Please note that the next AFL-CIO Dispatch will be sent on Jan. 7. On behalf of everyone at the AFL-CIO, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season. |
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT |
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President-elect Biden is living up to his word to forge a bold new direction. But his hand will be immeasurably strengthened by winning the two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia. Georgia shocked the nation in 2020. And America's labor movement will be the reason Georgia flips the Senate in 2021. Early voting began this week. The election is on Jan. 5.
Our opponents are expecting us to slow down as the year comes to a close. We can't give that to them because that's how they win. If you are participating in our postcard program, send your cards to Georgia as soon as possible. If you have not signed up to drive calls into Georgia, it's not too late. If you are already driving calls into Georgia, please make more.
Our Workers First Agenda is on the line. Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock can deliver a pro-worker Senate majority and usher in the PRO Act, which would change the game in union organizing. We need to leave it all on the field. |
THE SEASON OF GIVING: LABOR AND THE HOLIDAYS |
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All across America, working people are preparing for the holidays as best we can amidst the pandemic. But for some families, this holiday season will not be as bright as those in the past because of the loss of income through no fault of their own. The labor movement is joining together with renewed purpose to do what we can to support our communities this holiday season. Labor bodies, local unions and United Way agencies are all getting in on the holiday spirit of giving back.
West Central Florida Labor Council's annual holiday toy drive is officially underway, according to labor council President Shawn McDonnell (IBEW). Every holiday season, the council partners with the Children's Home Society to run a toy drive. In previous years, the labor council would collect thousands of toys for donation. This year, because of COVID-19, it is collecting donations for a virtual gift card drive.
In Illinois, dozens of members of the Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor Assembly turned out on Saturday for the labor council's annual holiday event for families in need. For the past 38 years, the labor council has sponsored a Children's Christmas Party for low-income families. The unions provide the volunteers and logistics; the local Chamber of Commerce brings volunteers and raises the funds. Traditionally, the event is held at Bloomington High School, featuring a morning of games and a visit from Santa, with about 350–375 children participating. Because of COVID-19, this year's event was shifted to a drive-thru event staged at the Midwest Food Bank in Normal. Some 856 children from 318 families were served.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, local unions are also doing their part. Members of the Cheyenne Professional Fire Fighters/IAFF Local 279 in Wyoming held their annual bike drive. The union said it has raised $1,000 and collected some 60 bikes so far to distribute to families this holiday season. The local also sold 150 Christmas trees with the proceeds to be donated to charity. In Boston, Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 103 held its annual toy drive in partnership with Mayor Martin Walsh (LIUNA).
And community service agencies are coping with increased demand from more people than ever. AFL-CIO Community Services Agency, based in St. Joseph, Missouri, is pushing ahead with its annual Adopt-A-Family program to bring holiday joy to families in need. The program pairs donors with families who might otherwise go without Christmas celebrations this year. The United Way chapter said last week that it is halfway toward meeting its goal of adopting some 400 families this year.
Working people are doing what we always do: deliver for our communities. That's especially true this holiday season. The AFL-CIO thanks all those taking part in charitable efforts this season and throughout the pandemic. Your efforts are what make our labor movement so important to our communities. |
LABOR PROTECTED OUR DEMOCRACY—EVEN AFTER THE ELECTION WAS OVER |
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After winning the presidential election and securing the vote count, union members continued to be on the front lines of defending our democracy across the states by making sure vote results were certified. The Michigan State AFL-CIO continued coordinating with our coalition partners, making certain that union members were a critical part of ensuring the will of voters was upheld in Michigan. The state federation has maintained its UnionsDefend.org website with links to important information, events and digital activism in which union members can participate.
The Michigan State AFL-CIO collected and helped drive formal comment submissions from union members to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers in support of vote result certification before the meeting to certify the results. Board Chair Jeannette Bradshaw (pictured above), the secretary-treasurer of the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO and the recording secretary of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 58, eventually presided over the certification of Michigan's vote results.
And on Monday, the Pennsylvania delegation of the Electoral College met in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to cast the commonwealth's 20 electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden. Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale (AFSCME) was proud to serve as an elector and secretary of the Electoral College. Labor leaders Ryan Boyer, business manager of Laborers (LIUNA) District Council of the Metropolitan Area of Philadelphia and Vicinity, and Daisy Cruz, Mid-Atlantic District leader of 32BJ SEIU, also served as electors.
The officers of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, President Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder (USW), issued the following joint statement: "Our Democracy has been tested at every step throughout this process. Our State Supreme Court, the federal judiciary and the U.S. Supreme Court have all upheld the results of our free and fair elections. And now we move even closer to ringing in a new year and a new White House."
After all the Electoral College votes were counted, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) said, "We can now say with certainty what we've known since early November: Joe Biden will be sworn in as our next president on Jan. 20. This didn't happen by accident. Workers voted in overwhelming numbers and union members came out in the weeks that followed to defend our votes and make sure our voices were heard." |
TWU MEMBER PURSUES URBAN PLANNING DEGREE WITH HELP OF UNION PLUS SCHOLARSHIP |
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This past fall, Transport Workers Union (TWU) member Gregory Harasym began a master's program in city and regional planning with a concentration in transportation. He intends to examine alternative transportation methods to address community-level health and social injustices; and he hopes to eventually be a specialist in this field, focusing on policy for the Department of Transportation. His career direction changed in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which deeply impacted his community and left him passionate about helping communities become resilient to future disasters.
Harasym's father, a New York City transit worker, died when he was 16 and the TWU pension made it possible for his mother to raise him and his younger brother. "My passion for public service has led me to pursue a master's degree in urban planning, and my TWU membership and my father's [membership] have afforded me the ability to do so," Harasym said.
The Union Plus Scholarship Program awards scholarships based on outstanding academic achievement, personal character, financial need, and commitment to the values of organized labor. Union Plus Scholarship awards are granted to students attending a two-year college, four-year college, graduate school, or recognized technical or trade school. Visit UnionPlus.org/Scholarship for applications and benefit eligibility. The application deadline is Jan. 31, 2021. |
WE DO THE WORK |
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Patrick O'Meara (TNG-CWA) is one of our secret weapons in the AFL-CIO's Economic Power & Growth (EPG) Hub. He's a radical certified public accountant and our double agent of corporate finance. Patrick knows how to follow the money in order to understand companies better than they understand themselves. And he uses his superpowers to inform campaign strategies in support of worker organizing. How awesomely subversive is that? Patrick came to the EPG after years in the Advocacy Hub and continues to do work at the intersection of advocacy and organizing. Every year, he compiles the popular AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch feature promoted on our website and he often supports the federation's capital strategies work. He led our analysis of the CARES Act's payroll protection program and is currently focused on monitoring and analyzing the emerging offshore wind industry, supporting the AFL-CIO's recent model agreement between North America's Building Trades Unions and Ørsted, and looking ahead, to establishing union standards throughout this sector. |
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