Posts tagged AFL-CIO
Commentary: Unionized workers are bargaining with the bots
July 27, 2026 // "AI is something we can negotiate," Schleuss says. "Without a contract and without a union, you have no say." Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya notes that union-negotiated rules could easily map onto federal policy — if Congress ever finds the political will. Case in point: The NewsGuild currently has between 85 and 90 contracts with explicit AI provisions, Schleuss says.
Nation’s largest federal employee union campaigned against veterans benefits package
July 23, 2026 // The American Federation of Government Employees argued that the Republican-led legislation, which bundles together more than 60 veterans bills, contains partisan measures that will send more veterans to the private, for-profit health system outside the traditional VA network of hospitals and clinics for their care. The AFGE represents approximately 300,000 VA employees, according to the union. AFGE was joined by dozens of other labor unions opposing the bill.
From Closed Doors to Door to Door: How Connecticut Labor Turns Endorsements into Political Power
July 20, 2026 // There is nothing improper about union members participating in elections. Workers do not surrender their political rights by joining a union, and labor organizations have every right to campaign for candidates and policies they support. But the scale of that operation deserves public attention, particularly when participating affiliates represent government employees whose compensation and working conditions are shaped by the officials those unions are helping elect. That is a long-standing feature of public-sector politics, not evidence that any candidate traded a policy commitment for an endorsement. It does, however, explain why labor’s support is worth substantially more than favorable words in a press release: the same organizations that advocate for higher wages, richer benefits and broader bargaining power can also help determine which officials will make decisions on those issues. That does not make the political activity illegitimate. It makes the power behind it worth understanding.
Op-ed: Union transparency rules are only as strong as their enforcement
July 12, 2026 // Only after Ormond and Bilodeau sued their unions to compel them to follow the law did the agency finally start doing some of that “paperwork.” Last month, the department sent public-sector unions in the state a notice reminding them to follow the law, and it created an apparently new online portal for them to file the required financial reports. The department’s official guidance also said that unions must provide employees with hard copies of the reports and hold a meeting to discuss them.
Why Connecticut unions are still endorsing Gov. Lamont despite public clashes
July 6, 2026 // Lamont is also campaigning on a record that includes signing worker-friendly laws establishing automatic increases to the state's minimum wage, expanding paid sick leave and providing workers up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, extending collective bargaining rights for public employees, banning captive audience meetings by employers, and strengthening labor protections for warehouse workers. Elliott voted for all those laws as a state legislator.
Opinion: Big Labor, DEI and the GOP
July 6, 2026 // These Republicans are promoting much more than the FLCA’s mandated arbitration after 120 days of collective bargaining. The bill gives the whip hand to unions in negotiating labor contracts, and along with that comes the left-wing cultural agenda that unions like the Teamsters and the SEIU have adopted. Take DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion—which unions have made part of their social-justice mission and collective-bargaining agreements. The General Teamsters Local Union No. 174 made DEI a feature of its negotiation with the Port of Seattle. The Writers Guild of America, East, included DEI targets for the hiring process and a formal diversity committee in its bargaining with Vox Media.
Tension with unions shadows Moore’s run-up to 2028
July 2, 2026 // Another state labor leader said of Moore: "He's been godawful, and I think it's been a combination of, like, he has bad politics, and his administration just doesn't seem to function very well." Multiple union officials told us that it can be difficult to reach the governor's team, including Dyana Forester, Moore's senior director of labor relations. Forester said her personal and work phone numbers "have always been public. Labor leaders call me at sometimes 5 a.m. in the morning till 10 o'clock at night." She added that the state AFL-CIO leadership advised Moore's team not to submit a questionnaire because "we were unlikely to secure an endorsement."
US judge blocks labor board’s Trump-era move to take control over union elections
July 1, 2026 // A federal judge on Monday blocked the U.S. agency that oversees union elections for federal employees from shifting authority over all labor representation decisions to its top body, which is dominated by Republicans appointed by President Donald Trump. Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston sided with, opens new tabeight unions who had sued to prevent the Federal Labor Relations Authority from stripping its regional directors of their decades-old power to decide cases themselves by having its three-member body of presidential appointees handle all of them.
A Mamdani-inspired democratic socialist swayed FL unions against a Dem incumbent
July 1, 2026 // Florida’s largest federation of labor unions, the Florida AFL-CIO, has endorsed all of the state’s sitting Democratic members of Congress who are up for reelection - except for Jared Moskowitz. The move comes after democratic socialist and labor union organizer Oliver Larkin worked to sway delegates at the federation’s annual mid-June endorsement convention against Moskowitz, who has represented parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties since 2023.
Op-ed: To High Praise and Hallelujahs, Trump Nominates Keith Sonderling for Secretary of Labor
June 30, 2026 // As Acting Secretary, Sonderling has strongly advocated for Trump's pro-business and pro-worker agenda, touting the manufacturing jobs that have been returned to the U.S., and has worked tirelessly to beef up and expand apprenticeships through the U.S. Department of Labor for small businesses and private-sector concerns. Under Biden's DOL, apprenticeships were issued through the major labor unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU, effectively cutting out any private sector opportunities. Sonderling has also long been a champion for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to be able to use group annuities to protect pension benefits through pension risk transfers, and to allow employers to incorporate retirement plan options like cryptocurrency assets and private credit funds. But most pivotal, Sonderling is working hand-in-hand with the Fraud Task Force to eradicate the rampant unemployment insurance fraud.