Join the e-Activist List.

In an historic vote more than 60 years in the making, the House of Representatives late last night voted to approve (220-211) what AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka calls a ”momentous step toward comprehensive health care.” The bill survived a $100 million lie-and-distortion campaign by Big Insurance to kill it-the same kind of tactics these groups have aimed at health care proposals for six decades. Trumka says the bill is not “a baby step or half measure,” but a solid step forward to set our country on a path to health care that actually works for working families. Read More>>

After a 98-year struggle dating to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and a year-long debate that seemed like another 98 years at times, the U.S. House has given final approval to health care reform legislation that will add 32 million Americans to the coverage rolls and begin the task of making the system fairer and more efficient. For a detailed description of the bill and a video reaction by AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka, go to the link below.

Starting today, the union movement and our allies are taking our fight for good jobs now to the biggest Wall Street banks whose reckless greed has gone a long way to wreck the U.S. economy and kill American jobs. From March 15-26, working people will hold rallies and demonstrations at branches of the Big Six Wall Street banks—Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Wachovia-Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley—across the country. They will tell the banks: “I Am Not Your ATM” and “Make Wall Street Pay for Creating New Jobs.” Read More>>

Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president emerita of the AFL-CIO, won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Texas in the March 2 primary.

Chavez-Thompson defeated two candidates, including former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, to clinch the nomination without the need for a runoff election. In unofficial results, Chavez-Thompson had slightly above 53 percent in the three-candidate field.

Chavez-Thompson faces Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a two-term incumbent with vast personal financial resources, in the November election.

Democrats expect Chavez-Thompson's candidacy to complement that of Bill White, who won the gubernatorial nomination with more than three our of four votes in a multi-candidate field.

 

 

 

The following is the list of endorsements by the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (COPE), which is the political arm of the state labor federation.

Delegates to the COPE Convention made endorsement decisions for statewide candidates. Endorsements of candidates for Congress, the Texas Legislature and the State Board of Education take place at the Central Labor Council level, and will be added here as they arrive. (Please note: Some Central Labor Councils do not endorse in uncontested races.)

“These endorsements set the stage for a campaign for change on Texas priorities,” Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller said. “The labor movement in Texas will do everything possible to alter the narrative for working families in Texas.”

 

 

Scholarship application

A Texas House Committee will take testimony on a so-called "voter ID" bill that seeks to solve a nonexistent problem while whiffing on real problems of voter fraud.  As Texas AFL-CIO Legislative/Political Director René Lara stated in his testimony before the Texas Senate, the proposal would actually help promote a national photo ID system, rather than prevent actual voter fraud.

  The most recent assessment of charter school performance in Texas shows, yet again, performance that is inferior to public schools, the Texas AFT reports.

Ed Sills, director of communications for the Texas AFL-CIO, recently went back to school—high school. He spent a day observing a veteran union organizer get students involved in a hands-on educational experience on the crucial role of unions in their working lives.  “We’ll just let these two ladies clean the bathroom because that’s a woman’s job,” declared Lee Medley, president of the Galveston County AFL-CIO, with a sly glance toward the men.  Read more...