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.

 

237,000+

460+

20,000+

Affiliated MembersAffiliates & LocalsActivists

 

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.

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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.

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Defend and Resist: Workplace Raid and Action Toolkit

Defend and Resist: Workplace Raid and Action Toolkit

The current political climate has birthed more aggressive workplace enforcement actions and raids targeting immigrant workers and their families. This toolkit provides resources and guidance for organizers and advocates to prepare for, and respond to a raid or audit. 

Fill out the form to contact us for a toolkit.

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Get Involved. We Need Your Voice

Every Texan who is willing to work hard and do their part deserves a fair shot to get ahead. 

It's time we hold politicians accountable and demand they stand up for policies that help working families.

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Fair Shot Agenda

Fighting for Texas Working Families 

Join the Fight

Sign the 2019 Union Pledge

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Our Campaigns 

Featured Stories

Plumbers in Texas Score a Significant Win

Plumbers in Texas scored a significant win today when a bill written to dissolve the board regulating licensing of workers in the trade was amended to postpone the effective date for two years.

Texas AFL-CIO Makes Statement of Solidarity With Locked-Out USW Members at Dow Chemical Plant in Deer Park

Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy and Secretary-Treasurer Montserrat Garibay published the following open letter in support of locked-out United Steelworkers families in Deer Park.

Despite Big Win in Court, Fight to Stop Voter Suppression Continues

Still Needed: Stop Whitley Confirmation; Clean Up Election Legislation

 The Texas AFL-CIO today congratulated Latino voting rights organizations and allies for obt

Legislative Lowdown-April 18, 2019

Today is Day 101 of the regular session of the 86th Texas Legislature. 39 days to go.

Recent News

Bill to Create State Database of Wage Thieves Gains Tentative Texas House Approval

The Texas House on Wednesday advanced HB 48 by Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-El Paso, which would create a state database of employers who are found to have committed wage theft.

The bill has been percolating for several sessions and now has momentum on its way to the Senate. A database would impose no monetary penalty, but the sunlight would serve as a deterrent to low-road employers who deliberately refuse to pay working people what they have earned. 

Today's bipartisan vote in support of the measure was 102-41.

Legislative Lowdown-April 5, 2019

Today is Day 88 of the regular session of the 86th Texas Legislature. 52 days to go.

Do Something! Write your legislators on urgent labor issues: https://bit.ly/2FWDVO1

Legislative Lowdown-Mar. 28, 2019

Today is Day 80 of the regular session of the 86th Texas Legislature. 60 days to go.

Do Something! SB 621, a ULLCO-OPPOSED bill that would abolish the State Board of Plumbing Examiners and potentially compromise the licensing process for plumbers, is eligible for debate on the Senate floor as soon as Monday. Contact your Senator and ask him or her to OPPOSE SB 621: https://bit.ly/2uwPE06

7 Things for Working People to Watch in the Texas State Budget

Today, lawmakers in the State Capitol are spending all day adding and eliminating things from the state budget.

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David Lopez Jr. • IUEC Local 21

I fight to expand access to job training and registered apprenticeship programs.

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.

Kristie Veit • CWA 6137

Being a union member is one of the most treasured privileges I have in my life. Working with and for a group of folks who want to promote and develope workers rights is an amazing experience.

Cheryl Eliano • AFGE District 10

The labor movement means solidarity.

Rebecca Stamm • AFSCME

Being a union member is one of the most treasured privileges I have in my life. Working with and for a group of folks who want to promote and develope workers rights is an amazing experience.

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Our Campaigns 

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.