were among the supporters that made up the coalition and she eventually focused her activism more on collective bargaining rights. As UTLA's lead negotiator during the weeklong strike, Inouye helped plan strategic efforts that prepared teachers for the work stoppage, built community coalitions and achieved significant gains. She spoke about the value of community:
    But what really moved the dial was the fact that we had thirty-two thousand members picketing at every single school, together with fifteen thousand parents and community members. And we had fifty thousand members and supporters out here rallying almost every day. That’s real power. So they knew that if they didn’t meet our demands, we’d prolong the strike—and they didn’t want that. We had tremendous leverage and that’s why we were able to get everything we thought was critical—and more.
    And about what it took to win:
    We’ve really been building over the past years. I learned that there’s nothing that can stop you when you’re very organized, when you have the structures, the internal systems, the rank-and-file participation, the staff, and when you’re working together for a common agenda. I’m still amazed about what we as a union have been able to accomplish. We were able to motivate our members and to walk them through the steps of overcoming their real fears and doubts; we were able to help them take a big risk. We stood strong for the issues of all our members, not just our teachers. When you’re inclusive like that you really experience unity. We were all able to come together.
    In the end, the teachers won significant victories on behalf of themselves and their students and: a full-time nurse in every school, additional counselors and librarians, smaller class sizes, pay increases without health care concessions, increased oversight for charter schools, and political momentum for a moratorium on charter schools, among other gains. Not only did Inouye help secure victory for the teachers of Los Angeles, she set a standard for other trade unionists to follow. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 05/17/2019 - 13:24     — May 17
  • Murdered Trade Unionists: The Truth Behind Colombia’s Trade Agreement
    Murdered Trade Unionists: The Truth Behind Colombia’s Trade Agreement Rhett Doumitt, Solidarity Center Any mention of Latin America has become a synonym of mass migration, autocratic governments and unstable economies. Yet, Colombia continues to shine as the exception. This week marks the seventh anniversary since the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) entered into force. It can be argued that during these years this South American nation has become a haven of economic and social stability. Or not. One only has to look behind all the fanfare and a “parallel reality” appears. Violence in Colombia is still harrowing. From the oil to the sugar to the flower sector, workers and trade unionists report a deterioration of their rights at the workplace, continued labor intermediation that weakens the power of workers, and an increase in the culture of violence and impunity. From January 2016 through April 2019, 681 social leaders and human rights defenders have been murdered; and between 2016 and 2018, 70 trade unionists have been killed. In fact, from the year the TPA went into force until today, 172 trade unionists have been murdered. When the United States and Colombia began negotiating their trade agreement, we already saw the negative effects of the original NAFTA—from mass migration and a spike in violence in Mexico to widening inequality in the United States. After pressure from labor and human rights organizations, in April 2011, the U.S. and Colombian governments agreed to an “Action Plan Related to Labor Rights” (Labor Action Plan) that outlined specific steps to be taken by the Colombian government within a concrete timeline. Colombia made commitments, both under the trade agreement and in other global fora, to improve worker rights, end attacks and murders of trade unionists, and bring perpetrators of violence to justice. The country also signed a peace accord with the FARC that committed to ending the conflict and addressing many of the core factors that continue to lead to high levels of inequality and violence. But despite these ongoing commitments by various Colombian administrations and President Iván Duque Márquez, the situation for Colombian workers and trade unionists continues to deteriorate.   As a side agreement, the Labor Action Plan had no effective enforcement mechanism, and in May 2016, the AFL-CIO and Colombian unions submitted a complaint under the FTA documenting ongoing egregious violations of the agreement’s labor commitments. Currently, the agreement remains inadequately implemented with new policies like the recently passed National Development Plan that actively undermines its implementation.   Today is the third anniversary of the submission of the labor complaint, and the AFL-CIO and Colombian unions continue to demand real action toward compliance with all international commitments that include full respect for and implementation of International Labor Organization’s  fundamental rights that are critical to not only securing rights, but the ongoing transition to an inclusive and lasting peace. In the context of the ongoing peace process, on May 2 the Colombian Congress approved the National Development Plan, a four-year plan that includes changes to labor rights. The plan contradicts many of Colombia’s commitments under free trade agreements with both the United States and Canada and with the European Union, as well as commitments made at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the ILO. It undermines efforts to redress broader problems such as the exclusion and poverty and violence faced by Afro-Colombians, indigenous people and rural workers. Seven years after the trade agreement went into force, neither the Colombian nor U.S. government are in a position to speak of progress. The ongoing failure to address egregious worker rights violations and violence against trade unionists in Colombia underscores the lack of effective enforcement mechanism in our current trade model. We must inform the current debates around the need to develop a new trade model that creates an effective enforcement mechanism, mandatory monitoring, reporting and assurances that actions will be promptly taken when workers' rights violations occur. Guaranteed funding is needed to ensure monitoring, enforcement and technical assistance happen. The United States must address the vain attempts by the Colombian government to uphold its commitments outlined in the TPA and ensure that any future trade agreements, including the renegotiated NAFTA, incorporate an effective mechanism that ensures that working families’ lives can benefit from trade. Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 05/16/2019 - 12:23 Tags: Colombia — May 16
  • ‘State of the Unions’ Podcast: Confronting the Health Care Crisis
    ‘State of the Unions’ Podcast: Confronting the Health Care Crisis AFL-CIO In the latest episode of "State of the Unions," Tim talks to National Nurses United Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, about the growing movement of registered nurses organizing for better jobs, a more just society and health care as a fundamental human right.  "State of the Unions" is a tool to help us bring you the issues and stories that matter to working people. It captures the stories of workers across the country and is co-hosted by two young and diverse members of the AFL-CIO team: Mobilization Director Julie Greene and Executive Speechwriter Tim Schlittner. A new episode drops every other Wednesday featuring interesting interviews with workers and our allies across the country, as well as compelling insights from the podcast’s hosts. Listen to our previous episodes: “State of the Unions” is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and anywhere else you can find podcasts. Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 05/15/2019 - 10:08 Tags: Podcast — May 15
  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Profiles: Sumi Sevilla Haru
    Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Profiles: Sumi Sevilla Haru Sumi Sevilla Haru For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our next profile is Sumi Sevilla Haru. Sumi Haru was born in Orange, New Jersey, to Filipino immigrant parents, and she grew up in Colorado. When she was young, she dreamed of being an actress after meeting the cast and crew of the film "Soldier in the Rain" on a California vacation. When she arrived in Hollywood in the late 1960s, she started getting small roles in movies like "Krakatoa: East of Java" and "M*A*S*H" and TV shows like "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Marcus Welby, M.D." In 1968, she became a member of the Screen Actors Guild. It wasn't until 1970 that she caught the activism bug. That year, Haru joined a picket line in Los Angeles, protesting the musical "Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen," which cast white actors in Japanese roles. After that protest, she founded or got involved in numerous organizations that promoted the rights of actors. In 1981, as president of the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists, she protested the movie "Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen," which cast Peter Ustinov as the fictional Chinese detective. About the film, she said: "It isn't only dated and racist, it's insulting to our sense of logic and fair play. White actors, with their eyes taped, can portray us on the screen, but we as Asian-Pacifics are not permitted to portray them." Between Haru's activism and her refusal to audition for roles that she believed stereotyped Asians, acting roles became a smaller part of her life and she became more active in SAG. She joined the union's board in the mid-1970s, and she co-founded SAG's Ethnic Employment Opportunities Committee and negotiated for inclusion and more realistic representation of people of color in Hollywood. In addition to serving on the SAG board for nearly 40 years, Haru also served in several leadership positions, including recording secretary and first vice president. In 1995, when SAG President Barry Gordon resigned to run for Congress, Haru became interim president of the union, the first woman of color to hold the position. That year, she also began a six-year term as an AFL-CIO national vice president, the first time an Asian American served on the federation's Executive Council. In 2009, Haru was honored with SAG's Ralph Morgan Award for distinguished service. In 2012, she published her memoir, "Iron Lotus." At the time of her passing, then-SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard said:
    It is with great sadness that our SAG-AFTRA family says goodbye to Sumi Haru. Sumi notably represented SAG-AFTRA and its predecessor unions for decades on our local and national boards, and as Screen Actors Guild recording secretary and interim president. Sumi served our members through her lifelong dedication to actors, the labor movement and civil rights and equal employment. She did that with conviction, passion and grace. Our deepest condolences go out to her loved ones. We will miss her.
    Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 05/13/2019 - 13:11     — May 13
  • Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Communications Workers of America
    Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Communications Workers of America AFL-CIO Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Name of Union: Communications Workers of America Mission: CWA members and retirees fight for economic justice and democracy at the bargaining table, on the job, and in the legislative and political arena. They are committed to building a powerful movement that reaches beyond the workplace to build power for working families. Current Leadership of Union: Christopher Shelton was elected president of CWA in 2015. Sara Steffens serves as the secretary-treasurer of CWA. In addition to the president and secretary-treasurer, CWA executive board includes vice presidents and leaders from seven geographic districts, seven industry sectors, four at-large members and the Canadian director. Current Number of Members: 700,000. Members Work As: A wide range of occupations in communications, customer service, technology, the airline industry, manufacturing, media, the public sector, health care, education, public safety, and many other fields in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Industries Represented: Telecommunications and information technology, the airline industry, news media, broadcast and cable television, education, health care and public service, law enforcement, manufacturing, and other fields. History: CWA was founded in 1938 as the National Federation of Telephone Workers. The union became the Communications Workers of America in 1947. Because of CWA's democratic tradition and member involvement, a number of other unions have affiliated with CWA over the years, including: the International Typographical Union (1987), the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (1994), The Newspaper Guild (1997), the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (1997), the International Union of Electronic Workers (2000) and the Association of Flight Attendants (2003). Current Campaigns/Community Efforts: CWA members are engaged on the local, state, federal and international levels in the fight for economic justice and democracy and to build power for working families. They are calling on Congress to hold corporate executives accountable for their broken promise to use their enormous tax cuts to create jobs, raise wages and end offshoring. They are advancing legislation to help keep call center jobs in the United States and are taking on Wall Street and the big banks. CWA is a founding member of The Democracy Initiative, working to ensure that we all have an equal say in a democracy of, by and for the people. Learn More: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 05/13/2019 - 11:51 — May 13