News

June 27th: Janus Anniversary Social Media Blast

Thursday, June 27th is the 1 year anniversary of the Janus decision, and we want to tell the world that we’re Sticking With Our Unions and we’re here to stay!

Union Night with Philadelphia Union Soccer: Saturday, July 6

Join the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO and Labor 411 for Union Night with Philadelphia Union Soccer! All union members and their friends, family, and colleagues are w

Remember to vote Tuesday, May 21!

Remember that tomorrow, Tuesday, May 21 is Election Day in Philadelphia! Make a plan to vote!

Trump Ramps Up Assault On Workers' Rights With Scalia Nomination To Department Of Labor

Donald Trump ran for president on the idea that he would help struggling Americans, the "forgotten man" as he referred to these implicitly white workers, rise up after years of neglect from a shifty labor market and stagnant wages.

UNITE HERE Member Finds Assistance Through Union Plus Strike Grant

When Honolulu UNITE HERE member Scott Abfalter walked out on a union-sanctioned strike last fall, he was able to get some financial assistance from an unexpected source. As a Union Plus Credit Cardholder, he was eligible for the Union Plus Strike Grant.

'Prime Day' is a Prime Time for Collective Action

This week, millions of consumers flocked to Amazon looking for a deal on Prime Day, which brought in more than $3.9 billion for the retail giant last year. Maybe you were one of those shoppers.

The Soul of a Union Man

I was raised in a company house, in a company town, where the miners had to buy their own oilers – that is, rubber coveralls – drill bits, and other tools at the company store.

That company, Inco Limited, the world’s leading producer of nickel for most of the 20th century, controlled the town of Sudbury, Ontario, but never succeeded in owning the souls of the men and women who lived and worked there.

That’s because these were union men and women: self-possessed, a little rowdy, and well aware that puny pleas from individual workers fall on deaf corporate ears.

UAW Member Sleeps Easier with Union Plus Job Loss Grant

When UAW member Gary Franklin found himself sidelined from his job by health issues, he knew he could turn to his Union Plus Credit Card for hardship help. He was eligible to apply for the Union Plus Job Loss Grant.

One Year Later, Janus Decision Still Hasn’t Hurt Unions

A year after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that threatened to cripple public sector unions, they seem to be holding their own.

Government employees, it turns out, see value in belonging to unions. Membership in Illinois government unions actually has increased a year after the June 27, 2018, ruling in Janus vs. AFSCME, as Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet reported in a recent column.

Two Cheers for a Lackluster Economy

Raise a glass to the longest economic expansion in modern American history.

A full decade has passed since the end of the last recession, in June 2009, and the economy continues to grow. As of Monday, the current expansion surpassed the previous record for uninterrupted growth, set between 1991 and 2001.

But this time around, no one is accusing Americans of irrational exuberance: These good times don’t feel particularly good. Economic growth over the past decade has been slow and fragile, and most of the benefits have been claimed by a small minority of  the population.

The Strike that Brought Teachers Unions Back from the Dead

On the morning of September 10, 2012, the bells rang to open Chicago’s public schools, but there were no teachers in the classrooms.

The night before, negotiations with Chicago’s reform-minded mayor, Rahm Emanuel, had gone south, and the new activist leaders of the city’s 25,000-member teachers union, clad all in red, walked out. Surrounded by a throng of cameras, they declared that their members would go on strike for the first time in 25 years.