Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council

 

President's Message

TN AFL-CIO Congratulates Labor-Endorsed Candidates, Speaks About Race for President

Tennessee AFL-CIO President Billy Dycus issued the following statement in response to Tuesday's election results.

"With Election Day in the rearview mirror, the remaining task at hand is for local election administrators to ensure that every vote is counted. With several important battleground states still in the process of doing this, we are reminded of the need to exercise patience with the process and trust in our system. The will of the people will ultimately prevail.

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AM I SAFE AT WORK?

Help workers demand safer workplaces.

Executive Paywatch

High Paid CEOs and the Low Wage Economy

Report an Unsafe Worksite
Unsafe workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic put every Tennessean at risk!

Read the Report

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2020

Legislative Updates

Welcome to the 112th TN General Assembly

Today at noon, legislators will gather in Nashville for the start of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly. While it may be the beginning of a new legislative session, one thing is likely to remain the same: the attacks on Tennessee's working families.

Last year, State Senator Brian Kelsey led the charge to enshrine Tennessee's harmful Right to Work law in the state constitution.

2021 Legislative Preview

Almost nine months ago to the day, the Tennessee General Assembly temporarily recessed until at least June 1st as the COVID-19 pandemic quickly spread throughout the state. One resumed regular session, one special session, and one ongoing health crisis later, we are preparing for the start of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly next month. Many details of what that will look like, however, are yet to be finalized.

Wrapping Up the Second Special Session

In the midst of dealing with a pandemic, an economic crisis, and the continued fight for racial justice, we didn't think that it was possible for Tennessee lawmakers to pass any bills that could do more damage than the ones that have already become law this year.
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Take Action

Pass the HEROES Act

Demand COVID-19 Relief

Working people deserve real relief from COVID-19, which has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and left millions unemployed through no fault of their own. Tell your senators now is the time for the HEROES Act.

Make a Call

Make Sure the Needs of Working People Are Met During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The labor movement is working nonstop to ensure workers devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic receive the protections and support needed during this challenging time. Get involved and make sure the needs of working people are heard.

Take Action


National News

Trumka: 'Biden is committed' to strengthening unions

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka discusses why America needs a strong labor movement and how the Biden administration is committed to strengthening unions.

Broken Promises, a Botched Response and a Better Way Forward

Working families deserve a leader who will focus on “we, the people,” not just on the person they see in the mirror. Only Vice President Joe Biden can be that president. I’ve known Joe for 40 years. He loves his family, loves working people and loves our country. His “Made in America” plan will revitalize America's manufacturing in a way Trump never could. Biden doesn’t only have the best plan to beat the virus and help workers recover financially—he is the only candidate for president with a plan at all. And with a Biden administration, we’ll finally pass the PRO Act, allowing workers to join a union freely and fairly.

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.”

Union Family Member Aspires to Become Orthopedic Surgeon; Union Plus Scholarship Application Deadline Is Jan. 31

Makaelah Murray, a student athlete at Howard University in Washington, D.C., is among the 2020 Union Plus Scholarship winners. Murray is a biology major at Howard and a member of the women’s soccer program. She graduated with honors from San Joaquin Delta College and aspires to become an orthopedic surgeon to help other athletes like her recover from their injuries. While at Delta, she completed, with distinction, the Leadership Education for Aspiring Physicians (LEAP) program at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Biden must pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act

So America today needs more than anything solidarity and human dignity — the church's core teachings. The teaching that we are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, that we are not commodities whose value is determined by a flawed and arbitrary market, but human beings, souls, created in the image of God, and each of our worth is beyond price. And it is high time our nation's laws promoted solidarity and human dignity.

Democracy and the labor movement are one and the same

Our Constitution says that after a presidential election, Congress shall meet on Jan. 6 to count the electoral votes cast for the president and vice president. It is a solemn ritual of democracy.

But it is only that — a ritual. This ceremonial custom is not how our president and vice president are chosen. They are chosen by us, the people.

Of course, President Donald Trump and senators like Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz know this. But it did not stop them from inciting an insurrection. Acting out of nothing but unprincipled ambition, they put democracy in danger.

AFL-CIO Calls on Trump to Resign or Be Removed from Office 'at Once'

The AFL-CIO called on President Trump to resign or be removed from office “at once, whether through impeachment or the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” following the riots at the U.S. Capitol this week. The labor group’s general board released the statement Friday, saying it is not one America's labor movement makes lightly. “The deadly storming of the U.S.

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AFL-CIO Blog

Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council
1901 Lindell Ave.
Nashville, TN 37203

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