Texas AFL-CIO

THE VOICE OF LABOR IN TEXAS

We are teachers, firefighters and farm workers, actors and engineers, pilots and public employees, painters and plumbers, steelworkers and screenwriters, doctors and nurses, stagehands, electricians and more. We believe that people who work make Texas work and that together, we are better.

 

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Texas AFL-CIO COPE Endorsements Span State

The two-day Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention concluded today with endorsements in statewide, congressional, and legislative contests.
The list may be found here: 

The Basics: Texas Primary Elections

In Texas, the two major political parties – Democratic and Republican – hold primary elections to decide who will represent them on Election Day in November. The November “General Election” decides who gets to hold office.

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DONATE: Stand With Striking Steelworkers at ASARCO

Our USW brothers and sisters at ASARCO are on the line striking for better pay and working conditions. 

Please make a donation that will go straight to the picket line. 

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Fair Shot Agenda

Fighting for Texas Working Families 

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What We Care About

Workplace Rights

We are at a moment when a fighting union organization could kindle the imagination of millions of workers and inspire a new labor movement.

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Support Working People’s Freedom!

Working people must come together to defend our rights and fight for a fair economy that works for everyone.

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Better Pay and Benefits

There is something fundamentally wrong with our economy. The rich keep getting richer while working people are working longer hours just to make ends meet. Despite year after year of increased productivity, we are not sharing in the fruits of our labor.
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Sign the Petition: Raise the Wage in Texas

The state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour condemns hundreds of thousands of working people to poverty, costs taxpayers and shuts out business customers. It is high time for Texas to join 29 other states in raising the minimum wage above a federal level that has become a victim of congressional gridlock after decades of bipartisan support for a decent wage floor.

Sign the Petition

Trade/Manufacturing

A strong manufacturing sector is essential to our nation’s economic success and to our ability to raise wages and provide family-supporting jobs. But decades of devastating trade policy and attacks on unions have taken their toll.

Related Action

NAFTA Needs to Work for Working People

Renegotiations of the failed North American Free Trade Agreement are underway and the recently released objectives are vague and unambitious. Sign the petition calling for a new NAFTA that prioritizes working people.

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Immigration

Since our nation’s founding, immigrants and refugees have enriched the fabric of our communities, our workforce and our labor movement.

Member Spotlight

Sam Tijerina • IUEC Local 31

"I know that it’s not just about me. It's about fighting for everyone no matter what their situation is.”

Areli Zarate • Texas AFT 2048

Our union has kept me going. It has given me hope.

Paul Arebalo • IATSE 205

Being in a union means I have a voice. Whether it's regarding safety, pay or even work practices, my voice will be heard and that's one of the greatest rights I can think of.

Francisco Luna • Ironworkers Local 263

"I proudly construct buildings in DFW. My union helped me better my immigration status and apply for U.S. Citizenship."

Cheryl Eliano • AFGE District 10

The labor movement means solidarity.

Savanna Marvets • UA Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286

I believe plumbing and pipefitting experience gained through my local union allows me to make a living wage.

Read the Report

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2019

PowerTools

A resource for union members and organizers.

Defend and Resist

A toolkit for organizers and advocates on workplace raids and audits.

Common Sense Economics

How much do you know?

Recent News

It’s Time for A Higher Minimum Wage in North Carolina

North Carolina workers need a raise. For 11 consecutive years, the cost of living (food, rent, education, childcare) has increased causing our minimum wage to decline in value by 24 percent. Now, a person working full-time while making $7.25 an hour lives thousands of dollars below the federal poverty threshold.

Trump’s $4.8 Trillion Budget Would Cut Safety Net Programs and Boost Defense

President Trump released a $4.8 trillion budget proposal on Monday that includes a familiar list of deep cuts to student loan assistance, affordable housing efforts, food stamps and Medicaid, reflecting Mr. Trump’s election-year effort to continue shrinking the federal safety net. The proposal, which is unlikely to be approved in its entirety by Congress, includes additional spending for the military, national defense and border enforcement, along with money for veterans, Mr.

Texas Labor Mourns Former Texas AFL-CIO President Emmett Sheppard

'A Fighter for Working People Who Set the Highest Standard of Solidarity'

Working families in Texas are mourning Emmett Sheppard, a former Texas AFL-CIO President who built the state labor federation's voice and capacity against long political odds. Sheppard died Saturday at the age of 77.

'Victory for Workers!': House Praised for Passing Landmark PRO Act to Strengthen Unions and Labor Rights

Union leaders and labor rights advocates applauded the Democrat-controlled U.S. House for passing landmark legislation Thursday night that supporters have called one of the most notable efforts to expand workers' rights in several decades. "Make no mistake, this is the most significant step Congress has taken to strengthen labor laws in the United States in 85 years and a win for workers everywhere," said AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, declaring the measure "the labor movement's number one legislative priority this year."

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